TORONTO – He's back?
Amongst the lengthy list of players Toronto FC have gone without through large stretches of the season, few are as irreplaceable as Jozy Altidore.
Altidore last played on April 25 in the second leg of the Concacaf Champions League final, forced off in the 85th minute with extra time and penalty kicks looming at Chivas de Guadalajara. In MLS play, he has not been seen since March 30 against Real Salt Lake – in three appearances, he has two goals.
He was quietly removed from the injured list this week and was in the squad for Toronto's 2-1 loss against Orlando City SC last Saturday.
With a flurry of matches ahead – a home-and-home with Chicago Fire beginning Saturday (7 pm ET | Full TV & Streaming info) and the second leg of the Canadian Championship semifinals against Ottawa Fury FC next Wednesday, Altidore is set to make his return.
“I'm excited; excited to play,” said Altidore on Friday. “Obviously, I wish I was coming back in different circumstances, but it is what it is; we are where we are. I'm looking forward to getting back out there to help the team in this tough position.”
Asked if Saturday would come too soon, Altidore laughed: “Well, I'm not the coach. We'll see what happens.”
Greg Vanney, too, was cryptic.
“Jozy has been training now for a couple weeks, we've been working on getting his fitness levels up, making sure that he doesn't feel anything,” Vanney said. “So far, so good.”
“Hopefully, this week we can start to get him minutes and up to max fitness,” Vanney said. “It's been a long break. But physically he feels good. He could play a role as early as this weekend.”
For Altidore, not being able to help his team, just watching, was the hardest part.
“I had the break in my foot. I was playing with it for 18 months,” detailed Altidore. “[We] finally had a point where it was a good time to have the surgery – there is never a good time. I held out as long as I could, but now I feel good, foot feels better. I hope I can have a good end to the season.”
Having undergone surgery to remove bone fragments, Altidore faced a long injury layoff.
“It was challenging. I've never dealt with an injury like that,” said Altidore. “Usually, it's a few weeks; this one was a bit longer: two and a half months and change. It was a different recovery, rehab, but it was made enjoyable by everybody here; I'm just happy to get back out there.”
He joins a lengthy group of players set to return to TFC as they push to climb out of the basement and into an Eastern Conference playoff position.
“Right on the cusp are Chris Mavinga, Gregory [van der Wiel] – he's been a management of injuries thing,” Vanney said. “Victor [Vazquez] has been management. We'll see if this week we can get him going again.
“There are multiple groups,” Vanney added. “Drew [Moor] is hopefully a week and a half-ish away, Auro something similar. We're getting there. We can see the light at the end of the tunnel, it's now how we integrate those guys back into the group and build momentum forward.”
