Ante Razov's heroics couldn't have come at a better time for the MetroStars, who announced before Saturday night's 3-2 win against the Columbus Crew that rookie Abbe Ibrahim would be out for the next 3-to-5 weeks.
The speedy striker from Togo suffered a tear in his left lateral meniscus, which will require surgery Monday.
Ibrahim, who has arguably been the Metros most consistent striker this year, injured his knee during the May 21 match against the New England Revolution and was initially diagnosed with a left knee sprain.
However an MRI examination on Thursday revealed the tear.
After leading the reserve team in scoring with four goals, he's been a regular fixture in Bob Bradley's side and has two goals and three assists in just 361 minutes.
"We'll miss Abbe, he's made a lot of progress of late," Bradley said. "But we'll just have to deal with it. He's young so the hope is that he'll return quickly and pick up where he left off."
Without Ibrahim, and with Eddie Gaven away with the U.S. under-20 national team in the Netherlands, the MetroStars are left with just three strikers -- Razov, Youri Djorkaeff and Sergio Galvan Rey.
Galvan Rey, who played the final four minutes Saturday night, scored the lone goal in the Metros' 1-0 win against Columbus in a reserve league match at St. John's University on Sunday morning.
He ran onto a well-timed long ball by Seth Stammler and chipped it over the shoulder of Columbus 'keeper Andrew Terris in the 76th minute.
"Sergio's a threat this year. He's given us some good minutes as a forward, has played a little bit in the midfield as well," Bradley said. "He's certainly someone we continue to use and challenge with the idea that we need him to be a good team player."
Dylan Butler is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
