Heading into Wednesday's clash against the Eastern Conference-leading MetroStars and this weekend's Sierra Mist MLS All-Star Game, Kansas City Wizards forward Josh Wolff has been battling a persistent aggravation in his knee that may keep him out of both matches.
Wolff was kept out of training on Monday, and said the knee has been bothering for a few weeks, likely since the Wizards' 1-0 victory against the Dallas Burn at the Cotton Bowl on July 10.
"Yeah, probably that week. We have played a lot of games, had a lot of travel, [playing on] hard surfaces and soft surfaces. Maybe along the way I tweaked something here or there," Wolff said. "There's some fluid in my knee, so we're taking a couple days to see how it is and get it looked at."
Fortunately for the in-form speedster, the Wizards schedule will lighten after Wednesday with no MLS match until Aug. 14 when the San Jose Earthquakes visit Arrowhead. Wolff is hoping time and rest will be the remedy.
"We're coming up to a part of the season where I can hopefully get a break, so we'll see what's wrong with it first and worry about it next," he said.
If the diagnosis is unkind, it will add to the long list of injuries that Wolff has endured throughout his career beginning with an anterior cruciate ligament injury to his left knee in 1999. That is leading to Wolff and the Wizards staff taking precautionary measures this week.
"[I'm] probably [questionable for Wednesday] for now until we figure out what's wrong," Wolff said. "It swelled up a little bit. We'll wait to see what the photos say. If I can play with it, I'll play. If not, we'll see what we can do rehab-wise."
Wolff is having his best season since his second year in the league, when he scored 10 goals for the Chicago Fire in 1999, and has also firmly re-established himself in the national team picture, most recently starting and playing well against Poland. A long term injury could be quite a setback.
"It's a long season. We've still got a long ways to go, so if you've got to take a few days off now to see better days down the road, it's far worth doing," Wolff said.
Robert Rusert is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer.
