Minnesota's Pablo Campos tears ACL and MCL, out for spring season

Preseason contests are a good way to get into playing shape, but every club keeps their fingers crossed that they can get through those friendlies without suffering any serious injuries. Unfortunately, Minnesota United weren't lucky in that regard.

During a friendly match against Pro Player Academy on March 13, center forward Pablo Campos suffered a torn ACL and MCL in his left knee. That injury will rule him out for the entire spring season, and will likely miss a good portion of the fall season as well.

Since the NASL resumed playing in 2011, Campos has scored more goals than any other player. He's a tremendous, physical presence in the center of the attack, and is one of the most troublesome players in the league for opposing defenses to deal with. Unfortunately for Minnesota fans, his serious knee injury will probably hamstring any hopes the club had of qualifying for the postseason, as he was clearly their best player, and their only truly dangerous option in attack.

As far as the Cosmos are concerned, Campos will definitely miss their spring meeting, and will almost certainly miss the August 23 meeting at Hofstra as well. There's at least a possibility of a return before the October 18 meeting in Minnesota though, so the Cosmos may be in for a fairly tough test just prior to the postseason kicking off.