One of the players who was looking to make an impression, and a difference, in the 2017 Gold Cup for the United States was Kenny Saief. Sadly, the Israeli-American midfielder had to withdraw due to injury prior to the tournament and won’t have that chance. The exact nature of his injury was not revealed until yesterday when Brian Sciaretta tweeted that Saief would reportedly have hernia surgery and miss 7 weeks while recovering.

The injury comes as a bad break for the 23-year-old who was just recently approved for a one time switch by FIFA to represent the United States rather than Israel. The Gold Cup was a chance for Saief to play for the USMNT in an international tournament to give him the opportunity to fight for a spot on the 23 man World Cup roster. His surgery will result in Saief not only missing the Gold Cup, but he will also be absent from his team at the for nearly a month at the start of the Belgian Jupiler Pro League.