In terms of injuries, the last year has been pretty tough for Ugo Ihemelu.
The FC Dallas center back endured a hamstring issue early in 2010 that forced him to miss a game, and then in the middle of the season he suffered a concussion and missed 10 more games before returning late in the year.
Now he’s working his way back after having surgery to repair a sports hernia last week. Still, through it all, the veteran defender expects to be ready for FCD’s March 19 season opener with Brimstone Cup rivals Chicago.
“I did some jogging and some ball work,” Ihemelu told MLSsoccer.com by phone from Florida on Tuesday. “I think I expect it to take three weeks, at best, and I’m on schedule for that right now. Hopefully I reach that but the goal is to get back without any other setbacks, so I’m going to take it easy and not push myself too hard.”
Though the injury forced Ihmelu out of the US national team camp in January, the veteran center back admitted he first noticed it last year.
“I had a little something that had been bugging me since about the middle of last season, an adductor issue," he said. "I went through the whole season and with the concussion I got, that gave me time to rest it. Then, it completely went away and during the camp, it flared up again.
"When you’re training at that level, with the national team, it’s hard if your body isn’t completely 100 percent or somewhere close to it. It could lead to complications or other injuries. I think that’s what happened with me.”
FCD head coach Schellas Hyndman has known Ihemelu ever since he coached him as a collegian at SMU. So he isn’t surprised to see the veteran central defender already making considerable strides in his recovery.
“Ugo, of course being the athlete he is and the positive person that he is, I think he’ll be getting down to Florida and probably starting his running," Hyndman said. "And we’re hoping to have him ready [for opening day]."
