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Altidore avoided major injuries in nasty fall

Jozy Altidore 3 (Getty Images)

 

Jozy Altidore has a bruised back for his trouble, but the U.S. men's national team striker is not expected to miss much time after being given the all-clear following the nasty crash into a video board during a match on Wednesday.

Altidore left AZ Alkmaar's match against NEC Breda after being pushed into a hard surface near the edge of the playing field. He avoided any head injuries, but did come away with a back bruise.

Altidore has already tweeted out that he should be fine, and any concerns about Altidore potentially missing time with the U.S. national team have been put to rest.

Here is the video of the incident (at the 1:12 mark).

Comments

  1. Yep. And if you read the article at the top, you’ll see that whoever wrote it (Ives, apparently) wrote “NEC Breda” which does not exist. Chris, from LSU who apparently went to Holland, pointed this out and someone else replied. My reply was to the person who claimed “NEC Breda” was some “American” version of NEC Nijmegen.

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  2. This is America, bro. It’s NEC Breda.

    Cool story you being at the game, though, broseph. I’m impressed.

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  3. Ives, I was at this game and it was clear from the start that it was a back injury. He was holding his back as he briefly went back on the field before walking off the field during play and laying down near the opposing goal. He was then subbed off.

    By the way, it’s NEC NIJMEGEN.

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  4. That is a CARD! Yellow at least … possibly RED! At the touchline, two arms extended while player is going down and 7 Ft. away from the ball.

    CARD!

    CARD!

    CARD!

    This was so easy a caveman could do it 🙁

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  5. Doesn’t the EPL do that too? Regardless, there should be a review board that looks these fouls. And it was foul. He was clearly pushed from behind in a vulnerable and dangerous position Sometime the action is so fast the referee does not directly witnesses it, or ,is obstructed o,r at the wrong angle.

    When you continue to ignore/look the other way/or miss ugly fouls like this, you give rise to players like De Jong, or even Marquez. They get away with cheap shots because of their reputation as a “hard” tackler, when, in fact they are Thugs.

    Jozy is big, and he takes more hard tackles than anyone simply because he cannot be nudged off the ball like smaller strikers. But refs need to make the calls..period.

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  6. Shoulder to shoulder challenge, aggressive mind you, compounded by immovable wall/signage too close to the field. Not even necessarily a foul.

    I once saw an English Thid Division player shoved from behind into the sign boards in Bump Bailey fashion and an ambulance had to take him away. That’s your card offense.

    With the way head injuries can be — and how bull-headed players can be also — I’d monitor Jozy before I assume he’s fine.

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  7. More of a concern that a card wasn’t handed out on the challenge. The man clearly was not playing the ball and his follow through is what caused the intensity of the slide. He should have seen red AND faced a league suspension. Oh, right, we’re the only league in the world that does that!

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  8. I believe in fighting for the ball, and everything looked okay until the last second where the opponent pushed him. Cheap. And the ref still gave the ball to the opposition. Glad Jozy is okay.

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  9. Good. I was afraid we’d see a situation where Jozy goes out, and then Benschop comes in, gets really hot, and then we never hear from Altidore at AZ again. Phew…

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  10. The report yesterday said his back absorbed most of the impact. He might have hit his head as well, but the injury would be much less serious.

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  11. Clearly this was just a fake injury and he attempted to get out of the match due to being lazy.

    Obviously the training staff thwarted this attempt.

    Well played, Jozy. However, not well enough.

    Next on the agenda of debunking: His ability to knee-bend in team photos.

    Disclaimer: Relax, this message contained sarcasm.

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  12. I’m wondering why there is a cinder block three feet from the sidelines? That’s just inviting crashes and injuries into that wall.

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  13. I know a lot of people are dubious about JAs lack of head injury, but from the video I’ve seen, I can’t see where he hits his head, and his hand movement immediately after suggests no loss of consciousness. Thank god, because we cant afford anything but an A+ roster to start qualifiers

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