US Under-20 national team coach Tab Ramos expects midfielder Luis Gil to be available when the team begins World Cup play against Spain on Friday, despite a concussion scare for the Real Salt Lake youngster in the final warm-up friendly.
The 19-year-old suffered a knock to the head just before intermission of last week's 3-1 tuneup win over Portugal, but has been given the thumbs up to resume prep work as the scene switches to Istanbul for the tourney opener at Galatasaray's Ali Sami Yen Stadium (Friday, 2 pm ET, ESPN2).
"Luis took a pretty hard hit in our game Friday," Ramos told reporters during Tuesday's conference call. "He was out of practice a couple days, but fortunately for us, he was able to fully practice today.
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"As far as we know from our medical staff, we feel like by [Wednesday] he will be cleared to play. We will have to wait until then to hear that, but I’m pretty confident that he will be available for us on Friday."
Gil had two goals and an assist to help the team qualify for World Cup last winter. He has two goals and an assist in 14 MLS games this season for Real Salt Lake.
