SA Q&A with Josh Wolff: ‘It’s just part of coming back’

U.S. forward Josh Wolff could earn his fourth cap against Colombia Saturday (Feb. 3), less than three weeks after undergoing surgery to remove a pin inserted to treat an abdominal hernia two years ago. INTERVIEW BY RIDGE MAHONEY SOCCER AMERICA: So what was bothering you at the training camp in Chula Vista and how did you make this miraculous recovery? JOSH WOLFF: This was a little bit of pain in the same area. Some pins got adjusted — maybe I tore some scar tissue — and maybe the pins were pinching tissue or a nerve, so [the doctor] just took out a pin. The pins are there to hold down the mesh that reinforces the lining. I don’t know all the stuff. It worked and it did its job. Something moved one of these little pins and it aggravated that area. Some of the people in Chicago thought I had re-aggravated it, but it was totally blown out of context. It was a little bitty thing and there were able to pull it out and that was that. Now it’s a matter of getting in shape. SA: How fit are you? JW: When I was in San Diego I wasn’t able to train as much as everybody else, but after I had the surgery done, this is my first real two weeks of training. I’m not in shape but I’m moving in the right direction. In the next two weeks I’ll be with Chicago in Bradenton and that’ll allow me to at least get a little more game-fit. SA: You played against Costa Rica (qualifier) and Mexico (friendly) in October. How did you assess your performance? JW: Against Costa Rica, I was a little more mature, a little more aware of the situation. I think I did a little bit better in that game as far as coming off the bench. It gave us a few decent looks at the goal. We weren’t able to get anything but still we tied. The Mexican game was one of those games I was optimistic. It was a nice field, but in the first half I wasn’t getting my first touch down very well, which led me to not have a very good first half. The second half my mindset was still to take care of the ball, but to be dangerous. As the half went on, myself, Clint [Mathis] and Landon [Donovan] started to play off each other a little better. We all got some pretty good looks, and I still think both goals we scored were pretty good goals. SA: To say the least. Donovan finished off a great feed from Mathis, and you ran onto a Donovan ball to score. JW: A good ball from Clint slipped Landon through and obviously Landon did real well with it. Myself and Landon played two one-twos right around half-field and over by the sideline. The final pass was a good one and I was able to take the chance pretty well. SA: What similarities do you see between yourself and Donovan? JW: Landon and I are pretty similar around the box. We try and combine with other people. Clint’s another person I’ve been able to play with. He’s very aware when you’re around the box to look for one-twos and all that other stuff to free you up and get you in behind defenses. That’s one way to break down a defense. SA: Is Bruce Arena taking the same approach to this game as he did for the China match last week? JW: He stresses the importance of winning them, but he’s geared to the game against Mexico [Feb. 28, the first hexagonal qualifier] and he’s trying to move us along as quick as we can go as far as getting us game-fit, and trying to push our training sessions harder so we’re ready. I think he does a great job preparing us for every game we have. That’s the biggest key: Getting everybody fit and making sure we understand and are prepared to take these qualifiers very seriously. SA: Do you think you’ll get a start against Colombia? JW: I’m not sure. I’m not fit yet. If I can get 90 minutes, great; if not, there’s other games down the road. My training’s been good. My legs are starting to feel the effects of getting back into two-a-days. That’s just preseason. These guys have had two weeks to do that and I’m just catching up to them. SA: You scored against St. Gallen Wednesday in a training match before coming off at halftime. Did you play well? JW: It wasn’t the cleanest game but we were able to get a victory. I wouldn’t say anybody stood out in terms of playing great. It was a tough game and we were just able to battle through it. The Colombia game will be a chance to show and establish where we are. SA: How about the fitness? JW: I was winded in those 45 minutes. It’s just part of coming back.