Fulham Says Dempsey has “moderate damage to ligament” Should Return Before End of Season
Clint Dempsey, a US Soccer supporters favorite looks like he could be available for the World Cup this summer.
That sound you just heard was the US Soccer community exhaling a collective sigh of relief. You know you just did! Fulham Football Club, the team I follow and support in the English Premiership, announced late on Tuesday in England, that American international Clint Dempsey will NOT NEED surgery on his knee and is expected to make a recovery for Fulham before the end of the season. It’s OK, you can take a deep breath and exhale/sigh again.
Dempsey limped off the field on Sunday in a loss against Blackburn after an innocuous looking play. We still don’t know a lot of details except the Cottagers website issued a very brief statement.
During the Blackburn Rovers fixture on Sunday 17 January, Clint Dempsey sustained moderate damage to a ligament in his right knee. Following the results of a scan, early indications are positive in that no operation is required. At this stage it is thought that the injury will not prevent him from featuring for Fulham, prior to the end of the season.
Whilst obviously disappointed, Clint is focused on his rehabilitation and will work hard, in line with medical advice, to return at the soonest opportunity.
“The news about Clint’s injury is positive, especially given the fact that he will not require surgery,” said U.S. head coach Bob Bradley. “We are confident that Clint will be ready to be an important part of our team during the World Cup.”
This is surely great news for both Fulham fans and even more so for US Soccer supporters who were gutted after hearing news of Dempsey’s injury and fearing the worst after Charlie Davies’ injury last fall from a car accident and Oguchi Onyewu’s torn patella sustained in the US National team’s last WC qualifier. The US soccer community seemed to be surfing the net in search of news of Dempsey’s injury on Tuesday after the Fulham website had stated that they would be announcing more news on Tuesday after the scan on Monday. No news was not necessarily good news and the Twitter community seemed to be awash in rumors. In fact I don’t ever remember a US Soccer player’s injury results that were as dreaded as this one. Fortunately the prognosis sounds good for now.
There will still be a question of fitness, but knowing Dempsey’s work ethic and pride, there’s no doubt in this US Soccer supporter’s mind that Mr. Dempsey will be in the starting 11 next June when the US face England in South Africa.
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that is great news hope he has a good recovery we going to need him in the world cup.
This is good news, but I worry he returns too soon and sustains further damage before the WC. Being a known quantity in the EPL might make him more of a marked man ahead of the opening match against England. How long do you think his rehab will be?
I wouldn’t mind if he didn’t feature for Fulham again (to protect his knee) but he also needs to be match fit.
How’s Davies rehab going?
I’ve heard things were coming along but he was fatigued a lot and was steady but slow in progress. Here’s an article.
http://www.bigapplesoccer.com/teams/usa2.php?article_id=22047
Gooch was at the NSCAA convention and did this interview on video. Sounds as if things are ahead of schedule for him.
http://mlsinsiderblog.com/?p=1049
Too bad about the injury… I have tickets to the Fulham vs. Burnley match in early February and I won’t even get too see Demps play…
I welcome this good news in what is shaping out to be the most injury-filled year in recent US Soccer history.
I also suspect that Fulham might rush him out, for instance if they find themselves in a relegation battle. Here’s hoping Deuce is honest with his recovery. It’s no time to be macho Mr. Dempsey; take this time off and relax. It’s no secret that he hasn’t had a break from soccer in more than three years, probably closer to four. While it’s never good for one of our boys to go down, this is the best time (if there MUST be a time to go down with an injury) for him to sit out.
Hopefully he gets to catch some good footy on the telly and get that passion back. He increasingly looks drained out on the pitch making his play appear inconsistent. But as he watches his team(s) struggle without him I hope he comes out with even more swagger, if that’s even possible for my boy.
Anyone know how the EPL decides goal of the year? Is it online voting? If it is we need to start a campaign to get his goal a few weeks ago as GOY, for sure. You just know the Brits won’t vote a Yank in there… haters…