Altidore ankle is US concern

Associated Press

PRETORIA, South Africa

Jozy Altidore ran sprint after sprint while a fitness coach looked on.

He was held out of Saturday’s exhibition win over Australia, thee days after spraining his right ankle in training, and he tested the joint Sunday as the United States held a light workout at Pilditch Stadium before about 350 invited children from several groups.

“It seems like he’s getting a little bit better,” goalkeeper Tim Howard said. “It’s going to be sore, of course, but we’ve still got a long way to the game, you know, a long way in terms of needing time to heal. I think he’ll be fine, but again, that’s barring any setbacks.”

It’s hard to know how banged up the 20-year-old forward is: U.S. Soccer didn’t make Altidore available to reporters.

While coach Bob Bradley left training without speaking to the media, he responded to questions in an e-mail through spokesman Michael Kammarman.

“Jozy has been able to add to his workload every day, which has been positive,” Bradley said. “We are pleased with his progress and will continue to move him forward. The team has a day off tomorrow, so we have another opportunity to work with him individually and gauge his status for training.”

If Altidore isn’t healthy for the Americans’ World Cup opener against England on Saturday, options have emerged. Edson Buddle scored his first two international goals in Saturday’s 3-1 victory. Herculez Gomez got the other goal, his second in two World Cup warmups he’s played. Speedy Robbie Findley stretches the defense, even if he missed an open net and hit the crossbar with another good scoring chance.

When the team gathered at Princeton, N.J., in mid-May, Altidore was the only given at forward. Brian Ching and Eddie Johnson, both coming back from hamstring injuries, were cut to make room for the other three.

“All the talk surrounding training camp was that Charlie Davies was injured, and it gave an opportunity with some new faces,” midfielder Stuart Holden said.