We were all hoping Stuart Holden’s latest comeback for Bolton Wanderers would be a successful one that could potentially see him make a late charge for the U.S. national team squad at this summer’s World Cup.
Now the U.S. soccer community waits with bated breath to find out if that still has a chance of happening.
According to Bolton’s official Twitter feed, Holden broke down after just 22 minutes of his comeback match for Bolton’s U-21 side against Everton on Monday night.
The former Houston Dynamo midfielder was playing in his first game since tearing his ACL in his right knee during the USA’s 1-0 CONCACAF Gold Cup final win over Panama back in July. On Monday Bolton announced that after the American midfielder had initially clutched his right knee, his night was over. “Holden is down on the turf again after reaching for a loose ball. Doesn’t look good,” Bolton tweeted.
Updates since the initial injury occurred seem promising, as the Championship club revealed that 28-year-old Holden was able to walk down the tunnel without any help.
However if this injury is another setback for Holden, it will be a damaging blow in his late bid to make Jurgen Klinsmann’s World Cup squad. His string of serious injuries date back to 2010 when he horrifically broke his leg while playing for the USA against the Netherlands but Holden still managed to make one appearance at the 2010 World Cup vs. England. However he then injured his left knee against Manchester United in a tackle with Jonny Evans in March 2011 which kept him out for over a year. Holden has had nothing but bad luck with his fitness since.
Despite all of that, the energetic midfielder has stayed in and around the USMNT picture and trained with the squad as a guest player during the January camp in California earlier this year.
Here’s the latest from Bolton, with more details to trickle through from Lancashire soon.
For those asking, Holden was able to run off unaided down the tunnel. Update as and when we have it. (38) 0-1 #BOLvEVE
— Bolton Wanderers (@OfficialBWFC) March 3, 2014
