Atlanta United last played March 11 against Club America in Leg One of the 2020 Scotiabank Concacaf Champions League quarterfinals, but it did so without the services of five players: Josef Martinez (torn ACL), Miles Robinson (quad strain), Edgar Castillo (broken rib), Franco Escobar (dead leg) and Laurence Wyke (concussion), while a sixth player, George Bello (concussion) had just returned to the club after making a rehab appearance in a preseason match with Atlanta United 2 the prior weekend.
During that match, Atlanta United sustained yet another injury to Matheus Rossetto. The midfielder, who had just made his club debut four days earlier, came on as a substitute at halftime, but was forced off in the 58th minute because of an ankle injury.
All told, Atlanta presumably was left with few options and a thin bench heading into the March 14 match against Sporting Kansas City.
Fast forward two months and the group is ready to take the field – besides Josef Martinez – once Major League Soccer lifts the training moratorium in place because of COVID-19.
While Bello had already been cleared to return to full team training, the time off has now given green lights to Robinson, Castillo, Escobar, Wyke and Rossetto. Martinez had surgery in Pittsburgh to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee on March 18 and has since returned to Atlanta to continue his rehabilitation with the Atlanta United medical team and doctors from Piedmont Healthcare.
