SANTA CLARA, Calif. – The San Jose Earthquakes’ injury-riddled attack has sustained yet another blow: Forward Mike Fucito could miss the Sunday’s match against New York Red Bulls (10 pm ET; ESPN2 in the US, MLS Live in Canada) due to injury.
Quakes coach Frank Yallop revealed Wednesday that Fucito – who started alongside league MVP Chris Wondolowski in the absence of injured target men Alan Gordon and Steven Lenhart – suffered a slight strain to his right hamstring in San Jose’s season-opening 2-0 loss to Real Salt Lake last weekend.
“Mike’s got a bit of an injury, so he could be struggling for the weekend,” Yallop said. “Fucito could be out.”
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Fucito and Wondolowski combined to create several quality chances against RSL, although none came to fruition. The Quakes are still hoping Fucito can pair with Wondolowski against the Red Bulls, although Yallop admitted that if he had more healthy forwards, he probably wouldn’t risk it.
“It’s not [a bad injury], but it’s one of those where, if you’ve got cover, it’s not a problem,” Yallop said. “The reason we built the squad is to cover all the games we have. We’ve got a lot of good players that are out. So we’ve just got to get everyone healthy and then we’ll be fine.”
Yallop said second-year player Sam Garza, who has primarily been used as a winger by the Quakes, would likely start with Wondolowski if Fucito can’t go.
COMPLETE SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES COVERAGE
The Quakes signed rookie forward Adam Jahn, their first-round Supplemental Draft pick, and traded for second-year midfielder Cordell Cato just before the RSL match; both appeared as late-game substitutes as San Jose hunted unsuccessfully for a goal. And the club is still looking for further help along the frontline, Yallop said.
“We’re trying to talk to other teams, but good players don’t get let go at this point of the season, right?” Yallop said. “They ain’t going to let a good player go. So, is he better than what we have already?”
Geoff Lepper covers the Earthquakes for MLSsoccer.com. He can be reached at sanjosequakes@gmail.com.
