CARSON, Calif. – It appears Omar Gonzalez's return to the LA Galaxy lineup could take another week as recovers from the ankle injury he sustained the United States' final World Cup game.
Gonzalez didn't train with the team Thursday or Friday, and head coach Bruce Arena acknowledged he was "unlikely to play" in Saturday's night's Western Conference clash with Real Salt Lake at StubHub Center (10:30 pm ET, MLS Live).
"There's no rush," Arena said as the Galaxy's training session was wrapping up Friday morning. "He hasn't been here for two months, so there's no point."
Gonzalez last played for the Galaxy in a May 3 loss at Colorado, exiting at halftime after picking up a minor knee injury. He skipped the team’s game at Portland the following week because of his knee and has missed the last seven MLS games, plus two U.S. Open Cup matches, while with the US team.
He rolled his right ankle in the 2-1 overtime loss to Belgium in the round of 16 on July 1 and was limited when he trained with the Galaxy on Monday and Tuesday.
"I'm still feeling it," Gonzalez said Tuesday. "Still don't know if I'm going to be up for playing against Salt Lake ... but I'm going to try to get as fit as I can, make sure it's a smart move if I do end up playing."
The Galaxy are home against New England on July 16 and visit Sporting Kansas City on July 19.
The Galaxy, since returning to league play from MLS's brief World Cup break, have paired Tommy Meyer in the middle with Kofi Opare in a 1-0 win over San Jose and with A.J. DeLaGarza in last weekend's 2-2 draw with Portland. Leonardo, who last played in the fifth-round U.S. Open Cup loss to the NASL's Carolina RailHawks two weeks ago, also is available.
