Stuart Holden suffered in his third serious knee injury in the past three years, all but ending his career with the USMNT. (Credits: MexSport) |
Holden arrived on the European stage long before he cracked the U.S. starting lineup, inking a deal with Sunderland right out of college. The misfortunes began immediately as Holden was knocked out by a Newcastle fan at a bar before he even played a game for Sunderland. With a fractured eye, he was unable to suit up for Sunderland and eventually transferred back home to play for the Houston Dynamo, where he starred for three years. Then the 2009 Gold Cup happened and things changed. Expectations grew and Holden's chances to be a mainstay on the U.S. top tier squad became a distinct possibility.
The 23-year-old at the time might not have wowed people on the stat sheet, scoring two goals in six tournament games, but he made his presence felt dominating the midfield and providing the Americans with precision passing, deft touch and beautiful crosses. Oh and this magical strike, that saved the U.S. from a potentially embarrassing loss to lowly Haiti. The U.S. later embarrassed itself in the final by getting drubbed 5-0, but that's neither here nor there; the USMNT had found another promising midfielder to add to its growing collection with Michael Bradley and Clint Dempsey.
After his spectacular run of form in the tournament, Holden signed on with another Premiership team, this time Bolton. Getting his feet wet in his inaugural few Premier League games was key as he started and played a full 90 minutes several times in the 2009-'10 campaign. 2011, however, was the year that Holden emerged as a legitimate player even on the English stage. Helping Bolton to as high as a surprising seventh place, the rising star was named Bolton Player of the Year despite the first of what would become several debilitating knee injuries, the first of which occurring in March of 2011.
Since that injury, the now 27-year-old has had a hard time staying on the pitch. It certainly hasn't been because of skill, as we had watched him grow almost every time he touched the field. But, as we know in sports, sometimes things just don't work out. Holden's effort to recover from each injury has been relentless, yet to no avail. He finally seemed to have found some consistency, returning to his Gold Cup stomping grounds this year and playing particularly well. Yet, as much as he was apart of one of the most dominating Gold Cup squads the U.S (and CONCACAF) has ever seen he couldn't finish the job. Holden was escorted off the pitch late in the game and it was later discovered that he had torn his ACL. Stuart Holden's career with the United States is, barring some sort of Adrian Peterson-like miracle, over.
It's just another case of "What If" for the Americans. Like Charlie Davies, Holden exploded in 2009 and now injuries have left both of them unlikely ever return to their promising form. I remember how excited I was for the future with Davies, Jozy Altidore, Holden, Michael Bradley and the like. Now I'm excited for almost a completely different cast of characters and that might just be the one of the best things ever said about the United States Men's National Team.
Sad to see Holden struggle to stay healthy for the majority of his prime. Not only was he an exciting and rising talent, but he was a charismatic guy. Like Landon Donovan, he was the kind of guy that could do wonders for the team's stock off-the-field, which probably would've help the viewership and interest in the team on the field. Opportunity lost.
But life's unfair, and it throws some mean curveballs at you. For Holden it's been a whole heap of garbage thrown at him. For the U.S. it's time to move on from the oft-injured, once auspicious midfielder and I think they'll do so in fine fashion.
Beautiful thing about Jurgen Klinsmann's Americans is that they are deep, dare I say scary deep. Only time will tell on that last statement.
Speedy recovery Stu. Go USA.
0 comments:
Post a Comment