Afortunadamente no es grave pero estaré fuera 3 semanas seguiré trabajando fuerte como siempre lo hice para seguir disfrutando del fútbol
— Rafa Marquez (@RafaMarquezMX) August 16, 2012
For those of you who don't speak Spanish, that means, "fortunately it is not serious but I'll be out 3 weeks continue working hard as ever I did to keep enjoying the football." According to Google Translate, anyway.
So yeah, Rafael Marquez, public enemy number one throughout most of Red Bull Arena, who was serenaded with boos when he took the field against the Houston Dynamo last week, is out again.
As we noted earlier this week, the Red Bulls seemed fully healthy heading into the weekend. But not anymore. Whether this makes the team better or not (they are undefeated with Marquez in the line-up) this is yet another game Marquez has missed.
Once again, for those keeping score at home...
His suspension held over from last year forced Marquez out for the first two games of the year (2), before coming back for the home opener. He started the game against the Montreal Impact but came off in the 45th minute. He played the next two games before earning a three game suspension for tackling Shea Salinas and coming down with a groin injury, sidelining him for then next four (6). He came back against the Philadelphia Union, but missed the first of two away fixtures against the Impact with a "soft achilles" (7). He came back for the 1-1 draw with Chivas USA, before joining the Mexican national team, taking him out of commission for the Open Cup game against the Charleston Battery (8) and the abomination of a fifth round cup match-up with the Harrisburg City Islanders (9). He missed the 3-1 loss to the Chicago Fire (10) and the draw against the Vancouver Whitecaps (11) with a thigh injury. He played against D.C., but missed the the Red Bulls draw with Toronto (12) and their away loss to New England (13). He came back against Seattle before going down and missing games against Chicago (14), Philadelphia (15), Montreal (16) and Houston away (17).
That's a hell of a return on your $4.6 million investment, am I right, Erik Soler?
Hat tip to Franco Panizo, who tweeted about Marquez's injury en ingles.