FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – New England defender A.J. Soares will miss the final three games of his rookie season after undergoing surgery to clear up a lingering left ankle complaint, the Revolution announced on Thursday.
Noted orthopedic surgeon Dr. George Theodore performed debridement surgery – a minimally invasive arthroscopic procedure that usually uses a camera and special surgical tools to clean up loose pieces of bone and cartilage and repair any damage to the ankle joint, according to the Mayo Clinic – at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston on Thursday to alleviate those concerns.
It will take Soares approximately six to eight weeks to rehabilitate his ankle after the surgery, according to a release issued by the club.
“It just makes sense,” Revolution coach Steve Nicol told MLSsoccer.com. “Obviously, we'd like him to play in the remaining games. I think we're stronger with him playing. But it makes more sense to get done what he needs so, at the start of next season, he is 100 percent ready to go.”
Soares will have a firm foundation to build upon as he recovers from that surgery and starts to prepare for his second season with the Revs. The first-round SuperDraft pick (sixth overall) out of the University of California settled right into the squad upon his arrival and soon established himself as a fixture in Nicol's starting XI.
The 22-year-old defender started 28 games (third on the team) in the heart of defense. While most of his contributions came at the defensive end, he also earned plaudits from Nicol for his distribution out of his back and scored his first MLS goal in the wild 4-4 draw at Philadelphia last month.
