Photo by USA Today Sports
By ADAM TROXTELL
Sporting Kansas City received some bad news after Ike Opara had to be subbed out late Saturday, as it was revealed the defender ruptured his Achilles tendon in his left ankle.
The man who put together a string of important performances for SKC this season now faces a spell on the sidelines, though the expected length of his time out was not revealed in a club press release on Monday. He has been on the field from start to finish of the team’s six games this season, but had to come out of Saturday’s game against Real Salt Lake in the 81st minute.
Additional details on the injury will be released after Opara undergoes further evaluation, the release said. Opara already had surgery on his right ankle, which kept him out of the 2014 season.
After joining SKC following three years with the San Jose Earthquakes, Opara made 21 appearances during the club’s 2013 MLS Cup winning season. He was selected third overall in the MLS Draft by the Earthquakes in 2010. Opara was also named SBI MLS Player of the Month in March.
How big of an issue will Opara’s absence cause Sporting Kansas City? How do you think they will make up for the loss? Share your thoughts below.
have suffered this injury myself. it’s a lousy injury even with today’s treatments
Hope you’re o.k. Back when I was still playing and dealing with achilles tendonitis I was terrified of suffering a rupture.
Get better soon Ike!
Opara is made of glass and that is good. He is a terrible defender with brain lock and has given up numerous goals. How anyone could conceive he is USMNT candidate is brain-dead.
Only chance for him to prosper is to try him as a defensive midfielder. But he is so incompetant that that would probably be a disaster too.
Only people who like Opara will be ones who consider Bill Hamid a USMNT candidate too. Hamid blundered another goal last weekend. Thank God Sean Johnson seems to have left the pool.
It’s time to look beyond the mere athlete and try to find a soccer player in there somewhere.
He was playing realy well this season and the one before he broke his leg, he paired well with either Collin or Besler, actually think stats indicated it was a better pairing with him in.
Really smooth transition to hating other US players. You should have taken the next logical step and ripped on Freddy Adu.
It is interesting that Fredinho has, to my knowledge, never missed significant time due to injury.
you haven’t seen him playing this season clearly. and your point about it being time to look beyond the mere athlete yada yada yada is pure BS. soccer players and athletes are not mutually exclusive, we need them to be BOTH…and more
and then you htrow in commentary about Hamid and Johnson, as if somehow those are related? weak
Bummed for Ike too. But while Observer is way too harsh… IMO, not wrong. Yes, Ike showed some good play, scored some nice goals for KC. But he does that in stretches, and only in stretches. Maybe he could have been more, but with this news, I’m afraid Ike’s national team ship has all but sailed, main issue being rehab taking up time for a. Development and b. Integration into the squad that already has similar athletes with more skill, faster soccer brains, and better awareness.
Ruptured tendon was the same injury that Beck’s had while on loan to AC. While Opara is younger than Becks was this should still be considered a fairly lengthy recovery time frame. Would not expect to see him back on the field this year.
6 months. Potentially could be back in October but unless he is game ready (not likely with that kind of layoff). Young and professional athlete with a ton of rehab resources certainly on his side.
When I saw that Orozco was out of the game with Mexico, to be replaced by Kitchen, I wondered why Opara wasn’t considered. Well, now I know. This used to be a career-ender, but he’s still relatively young. Still, it’s likely that he won’t return until next season. Hope he makes a full recovery. A tough break.
such a bummer
Never saw him play much before I saw him vs the Red Bulls at the start of the season, but was very impressed. He was fast and very athletic. Sure USMNT potential had he continued his form. Only wish him the best because the USMTN needs an athletic CB.
That used to be a career ender but nowadays, hopefully he will come back stronger. Seems like a great guy.
Ahhh….this poor guy is hexed. When he is healthy he is MLS class and should be considered for USMNT, but he has had such bad luck. I hope he comes back soon.
What a shame, guy just can’t stay healthy. Seems as though he was finally living up to the potential that people saw in him coming out of college. I’m guessing this will be a long lay-off, but hoping he can get himself back into form again when healthy.
I feel the exact same. What a shame. Hopefully he gets healthy.
George John 2.0