Injuries have hampered Red Bulls midfielder Rafa Marquez all season long, but he's done his part to play through it and ignore obvious discomfort at any chance he gets. According to head coach Hans Backe, that was the reason for Marquez's frustration when met with the tough decision of removing him from the match for precautionary reasons in Saturday's 1-1 draw at RFK Stadium.
“He was very frustrated with the calf. He has been having that, picking up that calf up a number of times this season,’’ Backe said after the team's training session Monday morning at Montclair State University. Backe also added that the injury appeared to be a "soft one," and that a possible decision would come following an MRI.
“I haven’t checked with the trainers today. Probably it has to be I would say a late decision, I would guess. I don’t think it’s a big one, but definitely we will have to wait until tomorrow to tell,’’ said Backe
Marquez has shown a similar drive to gut out his injuries, stemming back to the Sept. 22 match in New England when he insisted trainers tape up his hamstring on the sidelines before re-entering the match. Although Marquez did his best to battle through the discomfort, Backe was forced to removed him from the pitch for precautionary reasons after 35 minutes. The injury was later revealed to be a
hamstring injury that kept him out for two weeks
.
While the seriousness of this injury still remains up in the air, Backe remained hopeful that Marquez would be able to start for Wednesday's series finale at Red Bull Arena.
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