The start of the week has not been kind to Zack Steffen.
Fortuna Dusseldorf announced on Monday that Steffen suffered a knee ligament injury during their morning practice session, and is out for an indefinite period as a result. Dusseldorf did not specify if the American goalkeeper hurt the same knee that caused him problems last fall, nor did the club provide any more details as to the severity of the current injury.
“When players get injured and cannot take part in training for a certain period of time, it always hits us hard,” said Fortuna Dusseldorf sporting director Lutz Pfannenstiel. “With Zack Steffen it is particularly annoying. We had just gotten a grip on his patella tendon problems thanks to hard work. Now Zack has to pause again with a knee injury, which has nothing to do with his previous complaints.”
Steffen’s injury comes as a blow for both the 25-year-old netminder and Fortuna Dusseldorf, which is readying for the resumption of the German Bundesliga season. The league came to a halt because of the COVID-19 pandemic in March, but is hoping to restart the campaign in early May.
Steffen, who is on loan from Manchester City, has been the starter for Dusseldorf when healthy this season. Injuries have, however, prevented his participation at points throughout the season.
The U.S. Men’s National Team’s No. 1 had issues with his left knee last fall, and they resurfaced over the winter to the point that he returned to Manchester for knee examinations. He was subsequently ruled out of the USMNT‘s two March friendlies, which wound up being canceled due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Steffen has started each of the 17 league games he has played this season for Dusseldorf, posting two cleansheets for the relegation-threatened side.