U.S. Men’s National Team fans feared the worst when Stuart Holden left yesterday’s final in the 23rd minute. Now, the worst has been confirmed, with both U.S. Soccer and Holden’s club, English Championship side Bolton Wanderers, confirming the 27-year-old has suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.
According to Bolton, a treatment plan will be developed in the next seven-to-10 days, after swelling in the knee’s gone down. Until then, there’s no prognosis on a possible return.
Holden left Sunday’s game after colliding with Panamanian midfielder Alberto Quintero. Defending a counterattack out of Panama’s half, Holden’s left knee collided with Quintero, turning the U.S. international away from contact. After coming down on his right leg, Holden immediately fell to the turf, bringing his right knee to his chest in pain.
(MORE: Contemplating Holden’s 2014 World Cup chances)
After being examined both in the field and on the sidelines, Holden was replaced by Mikkel Diskerud. The former Houston Dynamo midfielder, who has undergone two surgeries on this left knee in the last two-plus years, could be seen on the bench with his head in his hands before walking to Solider Field’s locker room.
From Bolton’s web site:Following a detailed scan on Monday evening, the club can announce that Stuart Holden has been diagnosed with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee ...
Holden will now consult with both the club’s and the national side’s medical staff to formulate a treatment plan.
Head of sports performance Mark Leather said: “We’ve got the scans and the results will be analysed by our specialists. We can then put an action plan in place over the next week to ten days when the initial swelling reduces.”
U.S. national team head coach Jurgen Klinsmann, in a release distributed by U.S. Soccer:
“We are absolutely devastated for Stuart,” said U.S. head coach Jurgen Klinsmann. “He is such a great part of our team on the field and the locker room. He worked tremendously hard to recover from previous injuries and had really come back into form. He was fully prepared to head back to Bolton and challenge for a starting spot. Now he will have our full support as he goes down this road again, and we will be with him every step of the way.”
Holden, for his part, put out a positive message in response to the news:
Regardless, after you add in the broken leg Holden suffered in March 2010, this is the fourth major leg injury he’s suffered in the last three-plus years, the latest in a torrent of bad luck that has come to define the U.S. international’s career.
