Tough Breaks for MLS

Major League Soccer lost a pair of stars this weekend as both Seattle's Steve Zakuani and the reigning MVP David Ferreira broke bones this weekend. Zakuani went down first on Friday night breaking both his tibia and fibula when hit by a crushing tackle from Colorado midfielder Brian Mullan. Zakuani has already undergone surgery for the compound fractures in his leg and is not expected to return this season. Mullan was ejected on the play. Ferreira sustained a double fracture in his right ankle on Saturday against the Vancouver Whitecaps when he was on the receiving end of a hard tackle from Jonny Leathers. Ferreira needed to be stretchered off the field and it's speculated that he too will require surgery. Reports state that the surgery will not be scheduled until Ferreira returns to Dallas. This is a crushing blow for both teams and the league as it loses two of its more dynamic players.

The 23 year old Zakuani tied for the team lead with 10 goals for the Sounders last season to go along with 6 assists. Zakuani was also tied for the team's scoring lead this season with a pair of goals in 6 games. Zakuani was a star at Akron where he led the nation in goals in 2008 with 20. As a rookie in 2009, Zakuani led all first-year players in goals (4) and assists (4). Zakuani made his international debut playing for the Democratic Republic of Congo in November of last year.

Photo Courtesy: wikipedia.org

Ferreira, the reigning MVP, finished last season with 8 goals and 13 assists in 30 games and then added another 2 goals and 3 assists in 4 playoff games. At the time of his injury this year, Ferreira had already tallied 3 goals to lead Dallas. The 31 year old midfielder is in his 3rd MLS season on loan from Brazilian Clube Atletico Paranaense. He played internationally with Colombia most recently in October of 2008 against Paraguay.

Photo Courtesy: mlsnet.com