Injuries are always disruptive and dispiriting, but for those U.S. men's national team players unable to participate in this specific camp, it will be especially frustrating. Mauricio Pochettino has arrived and he's ready to rebuild this team. That process begins this week, but he'll have to do so without several key stars.
Multiple potential starters will be on the outside looking in as the USMNT squad faces Panama and Mexico in the first two matches on Pochettino's watch. Chris Richards, Tim Weah, Gio Reyna, Cameron Carter-Vickers and Caleb Wiley are among them. Perhaps the biggest absence, though, is Folarin Balogun, a player that seemed poised to take a giant leap forward under the new coach.
That will have to wait. Balogun's shoulder injury, sustained in the same game in which he scored another goal, halted his progress at the most inopportune time. He was just finding his form for Monaco, scoring three times in his last four games. After a tough start to the season, Balogun was on a roll - and now he'll join his other injured teammates unable to impress their new coach in person during this camp.
Of course, other players now stand to benefit. There will be multiple strikers in the USMNT squad itching to prove themselves to the new coach and, with Balogun out, they'll certainly get the chance. Pochettino will get a good look at the rest of the striker pool, and first impressions are always key.
Who will be looking to make those first impressions count? Where do things stand with this striker group in Pochettino's first USMNT camp? GOAL takes a look