Washington, D.C. (Sports Network) - U.S. defender Oguchi Onyewu tore a tendon in his left knee Wednesday night and could be sidelined for up to four months.

Onyewu, who signed with Italian giant AC Milan this offseason, was injured in the 83rd minute of the United States' 2-2 draw against Costa Rica in World Cup qualifying. The U.S. won the CONCACAF qualifying group.

The central defender slipped on the slick grass at RFK Stadium and tore the patellar tendon, taking another starter out of the Americans' lineup. Striker Charlie Davies was severely injured in a fatal one-car accident Tuesday.

Davies suffered a lacerated bladder, two fractures in his right leg, facial fractures and a left elbow fracture. His injuries are likely to sideline him through the 2010 World Cup, which is in South Africa in June.

"Obviously," U.S. manager Bob Bradley said, "we've had two days of tough news and Gooch has been such an important part of our team.

"He's young, he's healthy, our doctors are good. He's someone that we're sure is going to get back and ready to go. But, nonetheless, it's another setback for us."

The U.S. currently has just one match scheduled between now and the World Cup, a Nov. 18 trip to European qualifier Denmark, but will add more matches as it continues to tune up for the tournament.

AC Milan CEO Adriano Galliani was upset to learn about the injury, although Onyewu has played just 30 minutes for his club this season.

"I'm very angry because once again the national teams take players and we lose out due to injuries," Galliani told Gazzetta dello Sport. "This is a problem that needs to be resolved.

"We at Milan are expecting compensation from the American federation. We can't pay a player who can't play for six months."

Join the discussion

The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. In order to post comments, you must be a registered user of MiamiHerald.com. Your username will show along with the comments you post. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.

     Showing: Oldest first Newest first Most-recommended first Least-recommended first

@Nyx.AuthorDisplayName@ wrote on @Nyx.PostedAtTime@:

@Nyx.repliedToText@

@Nyx.replyAnswerText@

Reply to this Comment @Nyx.Recommender@ @Nyx.AbuseReporter@