United States men's national team starting goalkeeper Zack Steffen suffered a knee injury in training Monday in Germany, though the injury shouldn't prevent him from participating in World Cup qualifying later this year.
While Fortuna Dusseldorf described the injuries to Steffen and Adam Bodzek as "bad news," sources tell CBS Sports that Steffen suffered an MCL injury and isn't expected to need surgery. The club described the injury as "an inner ligament injury in the knee."
Sources tell CBS Sports that he is expected to miss 4-6 weeks of action.
"It's a simple MCL [injury]," one source said. "No surgery almost for sure."
The Bundesliga has been postponed since March 13 due to the coronavirus outbreak, but things are looking promising for play to resume next month. Teams have been training in small groups for a few weeks now, and the German league's leaders said last week that they are ready to play starting May 9, pending government approval.
Steffen recently was critical about the USMNT, saying that the team has lacked identity and questioning why it took a year for Gregg Berhalter to be brought on as head coach following the failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup.
Steffen, who is at Fortuna on loan from Manchester CIty, has impressed in the Bundesliga despite dealing with injury issues. His current club is in 16th place with 22 points and in the relegation zone. The club has nine games remaining and is four points from safety while boasting the worst attack in the league.
