FRISCO, Texas – Blas Pérez was back at FC Dallas Stadium on Thursday after missing the last two weeks on international duty with Panama, and he's ready to return to action despite the travails he endured on the road.
He contracted diverticulitis while he was with his national team and was forced to miss Panama’s World Cup qualifier against the USA in Seattle, which saw the Canaleros drop a 2-0 result.
Luckily for FC Dallas fans, though, he looks to be fully recovered from the illness and should be available for the team's home game against Sporting Kansas City on Saturday (8:30 pm ET, watch on MLS Live), according to head coach Schellas Hyndman.
“He’s just tired. He’s been gone for two weeks training hard, competing, traveling," Hyndman told MLSsoccer.com after practice Thursday. "He said he got stepped on a little bit, but he’s OK. What we wanted to do was give him some time to re-gen today, tomorrow and then hopefully have him playing on Saturday,”
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With Pérez healthy and Kenny Cooper available after missing last weekend’s match in Portland to be with his family following his father’s heart attack, Eric Hassli is likely to be rested. The French striker had to come off in the ninth minute against the Timbers with an injury, leaving Dallas without a true forward.
“He just had an inflamed lower back,” Hyndman said of Hassli's status. “A big part of it was he played 70-80 minutes against Houston and then sat on an airplane all the way up to Portland. Beds didn’t feel right and it just was painful. Now we got him some medication, so when we travel in the future, it shouldn’t be a problem again.”
Matt Barbour covers FC Dallas for MLSsoccer.com.
