Freddie Ljungberg returns to Seattle after brief hospital visit following MLS All-Star game
By APThursday, July 30, 2009
Ljungberg returns to Seattle after All-Star game
TUKWILA, Wash. — Seattle Sounders FC midfielder Freddie Ljungberg was back in the Seattle area on Thursday, just hours after being taken to the hospital following the MLS All-Star game in Sandy, Utah.
Ljungberg returned to the Seattle area early Thursday morning and went straight home, Sounders coach Sigi Schmid said after practice on Thursday. Ljungberg was photographed leaving Rio Tinto Stadium late Wednesday night on a stretcher after suffering a migraine and was taken to a hospital in the Salt Lake City area.
Schmid said the team doesn’t believe this migraine is as serious as one the Swedish star suffered earlier this season, causing him to miss two games.
“He is one of the few guys who played 90 minutes in a little bit of heat, a little bit of altitude,” Schmid said. “Again, we know what his diet requirements are and what he can and can’t eat. It is possible that there was a trace of something that he shouldn’t have in the food. That might have triggered it as well. But, it is not nearly what it was the last time and we expect him to be able to recover fairly quickly.”
Ljungberg played the entire match for the MLS All-Stars in their penalty kick loss to Everton of the English Premier League.
He had the final shot for the MLS during the penalty kicks. But Ljungberg’s chip attempt was saved by Everton keeper Tim Howard, who normally appears in front of an American crowd as the U.S. national goaltender.
Ljungberg missed games earlier this season against FC Dallas and Colorado after suffering a severe migraine that Ljungberg said he gets every couple of years.
