Photo by Kieran McManus/ISIphotos.com
By FRANCO PANIZO
SAO PAULO — It turns out Jermaine Jones’ hunch was right.
A day after Jones said he suspected having broken his nose in a 1-0 loss to Germany, a U.S. Soccer spokesman confirmed that was indeed the veteran midfielder’s injury on Friday. Jones is expected to be fine for the Americans’ Round of 16 match against Belgium on Tuesday, and like Clint Dempsey (broken nose) will not wear a protective mask.
Jones injured his nose when he inadvertently collided with the back of teammate Alejandro Bedoya’s head in the second half of Thursday’s defeat in Recife. U.S. Soccer’s spokesman said both Jones and Bedoya underwent concussion protocols, but that neither showed any symptoms.
Another bit of news to come out of the U.S. camp on Friday was that forward Jozy Altidore was continuing to make progress in his attempt to recover from a left hamstring strain. Altidore picked up the injury in the Americans’ Group G opener against Ghana on June 16. Altidore was seen running separate from the team but with a trainer on Friday, less than 24 hours after telling reporters he was feeling better.
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Worried Jones’ injury will affect his play on Tuesday? Think Altidore sees the field against Belgium?
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