HOUSTON – Tony Cascio is a player who goes full bore when he’s on the field. It’s that same attitude that has him raring to get back there.
Cascio suffered an ACL tear in April, putting his season in danger, but after six months of rehab he’s come back quicker than most expected. With two games left in the season for a Houston Dynamo team that’s eliminated from the playoffs, the midfielder is hoping to get time on the pitch to show everyone what he has to offer.
“It feels good. They said it would take six to nine months, and I got back right before the six-month mark,” Cascio told MLSsoccer.com Tuesday. “I’m kind of just getting back to normal. It feels weird to shoot and stuff just because I haven’t done it for so long. I feel great and I feel ready to play.
“A lot of people are saying don’t rush it, but at the end of the day it’s my career. I have to show them I still have it. I told my parents that I’m cleared to play, and that’s what I need to do. There’s no reason to not rush it. I’m ready to play, and that’s what I should do.”
That could be important as a decision looms on Cascio’s future.
Houston brought him in on loan from the Colorado Rapids after January’s SuperDraft. The one-season deal gives the Dynamo an option to trigger a permanent move.
“It’s kind of a weird situation,” Cascio said. “Any minutes are good minutes for me. It’s just a little motivation to get back out there.”
According to Dynamo head coach Dominic Kinnear, that decision will be made after the season. To make it, however, the sample size they’ll draw from is fairly small.
Cascio played just five games before going down but impressed in his time on the pitch. After a long rehab process and two weeks back in full training, the option is there to get a final look at him before a decision needs to be made.
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Houston play the New England Revolution on Thursday (8 pm ET; ESPN2, TSN2) and the Chicago Fire in their season finale Oct. 24. Kinnear alluded to the possibility that Cascio could be in the 18 for the upcoming games, and that while his mandate is still to win, the possibility of getting a look at the midfielder is intriguing.
“We’ve missed him this year, no doubt about it. To see him healthy out here and playing again is great because you like the kid and I think he has a bright future,” Kinnear said. “He’s put in a good two weeks of hard work and hopefully … just make sure to put him in a position to where he puts himself into a position that isn’t a worse situation than he was in.”
Darrell Lovell covers the Houston Dynamo for MLSsoccer.com.
