Toronto FC got the news they feared the most on Saturday, as the club revealed starting goalkeeper Stefan Frei suffered a broken left leg during a workout on Friday.
Frei is expected to miss eight to 10 weeks of action, beginning with the team’s home opener at BMO Field against San Jose on Saturday (1 pm ET, TSN/RDS in Canada, watch LIVE online in US).
Frei went down with the injury while attempting to kick the ball during a scrimmage on Friday. He was promptly attended to by TFC medical staff, fitted with an air cast and helped to the dressing room on crutches before he was taken to hospital for evaluation.
That examination revealed the broken left fibula that will put Frei on the shelf until at least late May, and possibly longer. Frei will undergo an MRI next week to determine the extent of his injury and whether surgery is required.
Milos Kocic will step in for Frei in the interim, but that’s no new task for him. He appeared in eight league games while Frei battled injuries last year and has already appeared twice this season.
He backstopped the Reds to a 2-1 win over the LA Galaxy in the second leg of their CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinal series earlier this month, and started TFC’s 3-1 loss last weekend in Seattle that opened their MLS schedule.
The injury is the second drastic blow in a week to the Reds, who lost defender and Designated Player Torsten Frings suffered a hamstring injury during the loss in Seattle and will miss at least four weeks of action.
