If Fulham is to pull off the improbable and reach the Europa League semifinals, the Cottagers will need to do so without Clint Dempsey.
The American midfielder/forward will miss Fulham's quarterfinal second leg vs. Wolfsburg on Thursday with a thigh injury. He suffered the injury during Fulham's recent win vs. Wigan.
Fulham won the first leg, 2-1, in London, but must now travel to Germany without Dempsey. Top striker Bobby Zamora is also an injury worry, as he battles an Achilles injury.
Here are some other stories to wrap up your Wednesday:
MLS Teams Learn U.S. Open Cup Opponents
The New York Red Bulls will play its first cup match at Red Bull Arena later this month when it plays host to the Philadelphia Union in a U.S. Open CUp play-in match on April 27.
The New York-Philadelphia Open Cup match is one of five announced involving MLS teams for the U.S. Open Cup. The winner of the Red Bulls-Union match-up will face the New England Revolution on May 12.
The Kansas City Wizards will play host to the Colorado Rapids on April 13, with the winner of that match facing the winner of the New England/New York-Philly match.
San Jose will play host to Real Salt Lake on April 13, while D.C. United is expected to play host to FC Dallas on April 28. The winners of these matches will face each other on a date to be determined.
Houston Stadium Project Clears Another Hurdle
The Houston Dynamo's stadium project moved a step closer to reality on Wednesday after the Houston City Council approved public funding for infrastructure improvements around the proposed stadium.
The next step in the process will take place Tuesday, when the Harris County Commissioner's Court must also approve the deal.
In other Dynamo news, former Dynamo striker Joseph Ngwenya is joining Houston on trial. A member of the Dynamo's championship team in 2007, Ngwenya has been a target for Houston for some time, but appears ready to re-join a Dynamo team that can use depth at forward.
Earthquakes deal Amarikwa to Rapids
The San Jose Earthquakes dealt forward Quincy Amarikwa to the Colorado Rapids for a second-round draft pick, the clubs announced on Wednesday.
A third-round pick in 2009, Amarikwa made 24 appearances for San Jose, recording a goal and two assists.
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What do you think of these developments? Still think Fulham can beat Wolfsburg without Dempsey (and possibly Zamora)? Excited to see the U.S. Open Cup match-ups? Starting to believe the Houston Dynamo stadium project is going to become a reality?
Share your thoughts below.
Is the USOC the same thing as the FA Cup/Copa del Rey? Those are some of my favorite tourneys to watch and follow. We need to get some more publicity on these tourneys.
Good luck for Fulham and a speedy recovery for Clint. How sweet would that be to have a US international in a European Final. Pretty damn sweet – that’s how sweet.
I guess knee injuries are just minor things. Granted everyone is different but did a knee injury stop Edu from rushing right back? Did a knee inuury stop Kenny Cooper from scoring like we all know he can. Of course you all saw how easily DMB was able to shake off the effects of his knee injuries. And all true USMNT fans know how lazy Clint is anyway.
These USMNT players are just wimps.
Way wrong… if you have watched Clint since his injury… all he does is make the simple passes…mostly lay offs and many of the true Fulham fans are starting to ask where his creativity has gone… Besides the wonder strike against Juve… he has been solid but quiet for Fulham…
I agree with the blessing in disguise commenters, forcing Clint to take a break for a while now is not a bad thing.
With just what 4 or 5 games left in EPL season, and Fulham above the drop but below Europa spots, a few more wins or losses don’t matter much really.
Without Zamora and Dempsey I don’t see Fulham reaching finals, but who saw them getting this close. Knocking out Juventus with that goal is a pretty good highlight for Fulham fans, anything more now is gravy.
Seriously, I think from now until June we need to wrap our USMNT players in bubble wrap or something!
I agree full-heartedly. Fulham have played somewhere near 50 games this season. That’s amazing. He will be completely exhausted by June unless he takes a couple weeks off.
This is bad for Fulham but good for the US. I hope it’s not too serious.
Well, according to Hodgson, this injury happened in the closing seconds of the Wigan match.
Even worse, Hodgson says this:
“Unfortunately he’s going to be out for a period of time – certainly tomorrow and on Sunday against Liverpool and possibly longer. The scan has shown there is a muscular injury and it’s going to keep him out for a period of time.”
Ugh.
I was at the Fulham-Wigan game at Craven. You could kind of tell something was a bit off, but I just thought he might be a little sick.
Does anyone know why Jose Torres didn’t play for Pachuca tonight? Did Pachuca just rest him or what
Casey is reason enough to bring in more forwards
Slots are based on the mls ranks from last year. In 09 dcu had to play qualifiers as the defending champion.
A complete and total misrepresentation of criticisms made about Dempsey. What HAS been said is that he will disappear for stretches and make some bizarre decisions. He will try to get ‘creative’ and miss the simple, effective option. These are all true.
That said, he is a tremendous player and every Nats fan wants him healthy for the WC.
or the team with a stadium that they don’t pay rent in… i.e. games in Colorado and Salt Lake vs. KC and SJ…
also as runner ups why are DC United playing a play-in game?
Great news for Houston! Vamos Naranja!
What is the logic? They have USMNT and WC star Casey.
this little mini break will be good for Clint…let him lick his wounds. You can only imagine what other pains and other nagging injuries players must be carrying at this stage of the EPL season. Dont rush back Clint!
I was concerned that he came back too soon from the knee injury he suffered in late January anyway. Muscle injury isnt as bad as a tendon,bone break , or connective tissue problem. Unless you completly tear it
Yeah, but with MLSsoccer.com being the craptastic failure that it is, you can’t blame people for taking a week or two to find it. Not many people go to thecup.us, but that’s really the best place to find that info.
Weren’t the matches all revealed a while ago in some Greg Lalas video?
Why are the Rapids bringing in so many strikers? Their first draft pick was Andre Akpan, then they sign Claudio Lopez, now Quincy Amarikwa? What’s going on?
How hard would it be to allow the team with the higher seed to have home field advantage in the US Open Cup? I am not saying this because I am an RSL fan, but flipping a coin just seems dumb?
Oh please let Houston have a stadium. Nothing more annoying than eventually seeing those football lines. Come on DC!!
MLS needs to take a cue from past USL qualifications and use official league matches as USOC qualifiers, if possible. I’m sure teams are less than enthused about having to play an “unofficial” game with little attendance and coverage, and they don’t always use their “A-team” anyway.
Hope Dempsey’s injury is a minor one. On another note, how are we supposed to take the US Open Cup seriously when the final is on a weeknight and usually not televised? It’s a Cup Final and as such should be played on a weekend afternoon with full TV coverage, preferably around the end of the MLS season.
Come on….. Dempsey just cannot catch a break
According to several posters on this site, Dempsey is “lazy” and doesn’t “run” anyway, so why would this injury hinder him?
I call out every single person who slags this man for his perceived ‘lack of effort’ – he is irreplaceable for the USMNT and I pray, that’s right, pray (light candles, make old testament sacrifices, etc.) this injury doesn’t linger for the rest of his season.
A little more news on Dempsey here:
http://www.fulhamfc.com/Club/News/NewsArticles/2010/April/HodgsonPreWolfsburg.aspx