U.S. national team striker Jozy Altidore has been ruled out for the remainder of the Gold Cup with a left hamstring strain.
After undergoing an MRI on Tuesday in Houston, the test confirmed the strain, and he has been ruled out of action for the next 4-to-6 weeks.
Altidore suffered the injury running for a ball over the top in the ninth minute of the United States' 2-0 victory over Jamaica. He pulled up lame while going for the pass and had to be subbed off in the 12th minute. Juan Agudelo replaced him in the match and figures to start in his place Wednesday night against Panama. Agudelo and Chris Wondolowski are the only true strikers on the U.S. roster.
Altidore's two goals are tied for the most on the team during the Gold Cup. Clint Dempsey has also scored twice. The United States is not permitted an injury replacement, because Altidore was hurt during the competition, according to U.S. Soccer.
What do you think of this development? Who do you think should start up top? Do you think Agudelo and Wondolowski can get the job done?
Share your thoughts below.
He also doesn’t play all that much for NYRB.. Luke Rodgers has been great and so Agudelo has been coming off the bench. He did, however, have one of the goals of the year so far against DC (probably only behind the Hassli’s goal)
mayb this opens the door for freddy adu??
couldn’t these same criticisms be leveled at most U.S. players for this tournament?
True, but then The Shin Guardian usually has much better and intelligent conversation (read: sans trolls) than SBI. We can all do better, lol.
Sad news for Jozy, though I’m glad it’s not worse. I hope it doesn’t keep him from getting a solid club situation settled for the next season.
Agudelo will have to step up for us here, and though he’s young, I have faith he can make a contribution. It may be another assist, it may be a single goal, and if we’re lucky maybe it’s more than that. But for now, stay healthy, track back on D, make some smart runs to open up space, and maybe a little dribbling magic here and there to get us to the final and past Mexico!
Let’s go USA.
Do you mean successful as a soccer nation? I hope not.
+1
First off, Bob has only really started shifting to the 4-5-1 (or 4-2-3-1 if you prefer) in the last year or so with this current group of players. I believe most of the problems we’ve had with it have been because the wrong players were deployed in the wrong positions. In the Jamaica game, for perhaps the first time, he used (or tasked) someone at the CAM spot with genuine attacking responsibities (Kljiestan, beleive it or not!) and it worked wonders! You cant stick three defensive centermids (Bradley, Jones, Edu) in that formation and expect to have any creative attacks! I will be curious to see how we line up tonight.
I see the flair in Agudelo. I see the upside. I see the vast potential. What I don’t see is a US starting quality striker. C’mon, he has only scored 2 goals so far this season in MLS. How can we expect him to perform on an international level if he isn’t even yet a top MLS player?
Now, I admonish I can’t really think of any obvious alternative to Agudelo. Gomez maybe? Ouch, this is painful.
Agudelo is no Altidore, and has in no way shape or form impressed!
Well, Mexico also had an injured player who they couldn’t replace. It’s not an anti-US stance, it’s the tournament rules. Players injured during the Gold Cup cannot be replaced.
The Mexican players who tested positive have not been proven to be intentionally doping, and FMF removed them as a precaution; they weren’t suspended/dropped from the tournament by CONCACAF, so negotiations took place to allow Mexico to call up replacements.
No kidding – a team can cheat and fail drug tests and replace their players, but not if someone is hurt.
You mean too bad we can’t call up gomez and buddle because bunbury has been awful recently
With whom?
He’s irrepleacable for the US!
SBI readers are so much more intelligent than the idiots who respond to US Soccer facebook statuses
i sort of agree but it’s also clear that Bob bradley has told him to go at defenders, make something happen. He’s still young so he’s got to figure out when to go, and when to pass. I do think though that Agudelo will come back tonight much stronger than the first game. He won’t be surprised by Baloy this time around and he’s certainly not afraid of contacr.
Considering he gets good money starting for santos laguna he’s not going anywhere
a few good strikes and some luck has made many a people a lot of money playing soccer
Is England still being punished for the Pax Britannica?
If you consider having a goal gifted to you, missing as many chances as wondo has, disapearing for 3/4 of the canada game and all of the panama game, barely winning any 50/50 balls and having one good strike on goal a great goldcup then you need to educate yourself a little more. Don’t get me wrong good player but not a great goldcup.
I’m not a big fan of the 4-5-1 in the short or long term for the NATS. We have had minimal success with it. It would also limit the amount of time that Agudelo, Altidore, and Davies see the field in the future.
Yes, we have depth in the MF. Two of those players on the wings are aging during this cycle (Donovan and Dempsey) and three of them are very similar players (Jones, Edu, Bradley).
agreed, two game winning goals and an assist. He was on a roll so this is really disappointing.
get well soon Jozy
Going forward, the answer still remains Altidore AND Agudelo at forward — and both still need to improve.
For example, Agudelo has a maddening tendency to either dribble to nowhere or try to take on 2-3 defenders — and it doesn’t work.
He might be figuring it out, as he played the 1-2 with Donovan and squared for Dempsey last match. Yes, young Agudelo, we love your ball skills, but dribble with your head up! Passing always beats dribbling.
And remember, Baloy, Panama’s beast of a central defender, manhandled both Altidore Agudelo fairly easily time around. (Some MLS team should check on Baloy’s status. That dude could start for nearly any MLS side.)
ummm….. agudelo will struggle vs physical panama. jozy has been great for us. its a blow for us.
Freddy, Freddy, Freddy. Just kidding, this is bad for Jozy. He was playing better and his confidence was building. Could have helped in the club season too.
Feel bad for him and hope a swift recovery. He is our best striker and athlete, and when healthy should be on the field. However, his intensity level is so hit and miss. I also think he is grossly misused in the Bradley system. He is weak at hold up play and has trouble making the right runs from that position. He is actually most effective out wide…
Anyway I dont think it hurts the team in the short term (Gold Cup). Bradley needs now to commit to the 4-5-1 and hope Wondo and Agudelo can step up. Dempsey can play the striker if necessary, but it will gas him and he’s already logged alot of minutes. I hope the other two can get us to the final, and then perhaps push Demps up top during that match.
BOON BOO REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
how is it a stretch? we wouldn’t be in the semis without his 2 goals
2 goals so far, both game winners. He’s had a great tournament so far. No stretch needed.
i hate to feed the troll but: Jozy had two game winners in the tourny. you, sir, are an idiot.
Ruh roh.
Not that I’m blaming Bradley for not having a deep striker pool to choose from, but for a team that usually runs a two striker set wouldn’t you expect him to bring more than three? I know Dempsey can be moved up, but it rarely happens with the Nats.
As far as moving forward in the Gold Cup and putting our best players on the field, the 4-2-3-1 is a great idea that limits our dependence on strikers, but HAS NOT WORKED for us against better teams. Maybe substituting Kljestan for Edu will make it work, but I have my doubts.
Great gold cup is definetly a stretch
Is his sister Violet playing soccer anywhere?
that’s really too bad. he was set to have a big impact. godspeed Jozy.
Welcome to Soccer, where the successful countries (read:England and the US) are punished by the unsuccessful ones just so the later can feel good.
yea no sh*t
Too bad we can’t call up Teal.
I agree. I like Agudelo as well, but Jozy is a more dangerous (and important) at this point in his career. I also think that many NATS fans overlook how Altidore creates space for others to attack.
Some people on this site are such a joke
More concerned with Jozy getting healthy for club ball. Gold Cup (and the carrot of the 2013 Confed Cup) is just a warm up, hope he gets healthy and into a good squad somewhere and actually gets minutes. This doesn’t give him an advantage with that though.
I like Agudelo. But for those who think he is better than Jozy, Jozy had 2 goals and an assist in 3 games. How many goals does Agudelo have? Wondolowski?
Lame, foolish, and short sighted. No matter what Agudelo might be, or become, USMNT needs Altidore to continue to grow and prosper. I might argue that his development may be the most important in regard to our chances in WC 2014
It’s time for Agudelo to step up.
Bummer for Jozy and the nats. I know some people prefer Agudelo, but Jozy has grown a lot and continues to grow. Hopefully he can find a good club situation this fall and find some playing time.
I feel uncomfortable heading into Panama, and more specifically Mexico, with only Wondo and Agudelo as natural strikers. Let’s see if they can step it up.
You should feel bad for saying it. Jozy was having a great cup before he got hurt. We would be much better off with a healthy Jozy than just having Agudelo.
So Mexico can replace 5 players who were caught cheating-doping, but we can’t replace a clean player who got injured? Wow
I really hope Agudelo can hold up. Wondolowski has shown absolutely nothing but poor first touches and terrible finishing in the games he has played. He looks way out of his element on the international level.
I feel so bad saying this, but I have to be honest; I am very happy he is out. I hope Agudelo takes advantage of this opportunity.
I’m also glad it wasn’t a terrible injury.
This is a huge blow considering how great Altidore had been in the tournament.
That being said, I feel like if anybody has the ability to step up, it’s Agudelo. He has the class, and confidence, now if he can put it together.
I’m sure Jozy will bounce back from this, but it is a shame considering how well he was performing in the tournament.
Is it too late to fake a positive test result for doping? I mean, then they could replace him, right?