Obafemi Martins Leaves USA To Treat Injury

[Folami David]

Obafemi Martins has temporarily left the Seattle Sounders to receive treatment for an "aggravated tendon" in his knee and won't be available for their next game.
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The Designated Player initially suffered the injury while with the Nigerian national team last month, and aggravated it in last Saturday's start against Real Salt Lake. Team doctors and trainers recommended that he sit out the entirety of the CONCACAF Champions League semifinals against Santos Laguna, which conclude on Tuesday.
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"He's had this injury before and been treated by a doctor so we've let him go back to see that doctor and hopefully he'll be back early next week,"
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Sounders head coach Sigi Schmid said after Thursday's training session. "We'll be in communication. Hopefully whatever the guy did last time was able to resolve it [and] he'll do it again.
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"We figured now was a good window for him to do that and get that fixed. Hopefully he'll be ready to go in time to play New England [on April 13]."
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So did Schmid regret any of those lineup decisions in hindsight?
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"Oba was the only one we put on the field where... maybe we should have said no," the coach said.
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"We're at the early stages with him. I don't know him that well. He wanted to try and push through it, so we gave him that opportunity."
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The Sounders would only say that Martins was receiving treatment outside Seattle. If Martins has indeed left the country, it would mark his fourth and fifth intercontinental flights since joining the Sounders last month.
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Injuries and international duty have limited Martins to 82 minutes with the Sounders, who reportedly spent about $4 million to secure his move from Spain's Levante.

[Shola Sholaz]

Leaving USA was the right thing to do. I wish him luck