Clint Dempsey injured, returns to Seattle from USMNT duty

Good news! Clint Dempsey will be back in Seattle today. Bad news! It's because he was injured during training with the United States National Team on Monday. The USMNT will not replace Dempsey on the 23-man roster. Dempsey is expected to miss two to three weeks with the hamstring injury.

Clint was already going to miss the FC Dallas game and now could miss both the home game against the Houston Dynamo (April 4th) and Seattle Sounders FC's road match against the LA Galaxy on April 12th.

Sigi Schmid's temporary solution at forward during preseason was to pair Lamar Neagle and Obafemi Martins at forward, although Chad Barrett has been used in place of Dempsey in the past. Either way, this opens the door for players like Andy Rose and Aaron Kovar. Tonight's first-half lineup against Club Tijuana will likely be a preview of what Schmid has in mind for the matches without the US Captain.

Wednesday's Noon ESPN2 USMNT vs. Denmark match will now only feature one Sounders-related player, DeAndre Yedlin.

UPDATE: Klinsmann, at least, doesn't seem to think the injury is very serious:

#USMNT coach Jurgen Klinsmann said Clint Dempsey (hamstring) will probably be fit for next Sounders game and noted he didn't want hurry him.

— Kyle McCarthy (@kylejmccarthy) March 24, 2015