By DAN KARELL
U.S. Men’s National Team fans can breathe a sigh of relief.
Hertha Berlin defender John Anthony Brooks took part in full training with the club on Wednesday, the first time he trained regularly with the rest of the squad since suffering a sprained knee in early January. The training recap on Hertha’s website said that Brooks looked very happy to be back.
The injury was the latest in what’s been an up and down season for Brooks, dealing with an elbow injury last fall, the recent knee injury, and getting pulled in the first half and eventually benched after a poor performance last December against Werder Bremen. Brooks began working individually with the ball on Jan. 28 and had been training on his own until now.
It’s unknown whether the 21-year-old German-American could play this Saturday for Hertha at Hamburg but his return to training comes at a good time for his international hopes. USMNT head coach Jurgen Klinsmann’s recent comments on the upcoming friendly at Ukraine suggest that he will call-up a squad of European-based players for the match, which would almost certainly include Brooks.
Brooks remains able to play for both the U.S. and Germany because both of his USMNT appearances came in friendly matches.
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What do you think of this news? Glad to see Brooks recover from his injuries? Think he earns back his starting place for Hertha this season? Do you see Klinsmann selecting Brooks for the Ukraine friendly?
Share your thoughts below.