GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Herculez Gomez's knee troubles may be worse than originally thought, and Club Tijuana coach Jorge Almirón admits the US international may have to undergo surgery.
“With Herculez, there is a little problem in the knee and there is the possibility that it will be operated on,” the Argentine is quoted as saying in a Monday report at Mediotiempo.com. “We were hoping that this week he would have recovered, but it hasn’t happened.”
He added: “Whether he is operated on or not will be analyzed.”
Gomez left the US national team's Gold Cup squad after the group stage, with U.S. Soccer stating that the veteran forward “continues to feel the effects of a knee issue and will head to Club Tijuana to prepare for the upcoming season.”
Almirón initially indicated on July 22 that Gomez would be back in two to three weeks, but his latest comments raise doubts about whether the former Santos Laguna forward will be back in time for September’s World Cup qualifiers.
Club Tijuana play their second game of the Liga MX season on Tuesday at home against Pachuca (10:30 pm ET, ESPN Deportes/Azteca America), with Almirón saying that both Joe Corona and Edgar Castillo will be on the bench after coming back from the victorious US Gold Cup campaign.
“I would’ve liked to have them from the start," said Almirón, "but it doesn’t seem fair to the boys.”
Tom Marshall covers Americans playing in Latin America for MLSsoccer.com. E-mail him at tom.marshall.mex@gmail.com.
