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Report: Cherundolo again dealing with knee pain, training individually at Hannover

SteveCherundoloHannover (SIDImages)

By FRANCO PANIZO

We might have to wait a little longer to see the return of Steve Cherundolo at Hannover.

According to reports out of Germany, Cherundolo has trained individually for each of the past two days after seemingly suffering a setback in his recovery from the third knee surgery he has had in the past calendar year. The veteran fullback is reportedly feeling discomfort in his left knee again and that makes it unlikely that he dresses, much less plays, for Hannover in their Sunday tilt against Werder Bremen.

The 34-year-old Cherundolo, who recently said he would like to be with the U.S. Men’s National Team for the World Cup next summer, had recently resumed practicing with the German club after undergoing the latest procedure on one of his knees in August.

Cherundolo has not played in a competitive game at any level since a 3-0 victory over Fortuna Dusseldorf in Hannover’s 2012-13 season finale on May 18.

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What do you make of this news? Starting to think Cherundolo’s chances of reaching Brazil are slim? Think we see the veteran fullback play again before the end of the year?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. When I saw Steve Cherundolo limp off at half time during the Gold Cup final against Mexico — the U.S. was leading 2-0 — I said, out loud, Oh-oh. Final score Mexico 4-U.S. 2. That confirmed my option that he was the most indispensable player on the USMNT. Terrible loss to the team and a sad event at the end of a brilliant career.

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  2. He’s done. His body is old and not healing the way a top conditioned athlete is expected. His time at Hannover has made him a club staple, so they’ve given him chance after chance to rehab fully and it’s just not happening.

    Thanks for the years of service, Stevie. I think he will have a future in coaching with the USSF if he wants it. He commands respect that few of our players can match.

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  3. I am wondering what source(s) SBI is using for the statement that Dolo is “reportedly feeling discomfort in his left knee again.” The German newspaper story linked above, as far as I can tell, does not say that Dolo is having knee discomfort again. It says only that he is training individually and that the team is not saying why.

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  4. that sucks, i feel bad for him. hopefully this isn’t a huge deal.

    in other news, Bradley still on the bench. 77th minute, Roma up 1-0, one sub left.

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  5. Klisnmann’s own demise in WC 2014 will be to insist believing he can play Evans/Parkhurst/Cameron/Orozco/Dol at RB, and Beasley/Castillo at LB against elite competition… and get away it.

    no way Jose, no way Hans…

    Chandler, Lichaj, Yedlin, Klute need to be incorporated into the team asap…

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    • jk settles on unsatisfactory players too easily just becuz the team wins…i think it will be a big problem too.
      my biggest takeaway from the relative success of players like evans is it shows just how deep the potential player pool really is…evans is somewhere in the 50-100 range of US players, if that, ….
      evans’ “success” is even more proof in my eyes that other unproven players need chances i.e. yedlin, farrell, klute…etc…not proof evans is the player to believe in.
      team comraderie is important and i get why hes sticking to a core group but i think he has the wrong players in his core. thing is, theres no way to tell until it is too late and even then the alternatives wont be allowed to prove themselves then becuz the chance will be gone. so, eventually when the team loses, people will say oh well we just werent good enuff….which may or may not be true…but under jks system one thing will be true: WE WILL NEVER KNOW.

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    • You had me until Klute and Yedlin. Yedlin is still too raw for the A USMNT. Chandler is miles ahead. F. Johnson should be the left back because he can play as a wingback. I have only seen Klute sparingly. You can bring them in for depth but others are called in, they’ll get beat.

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  6. As Charles Barkley says Father Time is undefeated. He will never lose. I will miss Dolo but his time has passed. I think you call in both Chandler and Lichaj and give them each a start

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    • I disagree. If Cherundolo is good enough to play and start for a mid-level Bundasliga team, that should be good enough to punch his ticket to Brazil.

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  7. The right back pecking order probably looks like this w/o Stevie:
    1) Evans
    2) Cameron
    3) Chandler (will move up if called in and plays)
    4) Parkhurst
    5) Orozco
    1,250) Lichaj

    I think it’s now or never for Lichaj in these upcoming friendlies.

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  8. Knees can be tricky things and often times I read about athletes coming back from surgery having inflammation and having to have their knees drained of fluid after they resume actual play. I don’t think this pain issue is unusual. The fact that he is 34 and this is his third knee operation is the most troublesome aspect.

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  9. While I have the upmost respect for Dolo and his contributions to the USMNT, I just don’t see him being able to recover enough, or stay healthy long enough, to realistically be included in the 23 for Brazil. I’ll be happy if proven wrong, but with very little time remaining between now and when the squad is anounced JK and his staff need to look elsewhere to strengthen the Back-Line (particularly the Left & Right Back position).
    While JK has stated he intends to field the strongest squad possible for the European Friendlies in November; he needs to include players that may represent an improvement over the status quo at LB & RB….even if it means expanding the camp roster from 23 to 27/28 players. Bring the current starters & Backups (Evans/Cameron & Beasley/Castillo…) but bring others (Chandler, Licha, even Ream) to really test/evaluate what the depth chart is at both positions.

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    • You make it sound like we have embarrassment of riches at either position. The two players with the highest club pedigree (by that I mean seeing first team action at the highest level possible in that position) are Chandler and Lichaj. Last I checked neither are really in the pipeline. I have a lot of admiration for Beasely, Fabian Johnson, Brad Evans, Edgar Castillo, all guys who fit the mold of the mobile/marauding wingback that JK seems to prefer, but they are still a step down compared to a healthy Cherundolo. I think you let that option play out as long as you possibly can and I see this still being a topic of conversation until May. Plus one has to hope Parkhurst will get a January transfer and get some playing time. We need as many options as possible.

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  10. This is a shame. How beneficial it would be to have an experienced fullback on our squad for the WC who can still compete with our relatively inexperienced outside backs.

    We’re all pulling for you Stevie

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  11. Did anyone see ESPN’s report about Hannover not filing the proper paperwork? It sounded as though he would have played last weekend had the paperwork been completed. Anyone know more about it?

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    • I saw that article, and it was about the game last weekend, so if he’s been training alone the last 2 days, it would appear this is a new issue…
      And not a good sign.

      I’m betting hi probability Chandler gets a call up since scouts were there to see him last weekend. He’s now started 6 straight after only starting 1 of the first 3 , and appeared as a sub twice ( I think one wasn’t a league game)
      So it looks like he’s regained his starting spot

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    • If google translate is working, that’s correct. Same paper had an article from earlier this morning saying he hoped to return sometime next week to full time training and could be back as early as the weekend after this.

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