Stuart Holden Suffers Knee Injury in 1st Half of Gold Cup Final vs. Panama [GIFs]

Stuart Holden, the oft-injured U.S. midfielder, took a knock to the knee in the first half of Sunday’s Gold Cup vs. Panama. His return from injury was one of the big storylines that developed during the tournament. The 27-year-old missed parts of the last three seasons with a pair of significant knee injuries before working his way back earlier this year. Holden scored vs. Belize earlier in the Gold Cup and appeared well on his way
to reclaiming a place in the U.S. ‘A-Team’ lineup.

Holden knocked knees with Panama’s Alberto Quintero and writhed in pain for a few minutes. It appeared the right knee buckled as it planted following the collision. He later walked off the field under his own power. Mixx Diskerud replaced him in the midfield. (U.S. soccer deemed it a “sprained knee” at halftime.)

Regardless of how the games plays out (it’s still scoreless at the time of this post), Holden’s injury puts a major damper on things.

[GIFS via mshamburger1]