Injury and Suspensions Prove a Rough Week for the Fort Lauderdale Strikers
Midfielder Walter Restrepo is lost for the remainder of the Strikers season with an ACL tear.
The week started out well for the Fort Lauderdale Strikers after a home win against visiting Atlanta on the previous Saturday and word on Monday from the NASL front office that forward Andy Herron had received NASL Offensive Player of the Week honors. Herron was awarded the honor for his one-goal performance in leading his team to a 1-0 victory over the Carolina RailHawks. But as the British say, things then went pear shaped, and quickly.
In Tuesday’s training session, Walter Restrepo, who had been an important part of the Strikers midfield this season, went down with a bad injury with no contact whatsoever. On Wednesday the worst was confirmed and the team put out a press release stating that the midfielder had been lost for the remainder of the season to an ACL tear.
Restrepo is currently tied for the NASL lead in assists on the season with eight. He’s also third on the team with six goals.
“It’s very disappointing, because the way the injury happened was no one’s fault and unexpected,” said Restrepo through an interpreter.
“Losing a player like Walter is a huge blow to the team, no question,” said Strikers head coach Daryl Shore. “He is a Best XI player in our league.”
Then on Thursday the Strikers received word that the league had slapped a 2-match suspension on Herron for a little extracurricular activity in that same match that he had been awarded Offensive Player of the Week.
According to the press release, the league’s disciplinary committee reviewed the play after a request from the Carolina RailHawks. The league spoke with the match officials, players and teams involved before issuing its decision. The infraction, which went unnoticed by the referee, seems to have happened while both teams where vying for position on a corner kick. Herron went up to a RailHawks defender from behind and apparently head butted him and then dropped to the turf himself as if injured. This can all be seen at the one hour and 26 minute mark of part one of the NASL video which you can see here.
“While we don’t agree with the multiple games the league has handed down, we also don’t condone Andy’s actions, and he has to respond better when he’s being attacked verbally,” said Shore. “Now other guys will have to step up in Andy’s absence so we can get good results these next two games.”
Herron will miss both the away game against Puerto Rico today and the Strikers’ next home game against San Antonio.
The Strikers also announced they have released Brazilian-American forward Halili Nagime who saw very little action so far this season.
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Andy Herron doing Andy Herron things.
Herron is a very frustrating player to watch. He still has skill and we’ve seen it this year. But he comes with a lot of negatives I’ve seen while watching him game in and game out as well. He did a great thing when Morales got hurt coming over to him and getting him not to look at the injury. Maybe he and Morales have a friendship that goes beyond the field. But what I normally see during the game from Herron with teammates is him berating them, waving his arms, making faces, and poubting about what he seems to perceive as their mistakes. He is constantly letting his temper get the better of him, and he’s been invovled in plenty of these types of incidents with other teams all year.
The Railhawks game was ironically enough (as BQ eloquently alluded to above) a microcosm of his season. Yes he scored the game winner and got the POTW honor. And in the same game does something that would have gotten him red carded if the ref had seen it, and in the end got caught anyway. Now his teammates, already missing a huge presence in Restrepo, must try and get through a crucial home match against the Scorpions, following the 0 – 0 draw against the Islanders. The guy needs to get his ego and temper in check, and just play soccer for the rest of the season. If the Strikers are going to make any noise in the playoffs at all he is a vital piece.