Toronto FC striker Jozy Altidore has undergone a successful operation on his foot and is now facing a six-week recovery period, the club has confirmed.
Altidore is one of the most decorated players in the league who has led the TFC to the MLS Cup and Supporters Shield titles in 2017 among a host of other awards. The 31-year-old is behind only Clint Dempsey and Landon Donovan (both 57) among US national team goal scorers for men’s national teams, and scored 42 times in 115 internationals.
But Altidore has been suspended since 2019 and has played only 27 times for TFC since early 2020 and did four times, with a number of different injuries that kept him from the side.
His latest setback required Altidore to travel to New York to get a second opinion on a foot injury, with the former Sunderland striker finally undergoing surgery to fix the problem.
“Jozy Altidore underwent a successful operation on her right foot today at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York,” read an official statement from TFC on Thursday.
“Altidore was in New York to get a second opinion on what has become a chronic injury and it was decided that he should undergo the procedure immediately. The recovery is expected to take up to six weeks.”
The Canadian side also revealed that midfielder Ralph Priso will undergo surgery on his right ankle, with the promising 19-year-old expecting to miss the rest of the season as a result.
Priso only suffered the injury in an attack that was later flagged offside. Interim head coach Javier Perez has since blasted the verdict urging linemen to keep the flag down, citing this incident as an example of what could go wrong.
“It’s not just my opinion, I think everyone’s frustrated. I find that frustrating for the judges. “Perez said when asked about the game during the TFC’s 2-1 defeat to the New England Revolution.
“When you have that rule, you can not go after the book. You have to go with common sense. I think we see it again and again, we talk all the time – coaches, referees – that this will happen one day. Just by not getting the (offside) call (directly) and letting it play, an injury or serious injury would happen. And it was us (last Saturday) and I think that whoever made that decision — that decision to give the extra time before the flag is set — they must re-evaluate that rule. Because right now it costs us a player who was in good shape.
“I think it’s a rule that everyone recognizes at this point that needs to be reviewed.”
The double injury earns another blow to Toronto’s already disastrous season. The Reds currently support the Eastern Conference with just three wins from 20 games so far.
