Dempsey World Cup Injury Worry

Former Revs midfielder Clint Dempsey faces a prolonged injury that could possibly keep him out of the World Cup in June after suffering a knee injury in Fulham's 2-0 loss to Blackurn on Sunday.

The US midfielder underwent a scan on Monday and now awaits the results as several medical experts examine the injury and consider the best course of treatment.

But Fulham coach Roy Hodgson feared the worst immediately after the game.

"The initial prognosis for Clint is not good," he told the BBC in the post-match interview. "It looks [like] he has suffered cruciate knee ligament damage, which if he has keeps him out of action for a while.

"We won't know for certain until the scan is completed on Monday but the doctors are pretty good these days and often their initial prognosis proves to be the correct one."

If the doctors' prognosis proves correct in this case, a ruptured ligament could mean that Fulham will lose their star midfielder for the rest of the Premier League season and that the US could well be without him for the World Cup.

That, coupled with the probable lose of NH native Charlie Davies, who suffered serious injuries in a car accident last October would leave US National team coach Bob Bradley scrambling for offensive options.

For now, though, all eyes are on Fulham, where an announcement is not expected until Tuesday, at the earliest.

“There's nothing to say about Clint currently,” Fulham spokeswoman Sarah Brookes told the Yanks Abroad Website. “He's undergoing medical assessment, and until we have any prognosis that comes from our medical experts, we will not be making any comment. I would imagine that we will know more Tuesday, but as I said, the results from the scan will be looked at by a number of experts to make sure that Clint undergoes the correct treatment and to get him back as soon as possible.”

Dempsey has earned 44 national team caps and has acquired a knack for scoring important goals in big competitions. He tallied the lone US goal against Ghana in the 2006 World Cup in Germany, and scored against Egypt, Spain and Brazil in last summer's FIFA Confederations Cup in South Africa as the US surprised many by reaching the final.

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