TUCSON, Ariz. – New England Revolution fans’ delight at seeing Xavier Kouassi in the starting lineup for Wednesday night’s Desert Diamond Cup opener against the Houston Dynamo quickly turned to dread when the DP midfielder was removed after just 17 minutes.
But those fans can breathe easy, as Kouassi was always scheduled for just a brief runout.
It’d been more than 12 months since Kouassi had taken the field in a match, missing the entirety of 2016 after suffering a right knee injury in his final game with FC Sion. He returned to training late last season and spent the offseason and the early parts of this preseason working his way back to fitness.