TORONTO—It’s been almost two months, so what are a few more days for Jozy Altidore, right?
The Toronto FC forward has been sidelined ever since injuring his hamstring in a game against the Vancouver Whitecaps on May 14—his fourth hamstring injury in two years. Altidore was back in training this week, raising hopes that he would be fit to play on Saturday when the Reds host the Chicago Fire at BMO Field.
However, it appears as though his return has been pushed back. Coach Greg Vanney told reporters after Friday’s practice that Altidore was scheduled to undergo an MRI later in the day, and that he is questionable for this weekend.
Don’t worry, TFC fans: Altidore hasn’t re-injured his hamstring. This was a scheduled MRI; it’s a check-up as part of his overall evaluation. But it doesn’t sound as though he’ll feature against Chicago.
“Jozy is almost there. … We’ll see how it goes tonight [with the MRI]. He’s been in training this week; we’ll make a decision [Saturday] whether if there’s any way he can be involved—[but] that would be questionable,” Vanney said.
It does sound as though Altidore is very close to returning, and that he’ll likely see action in the Reds’ next two road games after this weekend, versus the Columbus Crew (on July 13) and San Jose Earthquakes (on July 16).
“I would like to start integrating him soon into the team. I know it’s going to take him a couple of games probably to build up to big minutes, so we want to try to get that process rolling as soon as possible,” Vanney explained.
He later added: “He’s right there. He’s capable of giving us something here in the next game or two.”
Altidore, 26, played in eight games (six as a starter) and collected two assists (with no goals) this season before sustaining his latest injury setback.
With the club mired in a bit of an injury crisis at the moment—three key starters in goalkeeper Clint Irwin, and midfielders Michael Bradley and Will Johnson are out with long-term injuries—the return of Altidore is very good news for TFC.
Also, fellow strike partner Sebastian Giovinco has hit a dry spell in Altidore’s absence, going six Major League Soccer games without scoring a goal—his longest futility streak for the Reds since joining the club last year. The Italian last scored in MLS play against Vancouver in May, the same game in which Altidore was injured.
Canadian forward Jordan Hamilton has looked solid in recent weeks, appearing in Toronto’s last four matches (three as a starter), and scoring in back-to-back-games.
The hope is that with Altidore back in the lineup that he’ll draw more attention from defenders and hold up the ball to bring teammates into plays, thus freeing up more space for Giovinco and giving him more openings to score.
“Jordan has done a good job… but when you look at the team sheet, no disrespect to Jordan, when you see Jozy, other teams are thinking about how to stop Jozy, in addition to how to stop Sebastian. They start to divide their attention a little bit more than maybe if it was Seba on the field with Jordan,” Vanney explained.
Altidore was unavailable to talk to reporters after Friday’s practice.
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