HOUSTON – A week ago, the Houston Dynamo had five players preparing for international call-ups. Due to some ill-timed injuries, that number has now dwindled to three as Corey Ashe (groin) and Jermaine Taylor (left shoulder) have withdrawn from national team duty.
Ashe and Taylor were originally set to leave the Dynamo after the 1-1 draw with Sporting Kansas City. But instead of being in Jamaica and Columbus, respectively, the pair was at Dynamo training Tuesday getting treatment for the ailments that will keep them sidelined from international duty.
“Being in a situation like this where it’s a few weeks before leaving for your national team, it’s tough,” Taylor told MLSsoccer.com. “But you have to keep mentally strong and be tough doing your rehab and take it from there.”
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Taylor, who was slated to appear in a friendly and three World Cup qualifiers, will miss the most time. A collision with Dimitry Imbongo two weeks ago led to a left shoulder injury that ruled him out of the weekend's draw in Kansas City and the upcoming international action.
Taylor said he is in the second week of a three-week recovery timeline and couldn’t risk further damage.
“If I risk it and things happen, next will be a surgery and that’s one thing you want to stay away from,” Taylor said. “It’s going to be a tough task that’ll test our team. I’ve watched a couple of the reports and [Jamaica] sound pretty confident.”
Unlike Taylor, Ashe’s injury will only rule him out of a friendly vs. Belgium. But the injury,suffered during the second half on Sunday, is surely a blow for a player that was looking at his first opportunity in USMNT camp.
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“It was a great opportunity for him and you feel bad for him because this happened and just hope that his continued good play gets him another call-up,” head coach Dominic Kinnear said. “It’s a setback but I don’t think it’s going to set him back too far.”
Darrell Lovell covers the Houston Dynamo for MLSsoccer.com.
