COMMERCE CITY — At first, Kevin Doyle thought it was nothing worse than a nasty knock on the shin, something that happens to a striker three or four times a game, something to shake off and play on.
Then he looked down at his left shin. There was a lot of blood and a deep gash four to five inches long. Bones, tendons and ligaments were showing. That came as a sickening shock, and even as he waited to be taken off the pitch on a stretcher that night a month ago in Dublin, he began to wonder if his chance of playing for Ireland in the quadrennial European Cup this summer was gone.
Fortunately for Doyle and the Rapids, the injury he suffered while playing for Ireland in a friendly against Switzerland had no dire consequences. Doyle returned to the field for the Rapids last week and scored the insurance goal with four minutes remaining that gave them a 3-1 victory over Seattle.
He can smile about the injury now, but it was scary at the time.
“Very lucky there was no tendons damaged, no nerves damaged,” Doyle said Wednesday. “Everything escaped, which was a massive stroke of luck. I was unlucky, but really lucky, to be honest.”
It helped that Doyle had the full resources of the Irish national team on the night of the injury.
“I was lucky it was an international game,” Doyle said. “The Irish Federation surgeons were at the game, people on stand-by. Straight into X-ray machines at the stadium, everyone checking it out and cleaning it, a million people testing it, in an ambulance and straight to hospital, straight to theater (operating room) where there was two plastic surgeons on stand-by ready to go. It couldn’t have happened in a better place.”
The biggest concern after surgery was infection from grass and dirt that had been cleaned from the wound before he was sewn up. The medical staff there told him he could begin jogging in two and a half weeks if there was no infection. Soon he was jogging and last week he returned to normal training with the Rapids.
“He was sharp from the go,” said Rapids coach Pablo Mastroeni. “He had a fitness test on Friday and was in a great way physically. Then it was just a matter of bringing him in a way that was conducive to him getting his feet and helping the team.”
Doyle came on as a substitute Saturday for Dominique Badji in the 78th minute and scored eight minutes later, toe-poking a cross from defender Dennis Castillo to ensure Colorado’s fourth straight home win.
“It gave us a bit of breathing space,” Doyle said. “We don’t have many games where we have breathing space. We don’t seem to win many (by) three, four. Just before he crossed it you’re thinking, ‘Please cross this. Don’t take another touch.’ As a greedy striker you’re always thinking, ‘Cross it now!’ “
Now the Rapids have two high-priced “designated players” at striker in Doyle and newcomer Shkelzen Gashi. They also have Luis Solignac, who played well in Doyle’s absence.
Mastroeni is glad to have Doyle back. The Rapids (5-2-1), in second place in the Western Conference, visit Montreal on Saturday.
“After a crazy accident and quite a long delay,” Mastroeni said, “to get that confidence going again was fantastic mentally for us as a group and for him individually.”
John Meyer: jmeyer@denverpost.com or @johnmeyer
