Stuart Holden Diagnosed With Torn ACL In Knee To Add to His Injury Woes

US and Bolton Wanderers midfielder Stuart Holden has been diagnosed with a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his right knee after having a MRI exam to evaluate the extent of his injury he picked up in the 2013 Gold Cup Final.

While Holden is a gifted footballer, he has had a horrible history of injuries throughout the last few years. In 2010, Nigel de Jong broke Holden’s leg during a friendly, which put Holden out of action for six weeks. In March 2011, Holden suffered a knee injury against Manchester United. After six months out, Holden returned to action in September 2011, but was then ruled out for six weeks to bring forward a follow-up procedure. When time came for the procedure to take place, the procedure revealed cartilage damage, which meant that Holden would be out for an additional six months.

Earlier this year, Holden returned from injury and made four appearances for Sheffield Wednesday as part of his road to full recovery.

The former Sunderland and Houston Dynamo footballer played for the United States in this summer’s Gold Cup. That was until he was substituted in the final after picking up an injury in the 18th minute of the game against Panama.

Today after being evaluated by Bolton Wanderers medical staff, Holden is set to be out of action for a considerable amount of time. That’s horrible news for Holden, Bolton and the US men’s national team.

“We are absolutely devastated for Stuart,” said U.S. head coach Jurgen Klinsmann. “He is such a great part of our team on the field and the locker room. He worked tremendously hard to recover from previous injuries and had really come back into form. He was fully prepared to head back to Bolton and challenge for a starting spot. Now he will have our full support as he goes down this road again, and we will be with him every step of the way.”