Columbus Crew SC have a slew of injuries at the moment, but one player has a rather unusual condition by MLS standards.
Winger Cedrick Mabwati has contracted malaria, first reported on Thursday by The Columbus Dispatch's Shawn Mitchell:
A Crew SC spokesperson told MLSsoccer.com on Thursday that Mabwati's status for Saturday's game against the New York Red Bulls (7:30 pm ET, MLS LIVE) is questionable due to malaria symptoms.
Mabwati briefly addressed the illness on Twitter Thursday afternoon.
Columbus head coach Gregg Berhalter put Mabwati's illness in the context of other uncommon illness and injury concerns for the club this season.
"Some of these injuries we've had, it's been mind-boggling," he told reporters at training on Thursday. "We've had mono, malaria, PCL [knee injury]. I mean, when's the last time you heard of a PCL tear? I've never heard of it."
