The good news for Toronto FC is that the team's beleaguered roster got some reinforcements back from the CONCACAF Gold Cup. The even better news is that one of these reinforcements, goalkeeper Greg Sutton, is apparently in good condition.
Sutton suffered a concussion during the Canadian team's training which sidelined him for most of the tournament. The 'keeper returned to Toronto over the weekend to take an MRI test, and the results showed no serious damage.
"My head is normal, as normal as it can be," Sutton joked. "Now we've just got to go day-by-day now and make sure we take appropriate steps so that I don't regress and make it worse."
The injury, Sutton explained, happened on a seemingly innocuous play during a small-squad game in practice.
"I took a shot to the head, just a regular shot from close range," the goalkeeper said. "It hit me square in the face and then I hit my head on the back of the post. It's happened to me before and this one was a pretty heavy shot."
As with any athlete who has suffered multiple concussions as Sutton has, there is always a concern of lingering side effects. Toronto coach Mo Johnston said Sutton will meet with a concussion specialist on Wednesday, and the team will closely monitoring his condition during the week. TFC's next game is Sunday in Kansas City, but Johnston didn't know yet if Sutton would be back in the Toronto goal.
"Obviously Greg's health is the most important thing," Johnston said. "You can't mess around with things like this, especially head injuries. He's been feeling a lot better of late, and the headaches have gone since the weekend."
In addition to Sutton's concussion, defender Marco Reda suffered a knee injury during training that led to defender Chris Pozniak called in from the reserve list to the national squad. Pozniak ended up playing in four games as Canada advanced to the Gold Cup semifinal.
"I was happy to get in," Pozniak said. "I didn't really expect it after just barely coming in as a reserve in the middle of the tournament."
Pozniak and defender Adam Braz, who was also on Canada's roster, both were available to play for Toronto last Saturday against New England, but didn't make it into the game as TFC suffered a 3-0 defeat at the hands of the Revolution.
The loss marked a tough three-day stretch for TFC's Gold Cup contingent, as Canada was eliminated from the tournament on Thursday after a controversial 2-1 loss to the United States. Canada had a seemingly legal game-tying goal in extra time disallowed due to an offside call.
"It was unfortunate because I think we fared very well in that tourney," Sutton said. "We played some of the best soccer that Canada has played in a long time."
The return of the Gold Cup players provides a bit of depth to a Toronto FC team that has been racked by injuries, suspensions and international absences over the last few games. On Sunday in Kansas City, TFC will be missing five members of the reserve squad who were named to Canada's Under-20 World Cup team.
It was also announced last Friday that defender Marvell Wynne was named to the U.S. team for Copa America in Venezuela. Wynne is currently training with the U.S. team and will be unavailable for TFC for two games at minimum, and possibly more depending on Team USA's results against South America's top sides.
The 21-year-old Wynne could earn his first cap with the U.S. team, and though it will cost Toronto FC a valuable member of their team, Johnston couldn't be happier for his young defender.
"We're excited to have one of our guys play for the national team," Johnston said. "We're excited for Marvell and his family. The kid's worked hard, he deserves it. We'll be watching the games closely."
Mark Polishuk is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
