Beasley targeting April return

While covering the latter stages of the Olympic qualifying tournament last week in Nashville, I had a chance to sit down with USMNT head coach Bob Bradley. While the primary gist of our conversation had to do with Wednesday’s friendly against Poland, as well as the plight of some Americans playing overseas, one topic that didn’t make it into the preview was the status of injured midfielder DaMarcus Beasley.

Beasley, you will recall, injured his knee last November while playing for Rangers in a UEFA Champions League match against Stuttgart, when he collided with opposition goalkeeper Raphael Schafer.

It turns out that Beasley has been in Delaware working with USMNT head trainer Jim Hashimoto and according to Bradley, Beasley’s recovery has gone well.

“The word from [Hashimoto], and the reports that are due to go back to Rangers, all of that has been positive. And I know that DaMarcus has worked hard with the idea that he can be playing again…he’s shooting for April.”

If Beasley can hit that target, then he’ll almost certainly be available when World Cup qualifying commences on June 15, when the U.S. plays the winner of the series between Barbados and Dominica.