After FC Dallas' 3-1 win against the Los Angeles Galaxy on Saturday night at Pizza Hut Park, the burning question centered around the welfare of forward Kenny Cooper, who was on the receiving end of a hard tackle from L.A. defender Tyrone Marshall in the waning moments of the match.
Cooper had to leave the field after the incident, and post-match X-rays determined Cooper had suffered a broken right tibia and would be out for approximately two months.
Marshall also had to leave the field -- after being shown a red card by Jair Marrufo -- and on Wednesday the MLS Disciplinary Committee added another two games to the automatic one-match suspension the sending off would carry.
FCD might have snapped a two-game losing streak and remained atop the MLS Western Conference standings, but immediately following the match, their thoughts were for their fallen comrade. After the locker room opened to the media, the FCD players did their interviews and then went into an adjoining room to meet with Cooper.
Even some two days later, FCD head coach Steve Morrow admitted that the injury to the Dallas native who still leads FCD with four goals was a big blow to his side.
"It's a big blow to us," Morrow said. "It was a strange reaction after the game. We all felt sad for Kenny and that compounded all the bad luck we have had this year. Losing Adrian (Serioux) for half the season at the beginning took its effect and Roberto (Mina) for most of the season was a big blow as well."
The 2007 campaign has been one where FCD has lost a number of key players due to injury. The first casualty was Adrian Serioux, who was acquired from Toronto FC but has yet to hit the field for the Hoops because he had to have knee surgery in February. The Canadian international should return by early to mid-July.
In week two at Los Angeles, defensive midfielder Marcelo Saragosa suffered a knee injury and missed four weeks of action before returning May 12 at Kansas City.
Another current situation that could be resolved involves Ecuadorian forward Roberto Mina, who suffered a knee injury last July and has yet to return to the field for his side. Mina had knee surgery several weeks ago in Argentina and will return to Frisco this week.
The FCD medical staff will then evaluate his status and decide if his injury is season ending. If it is, that will open the door for the Hoops to add Brazilian forward Ricardinho from their South American partner Clube Atletico Paranaense.
"That's three big players out of your lineup and with Carlos (Ruiz) not being around as well, it's not easy to cope with," Morrow said. "Most teams in the league who lose three of their top players would find it's a very difficult situation to cope with. I think the guys reacted to it because here is another injury. It's a bad loss and is going to affect us in the coming months."
Not surprisingly, several of Cooper's teammates had strong opinions about his injury and the tackle that forced him to leave the field.
"We're absolutely gutted by it," said center back Clarence Goodson. "It's a terrible injury to a great guy. It's a crap challenge and an absolute garbage tackle. The game was over at that point and to put in a challenge like that was classless. It's just as simple as that. That pretty much sums it up. That's crap."
Said fellow center back Alex Yi: "I didn't really have a good view of it from the field, but I heard it. Everyone on the team and in the organization feel for Kenny. It's an unfortunate thing to happen to him and is something that could happen to any one of us. Our thoughts and prayers go out to him."
Cooper's injury leaves FCD particularly thin at the forward ranks with captain Carlos Ruiz playing for Guatemala in the CONCACAF Gold Cup. After Saturday's game, Ruiz called a member of the FCD staff from L.A. to check on Cooper and wanted to talk to his teammate to see how his spirits were.
Steve Hunt is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
