Ching Out 4-6 Weeks, But South Africa Still a Real Possibility

After some medical evaluation, it's being reported that Brian Ching is expected to miss 4-6 weeks after straining his left hamstring against Real Salt Lake.  That 4-6 week window would put Ching's projected return date between April 29th and May 13th, just ahead of World Cup preparations and at least a month before the opener against England (assuming no complications).  The Dynamo and USMNT striker expressed some frustration with the injury, but also tried to keep things in perspective and remain positive, saying:

“I think if I get back out there in the ending of April or very beginning of May I still feel like I can give myself an opportunity to make the (U.S.) team. That's my goal right now. Hopefully I can get back on the field as quick as I can and get back onto fitness.”

While I certainly worry about Ching's injury, I still have faith that it will all work out in the end.  For starters, it just seems like that every capped American (sorry, Jermaine Jones) who has gone down with an injury over the past six months has made as smooth of a recovery as we could possibly hope for.  That track record has me optimistic that Ching can do the same, recovering towards the front end of the aforementioned schedule, leaving him enough time to regain fitness ahead of South Africa.  It might not be based on any relevant evidence, but I'm sure I'm not the only one feeling a little lucky after what's transpired since October. 

Even if he can return to full health, a big concern seems to be that Ching won't have enough games under his belt leading up to the World Cup, that he'll be "cold" heading into such a demanding tournament and hence will be a roster liability.  But how quickly we forget that Ching's impressive performance in the February friendly against El Salvador came after an offseason surgery and months without any competitive minutes.  All he had was some preseason training and a national team camp to get ready.  If he can fully recover this time around, he'd possibly have some training with Houston, then the national team camp and three friendlies to get back into the swing of things before group play kicks off.  While this is far from ideal, it is definitely functional and feasible, assuming that "if" is satisfied (which, to be fair, is a bit of a bigger "if" given the multiple injuries he's suffered in the last year or so).

Another thing worth considering is how this injury could potentially impact Ching's style of play.  I don't think any of us consider his game to be one of explosive speed or quick bursts; rather, it's one of hold-up play and headers.  The hamstring strain may hamper his pace, but would that seriously limit his effectiveness?  It may also do the same to his leap, but then again it may not; it once again all goes back to how well he is able to recover.  Fortunately, Bob Bradley has the luxury of giving Ching some time to prove himself in the lead up to South Africa, as he doesn't need to name a final 23 man roster until June 1.  Bradley could include a healthy Ching in the May camp and give him some minutes against the Czech Republic or Turkey, evaluating him along the way.  If it doesn't work, there will most likely be a couple of back up options in the preliminary 30 man roster that can fill the void.  And there's further insurance that Bradley can utilize, given that FIFA allows an injured player to be replaced on the roster up until the day before the opening match.  This helps to hedge against the possibility that Ching is selected and then goes down once again in the final days of training or in the June 5 friendly against Australia.  Once the tournament starts, there isn't that back up plan, and injury concerns would surely persist.  But at that point, those worries will exist for all players, and all we can do is hope for the best.

If he can prove himself to be fit, healthy, and adequately prepared prior to June 1, then I stand by my opinion that Ching should be on the World Cup roster.  He represents the best target forward option, a role that I expect Bob Bradley to consider with his roster selection.  While it's far from an exciting position, it's one that Bradley has used with great frequency; look back at the 2007 Gold Cup, the 2009 Confederations Cup, and World Cup qualification to see just that.  As I've said before, I don't anticipate him deviating from that tendency right before the finish line, and he's already very familiar with the options he has at his disposal (namely Ching and Conor Casey), so he doesn't need to see more Dynamo games to get a better understanding of the big Hawaiian's abilities.  Because of that, a healthy Brian Ching should still have a good shot at earning a ticket to South Africa.

But once again, at 31 years old coming off of yet another serious injury, getting healthy is still a huge "if".  Some of you might just prefer to start looking elsewhere and avoid that risk altogether.  But don't shut the door quite yet.  As we've seen with Charlie Davies, Oguchi Onyewu, and several others, incredibly smooth recoveries are definitely possible.  With the cycle quickly drawing to a close, we can't afford to ignore any legitimate roster options.  Until Ching is officially ruled out, I'll still consider him to be in the World Cup picture.

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