Diego Rossi doubtful for Columbus Crew in MLS Cup first round match

On By Littum

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The Crew could be without forward Diego Rossi and several others for Game One of their first-round MLS Cup series against the New York Red Bulls.

The crew’s availability report prior to the first round lists four players as either out or questionable. Rossi is doubtful with a back injury which developed into a problem during the past week’s training rather than being the result of a specific hit.

Rossi is the only player to have appeared in every Crew game this season, including every tournament game and the Aston Villa friendly. In regular season play, Rossi recorded 12 goals and 11 assists.

Along with Rossi, midfielder Taha Habroune (torso) and defender Steven Moreira (ankle) are listed as doubtful. Defenseman Malte Amundsen is unavailable for Game One as he is out with an adductor injury.

It is unclear when Amundsen or Habroune sustained their injuries.

Moreira has been recovering from an ankle injury since the 3-2 loss to Inter Miami on October 2 and has already missed three games. On Friday, coach Wilfried Nancy was unsure if Moreira would be ready to return.

“We have to see a little more,” said Nancy.

Against the Red Bulls in the final game of the regular season, midfielder Mo Farsi was sidelined with a concussion suffered during his time with the Algerian national team earlier this month.

Unlike Moreira’s injury, Nancy was optimistic that Farsi’s concussion would clear up in time for the playoffs, and the availability report indicates that is the case.

Over the previous 48 games, the crew had remained mostly healthy, with only goaltender Evan Bush out long-term after breaking his arm in April.

Sean Zawadzki is fit to return for the Columbus Crew ahead of the MLS Cup playoffs

Even after Sean Zawadzki appeared to be injured two minutes into a Campeones Cup match, he played another 75 minutes. The team would later learn that Zawadzki had a punctured lung and a rib injury.

Doctors initially gave Zawadzki several possible timelines for his return, leaving both Zawadzki and the crew unsure if he would be on the field before the MLS Cup playoffs.

“It was an injury that I couldn’t really process,” Zawadzki said. “It was kind of like, time will tell and take it day by day.

“Obviously it had a huge impact on my breathing, a punctured lung. So it really took time to heal and that’s what worried me the most. Obviously the rib would take time, but I think breathing and that side of things really scared me the most.”

The recovery process included Zawadzki and the medical staff pushing to see how much physical activity and contact he could tolerate while monitoring his breathing. Each day, Zawadzki hoped to no longer feel pain from the simple act of trying to breathe.

Before the Crew’s final regular-season game against the New York Red Bulls, Zawadzki participated in full practice sessions, indicating to coach Wilfried Nancy that Zawadzki was ready to return.

On October 19, less than a month after sustaining the injury, Zawadzki entered the Red Bulls match after 73 minutes.

“Means a lot, especially coming into the last game of the regular season, to get back into it and get that feeling again,” Zawadzki said. “It’s different doing things on the side and the contact you get from there … When you’re actually in a game scenario again, there are nuances in the game and you get your brain thinking again.”

Although Zawadzki admits there is still a lingering sense of discomfort, the midfielder says he is “pretty close to 100%” ahead of Columbus’ best-of-three series against the Red Bulls in the first round of the playoffs.

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