Roman Torres was a late scratch from the Seattle Sounders lineup on Sunday against LAFC, but the injury that forced him out could have much larger reverberations.
Torres is suffering from a hamstring injury, per Sounders head coach Brian Schmetzer at training on Wednesday, and the while a timetable for his return was not discussed, it sounds as though Torres' availability for Panama in the World Cup this summer could be in doubt.
“It’s not good. It’s not good. It’s a hamstring injury and it’s not good. That’s all I’ll say on it now. But that was a blow,” Schmetzer told reporters.
Torres, 32, started the first five games of the MLS regular season before suffering the injury. The central defender is a key man for Panama, scoring the clinching goal to send Los Canaleros to their first World Cup last year and serving as captain of his national team. Panama's first game in Group G in Russia is on June 18 against Belgium, so Torres could recover in time to make the squad and head to the World Cup, but Schmetzer's initial comments on Wednesday indicate that may not be a given at this point.
Ari Liljenwall contributed reporting to this story.
