SEATTLE — For all the positives DeAndre Yedlin said he got from his time with the US Under-20 national team at the U-20 World Cup, there was at least one glaring negative: a separated shoulder.
Neither Yedlin nor the Seattle Sounders coaching staff seemed to be very concerned about the long-term prognosis, but the right back is at least questionable for Wednesday’s game vs. D.C. United (10 pm ET, watch LIVE online).
“Early on [in last week's 4-1 loss to Ghana], I got clipped from behind and I fell directly on it,” Yedlin, with an ice pack wrapped around his shoulder, told reporters at Monday's training. “Then I didn’t really know what happened to it, felt a little irritated. The next play I tried to jump and I extended it too far, and I guess it’s a separation. It’s feeling pretty good. We’ll see about Wednesday. I’ll just take it day-by-day and see how if feels.”
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Before his injury, Yedlin was having a solid tournament and was generally hailed as one of the top players on a team that was eliminated in the group stage after going 0-2-1 and was outscored 9-3. Although it would be unfair to chalk it up entirely to his absence, the US were outscored 3-0 after he was forced to leave the final game against Ghana.
Even Yedlin had to admit that he was up against a new class of player.
“Those players obviously are in a very different environment than this,” Yedlin said. “Their training is very technical. All those players are very technical. They’re definitely a handful. [Gerard] Deulofeu from Spain is probably the fastest players I’ve ever played and he’s very technical. I have to learn to play against players like that.”
The disappointing result aside, Yedlin seemed to think the experience was not just positive but perhaps a good measuring stick for where he needs to be in order to play on the biggest stages.
“Just to see the level of those players are at and see where I need to get to to one day play in Europe is great,” he said. “It’s good to get it first hand. It was a great experience.”
