Columbus Crew SC coach Caleb Porter said he has sent defender Vito Wormgoor home after picking up an ankle injury on Saturday, eliminating him from consideration for the remainder of the MLS is Back Tournament.
Additionally, the undisclosed Crew player who had a confirmed positive case of COVID-19 has not yet been cleared to return to training, Porter said, though he believes that is not far off.
Porter had to bring Wormgoor off for 20-year-old Aboubacar Keita after 17 minutes of Columbus' 4-0 win over FC Cincinnati.
"Vito has left the bubble to get his ankle evaluated by our team doctors," Porter said. "It’s serious enough where we thought that was important for him to leave and get evaluated. As far as what that means and what’s going to happen, we’re don’t know that for sure but he’s definitely out for the rest of the tournament."
In Wormgoor's absence, Keita could assume the role next to Jonathan Mensah, or Porter could rely on a rotation that also includes Josh Williams and Axel Sjoberg.
"Vito’s very unique, we signed him because he is a winner and he’s a warrior and he’s very focused and you know what you get with him, game in and game out," Porter said. "We’re certainly going to miss him, but with his door kind of closing, we have other doors opening with Josh and and Bouba. Josh didn’t get the opportunity — Bouba, we decided, was the right fit [Saturday] but moving forward we have a lot of options in Josh Williams and Sjoberg."
It also appears unlikely the player missing due to COVID-19 will be able to make much of an immediate impact when he returns, Porter said.
"[He’s] not cleared to return to training yet, but he’s been let out of isolation and he’s the final stages so he should be cleared," Porter said. "But he’s been out for nearly 14 days so we’ll gradually work him back in. It would be a real stretch for him to see minutes in these next couple games."
