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Friday Kickoff: De Gea may need eye surgery, Pato hurt again and more

DeGea (Getty Images)

Goalkeeper David De Gea has not exactly lived up to expectations in his first season with Manchester United, and there is pretty legitimate reasoning to explain what has gone wrong.

He might need be able to see clearly.

De Gea reportedly requires laser surgery to repair a case of farsightedness. The 21-year-old Spaniard plays wearing contact lenses and was reportedly set to have the surgery last month before Atletico Madrid doctors suggested he put it off for a year.

Thought to be both Spain and Manchester United's goalkeeper of the future, De Gea has struggled with the Red Devils, losing starting duties to less-heralded Anders Lindegaard. He signed a five-year contract with the club back in June and was supposed to be the heir apparent to the spot left behind by the retired Edwin van der Sar. 

Here are a few more stories to get your Friday going:

MILAN'S PATO HURT AGAIN

AC Milan can't seem to catch a break when it comes to Brazilian forward Alexandre Pato.

The oft-injured striker is set to miss up to the next four weeks with a muscle tear in his left thigh.

Pato suffered the injury after scoring the game-winning goal in Milan's Coppa Italia Round of 16 match against Novara earlier this week. 

The 22-year-old Pato, rumored to be one of Paris-St. Germain's top targets this transfer window, has already been forced to miss time with a muscle injury this season and has repeatedly had to deal with muscle strains and tears throughout his career.

CANADA, COSTA RICA WIN WOMEN'S OLYMPIC QUALIFIERS

Host Canada's Olympic qualifying campaign is off and running.

Christine Sinclair scored four goals to lead Canada past Haiti, 6-0, in their CONCACAF Women's Olympic qualifying opener Thursday night. The favorite to capture Group A, Canada wasted little time getting going, with Christina Julien scoring the opener in the seventh minute.

Sinclair took the torch from there, scoring the next four goals — two in each half — before Kelly Parker finished things off with a 90th-minute tally.

Costa Rica topped Cuba, 2-0, in their opener, getting goals from Saudy Rosales and Wendy Acosta to keep pace with the Canadians atop the group.

The U.S. women's national team kicks off its qualifying campaign Friday night at BC Place against the Dominican Republic as the nightcap following the Mexico-Guatemala match.

BRAZIL 2014 BEHIND SCHEDULE

The 2014 FIFA World Cup is a little more than two years away, but there is still plenty of work to be done before all logistical items are taken care of and completed.

FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke reportedly claimed that "there is not a single stadium ready today" in a conference in Rio De Janeiro. In addition to that, there is also a dispute over security issues and whether discounted tickets will be made available to students and the elderly, as is stipulated in Brazil law.

Another hiccup is the tug-of-war over beer sales in Brazilian stadiums. Local law prohibits the sale of alcohol inside stadiums as a means of reducing violence, but FIFA, which has Budweiser as a major sponsor, holds a strong stance that beer must be sold at World Cup games.

''We're not talking about alcohol, we're talking about beer,'' Valcke reportedly said.

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What do you make of the De Gea situation? Think Pato will ever be healthy for a full season? How do you see CONCACAF Women's Olympic quailfying playing out? Think Brazil 2014 will go off without a hitch?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. I don’t think Alex Ferguson is going to go after Guzan, I’m just saying that he still could (if he wanted to). I think Guzan is good enough to start for some teams in the EPL, but I don’t think he’s shown enough to start for Manchester United. And the last 3 Aston Villa managers seem to agree with me.

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  2. wait…so that’s his excuse to why he sucks? farsightedness? Pretty sure that can be fixed by wearing contacts….which it says he wears. LASIK isn’t going to make him perform any better

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  3. Ya they should of because Guzan has already proven himself in this league. They probably don’t want another “American zombie” experiment

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  4. Oh plz! By playing for atletico? That team is the equivalent of Aston villa. He underperforms against the best and underperforms in the best league in the world

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  5. Good Grief! This is Alex Ferguson we’re talking about. THe guy who gave up on Tim Howard. He’s gonna go after the poor man’s version of Howard?

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  6. What makes you think ManU couldn’t still buy Guzan? It’s not like Aston Villa values him that highly or that ManU couldn’t come up with the necessary money.

    It seems to me that you’re saying that the scouts and coaches at ManU should rate Guzan higher than De Gea, but I don’t see a lot of evidence to support that.

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  7. I cannot believe United let him play like this. Although it does explain the one area he’s had problems with… crosses and corners coming into the box. For somebody that is farsighted that would be a major pain, your eyes adjusting as the ball is midflight.

    I cannot believe United did not address this before the season or even before the transfer.

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  8. Probably because De Gea is considered one of the most promising goalkeeping prospects in the world and had proven himself at a far higher level than Guzan already. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a Guzan fan, but I absolutely see why ManU would take the chance on De Gea over Guzan.

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  9. I love this quote. Instant classic. Sounds like something drunk college student would say to a cop who pulled him over, but even better when it comes from FIFA

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