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Jozy Altidore left no doubt about his availability for Saturday’s MLS Cup final and gave no room for excuses when asked about the pain level of his ankle injury.
“It doesn’t matter,” Altidore said succinctly, simply staring at the reporter until another question was asked. Earlier in Thursday’s press conference, Altidore simply said, “Yeah, I’ll play.”
None of this should necessarily come as a surprise, though, as Altidore has consistently said he was planning to play regardless of the injury that he suffered during the second leg of the Eastern Conference finals. When it happened in the second half, the score was tied and he had to get it taped on the sideline before re-entering. Altidore eventually scored the series-winning goal before coming off.
Even if not 100 percent fit, having Altidore is huge for TFC, which went just 2-3-2 (1.14 PPG) in the seven regular-season matches he missed this year. They went 18-2-7 (2.26 PPG) when Altidore played.