Assuming Nagbe is added after the group stages and Pulisic is never going to happen, there really weren't many options from the 40 player roster to choose from besides Tommy Mac & Pontius to replace Saief I would have gone with Mac, but it really isn't a big deal. Pontius has at least been with the team in 2017 under Bruce. He's not going to play much and the US doesn't have much competition in the group stage. MIDFIELDERS (15): Paul Arriola (Club Tijuana/MEX), Alejandro Bedoya (Philadelphia Union), Michael Bradley (Toronto FC/CAN), Joe Corona (Club Tijuana/MEX), Dax McCarty (Chicago Fire), Tommy McNamara (New York City FC), Darlington Nagbe (Portland Timbers), Kellyn Acosta (FC Dallas), Chris Pontius (Philadelphia Union), Christian Pulisic (Borussia Dortmund/GER), Cristian Roldan (Seattle Sounders FC), Kelyn Rowe (New England Revolution), Kenny Saief (Gent/BEL), Wil Trapp (Columbus Crew SC), Gyasi Zardes (LA Galaxy)
Report: new #USMNT mid Kenny Saief to undergo hernia surgery https://t.co/KwIfvgrQOr (ht: @DanielKarell)— Brian Sciaretta (@BrianSciaretta) July 12, 2017 Saief to undergo hernia surgery, expected to miss about 7 weeks.
Bad luck is an ACL. He'll be fine I think Kenny will be with the USMNT again in November for friendlies - if the US qualifies in October
I was at a bar in Ghent last week talking to a few season ticket holders and asked them about Kenny. All of them were very complimentary of him -- "Great player", "Hard worker, with nice skill", "Great character for the team", etc. I was also in Brugge and asked about Horvath and they were excited about his potential and were looking forward to seeing how he develops this season. One of the Club Brugge fans mentioned that they brought in another talented, young keeper and that it would be a tough competition for the starting spot. BTW -- I've travelled all over the world and Ghent is easily in my top 3 cities. Beautiful city, great people, delicious food, and amazing beer.
My multi-lingual brother lived in Belgium many years ago. For him the difference between Belgian food and French food boiled down to "Belgian food is just as good, you pay a bit less for a bit more, and if you ask for a beer, the waiter won't sneer at you like you're a dog dropping on his shoe." Bruges/Brugge and Ghent are incredibly beautiful. If you're in the region, make a detour and go there
Gent tied SCR Altach 1-1 at home (disappointing) in Europa League qualifying. Kenny did not play (obviously).
#USMNT LM Kenny Saief suffers infection after hernia surgery. Return delayed "several more months" h/t @DanielKarell https://t.co/KSlQ8CF52o— Brian Sciaretta (@BrianSciaretta) August 10, 2017 This really sucks.
Suffers an infection after hernia surgery. The infection is not under control yet and is in his stomach. His return is delayed indefinitely with this report saying "it'll take several more months". Aside from soccer, this sounds pretty scary. Hope he gets well soon.
If it got from his skin wound into his peritoneal cavity (the inside of the abdomen), an infection like that could be lethal, especially if it is a strep infection. It can get really bad really quickly.
Sometimes it really sucks to be right. We are all pulling for you Kenny. Get well soon, for yourself and your family.
In all seriousness, where was his initial surgery done? What causes complications after a hernia surgery and how common is it to develop them?
The only news I'm looking for is that he's still alive. Seriously. The wife is a paediatrician and knows a shedload of surgeons. This stuff is very serious in the best of circumstances, but with the spread of antibiotic-resistant superbugs, he could die or be left so drained by the body's efforts to fight off the infection that he will struggle for the energy to hold down a 9-5 office job for some years. Losing 15 kilos in a few weeks while spending 2-3 months hooked to a ventilator (which is what can happen with these new bugs) will do that to you. I may be very off-base here - God I hope so - but this is really major.
Yeah, last report I saw was mid August and he was said to be out at least 2 months with an abdomen infection.
Good news: here's a video of him competing against Renato Neto in soccer trivia for a Gent promo (?) from early October. Kenny's portion begins around the 8min mark. The training shots in the section before are quick cuts, but I thought I spotted him running through drills a few times. At the very least, he's out of the hospital bed. edit: yeah, you can see a clear shot of him around 4:09, he's running stairs and agility with the team, so he's got to be somewhat close to match ready.
Never have I been so glad to be wrong. A very sincere and deep thank you. Now, for the next item on my To-Do List
No problem! I had similar concerns when I heard the news - surgical infections are no joking matter. It feels like there's been significant news on his recovery that we're not hearing stateside, simply because no one covers Juliper Pro. Based on a quick Twitter search, he's still listed as injured and there's no estimated recovery time, but he is sprinting and doing agility workouts with the team, so he's out of the woods and on the road to full recovery. edit: can anyone take a crack at translating this image from Gent's official twitter?
Kenny saief (pubalgie) ook kenny werkt deels individueel en deels met de groep. Volop bezig met het inhalen van zijn conditionele achterstand Kenny Saief (pubalgia - don't know if this is the correct english term) Kenny is partly working individually and partly with the group. He is working on improving his fitness level.