After a couple of months on the sidelines, Jozy Altidore is finally nearing a return from injury.
The Toronto FC and US national team striker has been out since May 14, when he suffered his fourth hamstring injury in two years in a match against the Vancouver Whitecaps. He returned to TFC training last week, but didn’t make the gameday roster for the team’s win against Chicago on Saturday or draw at Columbus on Wednesday night.
He spoke to ESPN FC on Wednesday about his injury, telling the outlet that his rehab is going well and that he’s just about ready to return to the 18.
“It’s going really well, it’s coming along,” he said. “I’m happy to say I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. So I’m in good spirits, I’m feeling much better and I’m excited to be playing again.”
“That’s hard to tell [when I’ll return] because it depends on the coach,” he continued. “I think I’ve shown my fitness now and it’s just trying to work my way through it and everyday just try to get stronger and get better.”
Altidore, who spoke to ESPN from their studio in Southern California, could get back on the field on Saturday, when Toronto takes on the San Jose Earthquakes at Avaya Stadium (10:30 pm ET; MLS LIVE). Should he see the field, he’ll rejoin a TFC team in fifth in the East and unbeaten in their last three despite a slew of recent injuries to key players Michael Bradley, Will Johnson and Clint Irwin.
Canadian striker Jordan Hamilton has filled in for Altidore in recent weeks, starting TFC’s last five contests and scoring three goals in that span to help keep the club above the red line. Altidore had no goals and two assists in eight league contests prior to his injury.
“We’ve been unlucky with injuries the last year and a half, myself included, but I think it shows a lot in the depth of the team. A lot of the young guys have stepped up and played some really important minutes and kind of kept us afloat to keep us in a striking position for the playoffs,” Altidore said. “I think we’re in good shape. We still have a lot of guys out injured that we have to get healthy, obviously we have to work on that, but I think looking at the second half of the season we have all the tools in place to make a deep run and hopefully compete for MLS Cup.”
