Juan Agudelo will undergo surgery to repair torn meniscus in his knee and will miss at least three weeks. A three to four week timeline for return is what Agudelo said he expected on Sunday, but New York Red Bulls manager Hans Backe said that he could be out for up to six weeks.
The 19-year-old suffered the injury while with the United States' Olympic qualifying team and a MRI on Saturday revealed the extent of the injury. He returned to the New York on Sunday, where he was reevaluated by the Red Bulls' doctors and they made the determination to have him undergo surgery.
With Agudelo out, the U.S. lost to Canada on Saturday night and put themselves in danger of not qualifying for the London Olympics. While Agudelo's absence was hardly the Americans' only problem, it was clear that they missed his presence, which is something that they will have to deal with for the rest of the qualifying tournament.
Not only is the U.S. affected by Agudelo's injury, but the Red Bulls are too. Kenny Cooper stepped into the starting lineup on Sunday to help New York pick up a much-needed win, but he and Thierry Henry are their only two strikers. Luke Rodgers continues to deal with problems securing a visa so now that Agudelo is going to be out for up to a month, the Red Bulls are in huge trouble up top if either Cooper or Henry is injured, tires or loses form.
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