Photo by David Bernal/ISIphotos.com
Los Angeles Galaxy centerback Leonardo will be out for the season after tearing the ACL and LCL in his right knee in the waning moments of the Galaxy's victory over the Chicago Fire on Sunday.
Leonardo, who had filled in admirably for injured centerback Gregg Berhalter from the start of the season, was hurt during an encounter with the Fire's Dominic Oduro in stoppage time of the match.
Coach Bruce Arena informed reporters that the Brazilian defender will undergo surgery to repair both ligaments and will miss the remainder of the 2011 campaign. He had started and played every minute of the Galaxy's seven matches this season. A.J. DeLaGarza figures to slide into Leonardo's starting role alongside Omar Gonzalez until Berhalter is fit.
How do you think this injury affects the Galaxy?
Share your thoughts below.
Leo will never be the same- not with the injury he sustained in chicago. No one ever fully recovers from those kind of injurys. His career with the Gals is over. He will be released back to Brazil next year, if not at the end of this year.
I feel bad for the kid, but he wasn’t that great yet. He made too many mistakes. Franklin and DLG are good young defenders on the US radar.
Memory of Sean Franklin winning ROTY at CB is still there. Leonardo was the weak link against FCD. DLG is a small stud, but a stud nonetheless.
Maybe the memory of DLG & Omar attempting to corral the potent offense of Dallas has faded from your memory?
CB is a different animal…yes DLG can pinch-hit, but fill in for the 30+ games left…me not think so
This is a big loss for us. With champions league and berhalter being injury prone and just old we needed him. He was growing in confidence and was really showing well. I especially liked his calmness out of the back. Now we need another center back on top of another striker that can score.
either way the defense is actually better with Leo out…they can afford to put in a smaller guy next to the giant that is Gonzalez
bulls#!t, Leonardo was holding Oduro back and basically should have had a foul called against him when he misplanted his foot and twisted his knee. He earned himself that injury by making a stupid foul.
Oduro didn’t know that the injury was real and everyone in the stadium thought Leonardo was taking a dive and faking it to eat the added time. Unfortunate that it was a real injury though.
I don’t think Berhalter will ever be fit. Dude is too old and too injured.
I say bring Frankie in at RB and move Franklin to CB, or leave Franklin at RB and have DeLaGarza play CB.
Beerholder is an old hack
Didn’t Oduro get a yellow card for that? Needless to say, Leonardo was turning out to be a real find by the Galaxy, even on loan. The Galaxy has some good depth, but a lot of depth with vets…er old guys, but use judiciously throughout the season can do the job, but you never want to lose a good younf player so erly in the season.
That was bush league…
Defense isnt the problem for LA…Hejduk, De La Garza, and Franklin give then good depth. They still need another attacking player if they want to be a contender in the end. Chad Barrett isn’t going to win them Champions League games.
Oduro…wow…we’ll never find out but I hope Oduro calls Leonardo to apologize
It is a big loss. LA needs all the healthy bodies they can get…especially when they have the 6 Champions League matches to deal with. We’ll truly see what Arena can pull off.
How much more of a a-hole does this make Oduro for trying to force the guy up during the game? I was slightly amused by the ametuerish tactic when it occurred, but now I just feel bad for the guy. Knee injuries and injuries of any sort suck. Wishing him a speedy recovery!
makes those booing Fire fans look stupid for booing him….they should all get a free tear of the ACL when exiting the stadium.
Good thing LA is deep in the back. Not a big loss. De La Garza and Franklin are both better than him anyway. Forget Berhalter…
get well soon Leonardo. Hate to see a young promising player sustain such a devastating injury. See Colin Clark.
We seem to be falling apart at the seems recently.
Ugh, what a bummer. Even though Leonardo hadn’t played much at all last season, he anchored the defense until Omar came back a couple games ago. He even notched a goal in the process. This is a tough loss. Best wishes to him and LAG.
Tough news. I never like hearing of players being out for the entire season, even if they play for teams that I hate. Hopefully all goes well with Leonardo from here.