Nigel De Jong Tackle Costs Stuart Holden Six Weeks

Walking out of the Amsterdam ArenA Wednesday the U.S. National Team probably didn't feel too good about itself after falling 2-1 to the Netherlands.

Yet that loss could be justified and chalked up to playing the No. 3 team in the world, which by the way didn't lose a game in UEFA qualification for the upcoming World Cup.

That tact took a turn for the worse Thursday when news came out that midfielder Stuart Holden will be out at least six weeks due to a broken leg from a nasty tackle from Nigel de Jong in the first half.

Holden joins the lengthy list of U.S. internationals on the M.A.S.H. unit, with the World Cup in South Africa less than 100 days away.

Unlike the injuries suffered by would-be starters Clint Dempsey, Oguchi Onyewu and Charlie Davies, Holden's broken leg came at the hands, err, feet of an opponent, thus turning the Manchester City midfielder de Jong into public enemy No. 1 for U.S. fans.

For his part, de Jong shrugged off the tackle, telling the Dutch soccer association:

"Such offences are part of football. I went for the ball and got the opponent at the end. I had no evil intent. If the ball is between me and the opponent, you have to go in full. If you do not then the opponent takes you. And if you're scared in a game you get injured yourself."

Even though it's an easy to villify de Jong this morning, it's extremely hard to believe that he had any intent in trying to hurt Holden. That said, Turkish referee Cuneyt Cakir didn't even show de Jong a card and barely disciplined him. You'd have to wonder if the players were reversed if a straight red would have quickly emerged from the pocket?

Holden's injury is certainly a blow for the U.S. At first it look really bad, as Holden writhed on the ground and took a long time to limp over to the sideline. However as the ESPN broadcast when off the air, all indications were that Holden would probably be okay, with initial reports listing it as no more than a shin contusion.

Bolton manager Owen Coyle is optimistic that Holden should be back before the end of the Premier League season in May, also hinting that he'll extend the contract of the former Houston Dynamo midfielder beyond this season. It's a shame, too, since Holden had finally worked his way back to health and started to see action following his January transfer to England.

Of course, considering the spat of bad news for the USMNT, it's hard for fans to find very much optimism this morning in terms of Holden, who's also joined by Benny Feilhaber and Steve Cherundolo on the injury list.

Over the run of games in 2009 the U.S. appeared to have turned a corner, as it competed at a high level against some of the world's best teams. While the U.S. first choice starting XI might be able to do this, depth remains a huge issue for Bob Bradley heading toward that June 12 showdown with England.

At this point all fans probably can do is keep their fingers crossed, hold their breath and simply hope the U.S. casualty list doesn't grow in the next 98 days.