Zack Steffen’s comeback season has ground to a halt.
The Colorado Rapids announced that the goalkeeper departed the U.S. Men’s National Team training camp on Wednesday after suffering a knee injury ahead of a pair of international friendlies and the Concacaf Gold Cup. He will undergo further evaluation in Colorado before the club sets a timeline for his absence, but ESPN reported he’ll miss 4-6 weeks.
Steffen was part of a 27-man training camp roster, which will be trimmed to a final 26-player group for the Gold Cup by the Wednesday evening deadline for all participating countries. He was the second goalkeeper (Patrick Schulte) to be sidelined from camp with an injury.
Steffen is in the midst of a career year and was challenging perennial starter Matt Turner for the USMNT’s spot, but another extenuating circumstance has gotten in the 30-year-old’s way.
Back in October of last year, Steffen was called up to the USMNT for a camp and friendlies, which marked the first camp roster for new coach Mauricio Pochettino and Steffen’s first time back in the fray since 2022. He didn’t feature, but the claw back from a less-than-fruitful stint in England and 2023 meniscus surgery felt complete.
In January, he took the field for the USMNT in a friendly against Costa Rica, during which he kept a clean sheet with two brilliant saves (three total) in his first international minutes in nearly three years.
This March, he was called up again for the final two rounds of the Nations League tournament. After a late mistake by Turner all but cost the USMNT the semifinal match against Panama, Steffen was set to play in the third-place game against Canada before an illness sidelined him.
In a loss at San Diego FC on May 14, Steffen injured an oblique on an odd scrambling play in the first half, which kept him out until he departed for the current USMNT camp on June 1. The club considered him day-to-day for more than a week, but with third-string keeper Nico Hansen playing well, Steffen sat to err on the side of caution.
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On the MLS side, Steffen had been recognized as an early MVP candidate for his heroics in numerous matches, particularly a 12-save performance in a 2-1 win at high-powered San Jose.
According to American Soccer Analysis, he’s second in the MLS in goals added, an advanced metric to measure goalkeepers’ shot-stopping and overall impact, while playing at least 400 fewer minutes than the rest of the top eight. With 48 saves in 11 games, he leads the league in saves per game at 4.36.
The Gold Cup begins June 14. The USMNT plays its first group stage match against Trinidad and Tobago a day later.
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