Injuries, Injuries, Injuries

First off, sorry for the lack of posts yesterday.  Unfortunately, I spent most of the day at a funeral, so posting wasn't exactly a priority.  So, considering the absence of new material yesterday, I was a little surprised by the spike in traffic yesterday around these parts.  Wishful thinking would have been that USSD is getting so popular that my hordes of loyal readers will keep on coming even during the down times.  But, considering the news that broke yesterday, it was pretty obvious what the cause of this unexpected spike was: panic.

After months of injury concerns surrounding several key players, I (along with many others, I'm sure) started to feel genuinely optimistic about the USMNT's health ahead of South Africa after the friendly against Turkey.  Gooch looked a lot better, Bocanegra and DeMerit looked fine, and Stuart Holden seemed sharp.  But yesterday was a rude reminder that the fragile puzzle that Bob Bradley has managed to cobble together (thanks in large part to some fantastic doctors within US Soccer and elsewhere in the world) in recent weeks is exactly that: fragile.  USA-England may just be a week away, but there are still plenty of hurdles before that marquee match.

Several days of training and one more friendly will feature countless 50/50 challenges, sharp cuts, and mistimed tackles, each of which could deal a serious blow to the US' World Cup hopes.  As much as we have grown as a nation this decade in depth and talent, we are still far from being a deep squad, and injuries to any one of our nucleus of key players suddenly makes the team a shell of its former self.  So the kind of panic that swept across the USMNT fan base yesterday came as no surprise when news broke that Jozy Altidore had sprained his ankle in training.  While a small contingent doubts Jozy's effectiveness, superficially looking at his Hull City stat line as support, there is no better true striker on the World Cup roster, and so an injury to the former Red Bull would mean a lot of trouble for the US against England and in Group C in general.

I'm guessing that pretty much every fan that scoured the internet yesterday and checked this site had those thoughts going through their mind yesterday.  And I'm guessing many of them had a few more gray hairs before eventually finding out that the sprain was mild and that Jozy would be day-to day.  Thankfully, it appears that yesterday's rude reminder was nothing more than that; just a suggestion of what still could be rather than an insurmountable setback. While he did not practice today after being evaluated, it still seems like he will be ready to go when things get underway next weekend.

Jozy's injury has led some to suggest, tongue-in-cheek, that we just cancel tomorrow's friendly against Australia.  And while that match certainly has value as final preparation for the World Cup, it's starting to get the feel of an NFL preseason game, where fans hope that the starters look good in an abbreviated appearance, but first and foremost want an injury-free affair.  Even if the lineup that Bob Bradley uses tomorrow is precautionary in nature, the match will still serve as good preparation on an individual level, getting players more touches, experience, and confidence ahead of June 12th.  After all, if this scare showed us anything, it's that injuries are still a possibility, and every one of the 23 players on the roster needs to be prepared to step in if needed.

USMNT fans will still likely watch with worry tomorrow morning, hoping that this cycle of injuries is done meddling with their squad.  At least they can take solace in the fact, though, that these concerns are not confined to the Yanks, as many of the 32 teams are dealing with the same injury bug and subsequent concern that gripped Americans 24 hours ago.

Today, the international football community has been rocked by two injuries that will likely keep at least one star out of the World Cup, and possibly two.  Didier Drogba suffered a fractured arm early in the first half of a friendly with Japan, leading the team captain and Chelsea star to tell teammates that his World Cup was over.  Sven-Goran Eriksson and his staff have yet to officially rule out his participation, saying that it was "still a possibility", but the chances of that seem very slim.  Assuming Drogba's opinion is the correct one on this matter, the first World Cup on African soil will be without Africa's biggest star, while Ivory Coast will now have the difficult task of making it out of the Group of Death without their biggest offensive threat. 

Meanwhile, Fabio Capello and millions of Englishmen are prematurely aging a bit after Rio Ferdinand injured his knee during training.  Ferdinand, captain and starting center back for the Three Lions, now appears to be joining Drogba and so many others as big-name players who will miss out on South Africa due to injury.  England officials are still taking a wait-and-see approach, but Tottenham defender Michael Dawson has already been contacted about filling the roster spot in the (what seems like likely) event that Ferdinand is unable to play. (EDIT: And England has now announced that they have ruled out Ferdinand for the World Cup.)

As much as Altidore's injury had the potential to harm the US' hopes against England next Saturday, Ferdinand's injury could do just the opposite, weakening England at the back and improving the US' odds of knocking off their fellow anglophones.  It seems as if we have caught a break and England has drawn the short straw, but let's hope that those fortunes stay the same in the coming days, as there will again been numerous instances, both obvious and seemingly innocuous, where injuries could arise.  So, say your prayers, sacrifice a goat to the soccer gods, or just cross your fingers and hope that Bob Bradley's men are healthy and ready by the time the World Cup rolls around.  With all the anticipation and build up over the last four years, this last week before the tournament finally kicks off already seemed like an eternity, but it just got a little bit longer.

If you're keeping score at home, the World Cup will now be without Michael Essien, Michael Ballack, Salvador Cabanas, Charlie Davies, David Beckham, and now Drogba and Ferdinand, among others.  Yikes.