Bolton midfielder tears anterior cruciate ligament in CONCACAF Gold Cup final.
The extent of Stuart Holden’s injury has been revealed after an MRI scan, with his club Bolton confirming the injury as a torn anterior cruciate ligament. Holden went down in the 18th minute of the CONCACAF Gold Cup final, in which the USA beat Panama 1-0 thanks to a Brek Shea tap in.
The 27-year-old has spent long periods of his career on the treatment table, having his leg broken by Nigel de Jong in 2010, then suffering a knee injury against Manchester United which, following subsequent complications, kept him out for over a year.
Holden put out a positive message through a post on his twitter feed, although his ambiguous hashtag may need rethinking.
I will rise again! Big love and thx to all the @officialbwfc and @ussoccer supporters, we will conquer once more. Lets do this #noholdenback
— Stuart Holden (@stuholden) July 29, 2013
His national coach Jurgen Klinsmann added his support to a number of online well-wishers: “We are absolutely devastated for Stuart,” said Klinsmann.
“He is such a great part of our team on the field and the locker room. He worked tremendously hard to recover from previous injuries and had really come back into form. He was fully prepared to head back to Bolton and challenge for a starting spot. Now he will have our full support as he goes down this road again, and we will be with him every step of the way.”
The injury means Holden will miss a significant chunk of Bolton’s championship season, which begins this saturday against Lancashire rivals Burnley.
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