After two weeks on the shelf with an Achilles injury Houston Dynamo midfielder Boniek García was back on the field on Thursday, training for the first time since April 5 in Portland when he was ruled out against the Timbers.
Since then, the midfielder has watched from the sidelines while the Dynamo have split games with the Timbers and Chicago Fire. While he admitted that he is not 100 percent, he will travel this weekend and hopes to return to the lineup for the first time since March 30 when the club faces Toronto FC on Saturday (3 pm CT, KPRC Local 2).
“It’s been frustrating for me, honestly,” García told MLSsoccer.com through a translator on Thursday. “Not being able to be out there and to contribute [has been difficult], but they’ve been able pull out good results and that’s what’s important. Today I got on the field for the first time and hopefully I’ll be able to crack the 18 this coming weekend.”
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“You always like it when all your players are healthy,” added head coach Dominic Kinnear. “We’ve missed him for a couple of weeks and to have him train today was a good thing.”
The missed time is another step in a slower start to 2013 than most projected for García.
After bursting out of the gates with an impressive debut MLS campaign last season, the midfielder has not rekindled the same type of impact as he down the stretch last season. Through four MLS games in 2013, the energy has been, there but García has managed just one assist.
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“It’s been a bit of a rocky start this season and it’s been difficult because I’m not able to produce the way I’m used to producing,” he said. “But it’s a long year and I’ll get better and we’re making an effort to get better.”
García picked up the knock in CONCACAF Champions League play against Santos Laguna. The injury plus some heavy lifting while splitting time with the Honduran national team and the Dynamo caught up to the energetic midfielder.
“When talking to the doctors that’s been a possibility and it’s something that was full explained,” García said about the impact of his playing time. “There was a period of about two weeks where I really didn’t do much and that was an opportunity to recuperate. Now, of course, I’m fit and back on the pitch and hope to do great things going forward.”
Darrell Lovell covers the Houston Dynamo for MLSsoccer.com.
