Olivier Tremblay covers the Impact for MLSsoccer.com
MONTREAL – For once this season, Nelson Rivas can look forward with a smile.
Kept away from the field by injuries for most of the 2013 season, the Colombian central defender could experience a full week of training with his teammates for the first time in a year.
“We’re very happy; this is the first week that he's in at 100 percent,” assistant coach Mauro Biello told reporters on Wednesday. “It's two training sessions now that he's done the last couple of days. He's felt pretty good. He's been out for a long time, and obviously, we need to be careful in how we integrate him and bring him back, but we’re very happy with his progress up until now.”
Looking back, it seems as if Rivas’ MLS career has been a succession of convalescences. The former Inter Milan stopper first picked up a thigh injury during a 2012 preseason game against Mexico’s Atlas, on January 26. The knock delayed his official debut to May 5 of that year, when Montreal clinched a famous 2-0 victory at Sporting Kansas City where Rivas earned rave reviews for his 62-minute appearance.
Then, it unraveled. Rivas came off injured again during a 4-2 win over the Houston Dynamo at Stade Saputo on June 23. After another month off, he came back for two games, got suspended for three and played two more until he underwent surgery in early October for a microfracture in his left knee.
Rivas was told that the recovery process would last five months, but it took much, much longer than expected. Inactivity appeared to take a toll on him, as the cheerful fellow who systematically waved and smiled at passerbys at the Impact training field grew gloomier.
But coming back to actual work will certainly do wonders for Rivas, and while logic dictates that Rivas will want to get in a good place ahead of next season, Biello is not ruling out Rivas forcing the coaches’ hands should Montreal make it far in the playoffs.
“He’s a good player, and he’s done well, worked extremely hard,” Biello said. “The further we go, we have to say that he becomes an option, especially if we get little injuries. With [Alessandro] Nesta being out and other center backs probably having some small injuries, he could become an option. We’re very pleased with his progression.”
