Portland Timbers’ Darlington Nagbe likely to start against New England Revolution on Saturday
Portland Timbers’ 20-year-old forward, Darlington Nagbe, is expected to start against New England Revolution on Tuesday. The Liberian forward was expected to make his debut against CD Chivas in Lamar Hunt US Open Cup but Coach John Spencer decided against risking the player. Nagbe was benched because of a Sports Hernia injury.
The striker underwent hernia surgery earlier this month. Complete recovery was expected to take four weeks, but a quick comeback was made possible owing much to the player’s passion to start his professional career with Portland Timbers.
The Timbers boss did not want to rush things for the youngster. Although Spencer expects big things from the young sensation, he deemed it unwise risking the player before the recovery was complete.
“I don’t want to push him too much in case something happens to him. We’re probably a little over-cautious with him.” Spencer said.
The management has a lot of expectations attached to the player, but according to them, the player has a long road ahead of him and makings haste might waste his potential. The player, consequently, was asked to stay at the sidelines for Tuesday’s match.
Spencer said there could have been a possibility to test Nagbe for the first time in the latter part of the match had it gone into extra time, but a late goal for the Portland side meant the game was decided with in the 90 minutes.
Nagbe has come to Major League Soccer on the back of a great stint at Cleveland Internationals. The flamboyant forward took the team to the top spot in the Herman Trophy. A figure of seven goals to his name won him the title of the Best player of 2010 NCAA season.
The 20-year-old already has the potential of a starter and the manager concurs to the fact.
“He’s a super footballer. He’s one of those guys, where when you’re under pressure, you give him the ball and nine times out of 10 he makes the right decision and the right pass. If all goes according to plan, we could see a young Portland superstar emerging in the next two or three years.” Spencer concluded.
With the speed with which MLS SuperDraft Pick number 2 has recovered from surgery, it will not be a surprise watching the player make his debut on Saturday at Gillette Stadium. Timbers have not won a single game in their inaugural MLS season, and Nagbe might be the lucky charm they need to have the bag their first win.
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/New-England-Revolution-c40026 are 5th on the points table whereas Timbers reside at the bottom of the standings. With the season still in the early rounds, a result would be hard to predict, but one gets the feel that Nagbe might have a say in determining the final result.
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