The left knee injury that prevented Branko Boskovic from traveling to Houston with D.C. United is more serious that it was first thought, an anterior cruciate ligament strain that could require surgery and sideline United’s highest paid player for a couple of months.
“It’s a nightmare,” said Boskovic’s agent, Dejan Drobnjak. “Branko can’t believe it. He’s sad and shocked.”
Drobnjak said United has recommended to Boskovic that he undergo surgery, but Boskovic is seeking a second opinion from renowned knee specialist Dr. J. Richard Steadman, and an answer is expected early next week.
A call to D.C. general manager Dave Kasper was not immediately returned, and the team has not yet confirmed the severity of the injury. [Update: D.C. United has confirmed that Boskovic has torn the ACL in his left knee.]
Boskovic has appeared in four regular season matches this season, with his lone start at Colorado, and he started both of D.C.’s U.S. Open Cup qualifying contests.
He was hurt at the end of Tuesday’s 3-2 U.S. Open Cup qualifying loss to New England, a match in which he had scored both of United’s goals and was the team’s most dangerous player, as he had been last Thursday as a second-half substitute in D.C.’s 4-0 thrashing by New York, hitting the goal frame twice down the stretch. After scoring in the 82nd minute against the Revolution – his second goal in 10 minutes – Boskovic was felled moments later on a challenge from rookie Alan Koger and left the match even though United was out of substitutes to replace him.
“On the field, I feel pain, and I think, ‘This guy broke my leg.’ But now it’s better,” said Boskovic after the match. “I don’t think, ‘This guy want to hit me,’ but the ball is between us, and he go same like me, and I think it’s not a bad foul or something like that.”
On Wednesday, D.C. United assistant coach Chad Ashton said an MRI on Boskovic’s knee came up negative, and Friday morning the team revealed that he did not travel with the team for its regular season match against the Dynamo.
The news is a double blow. First, it hurts D.C., which has been in sore need of a central creative spark, getting only limited production from Dax McCarty in a two-way role.
The injury could also rule Boskovic out of contention for the Montenegro national team’s Euro 2010 qualifier against Bulgaria on June 4. Montenegro is tied with England atop the Group G standings at the midway point of the qualifying round.
