Hulking centerback Oguchi Onyewu may well be the biggest X factor in the U.S. national team’s World Cup hopes, both figuratively and literally.
The knee surgery he had seven months ago today — and whether he can return from it — will play a huge role in how far Team USA can go next month in South Africa.
When the 6-foot-4, 210-pound AC Milan defender suffered a torn patella tendon while playing for the U.S. squad on Oct. 14 against Costa Rica, many questioned whether he would be able to come back in time. Watching him run with a seeming limp in yesterday’s practice at Princeton didn’t quell those questions, just underscore his importance to the U.S., which begins play June 12 against England.
“You’re telling me [about a limp]. I don’t feel it. I feel fine . . . I’m not concerned. I’ve been doing double days in Milan, so the rust factor won’t be an issue,” said Onyewu, who inked a one-year extension this week with AC Milan, a year he has offered to play for free after being limited to just one game last season.
“From day one people were like ‘Oh, Onyewu’s going to miss the World Cup.’ I’d read it and turn the page to the funny section. I always say I know who I am and what I’m capable of, and nobody from the outside can tell me what I’m capable of doing besides me.”
It’s been an arduous recovery from an injury so severe, Onyewu said, “When I saw my knee, that’s when I knew something was wrong. My kneecap was in my quad.”
Onyewu said doctors ripped tendons from the bottom of his knee and put a “wire-like material” through them. They drilled holes through the kneecap and threaded them through to strengthen it, giving one knee a different appearance. But he said “it could look like this [Gatorade bottle] as long as I can play.”
Then came the rehab, done in Italy, L.A. and Delaware, the latter alongside Charlie Davies, the American forward who was nearly killed in a car crash that same week.
“We motivated each other,” Onyewu said. “There was a lot of soul searching. It’s not easy to watch your team on TV and know you’re not capable of doing that yet.”
On Tuesday, he’ll get his chance when the U.S. plays the Czech Republic in a tuneup in East Hartford. If he can impress, he may reach another World Cup. The last wasn’t kind, called for a penalty he termed “an injustice” in a 2006 loss to Ghana.
“A lot of people are saying I won’t come back like I was,” Onyewu said. “I’m going to agree. I won’t come back as I was: I’m going to come back stronger.”
