Reigning Liga MX champion Tigres returned to training Monday but were without Jurgen Damm, who suffered first-degree burns in a fireworks accident, the club announced late Monday.
Temperatures were below freezing in Monterrey, but manager Tuca Ferretti had his team outside preparing for Friday's visit to face Puebla. The 25-year-old winger did not take part and will miss around two weeks after the incident. Damm suffered burns on the right side of his face, according to the club announcement, but should be able to recover in time to take part in the club's week three trip to face Queretaro.
The injury update given on social media was sponsored by a Monterrey-based health company that had tweeted about fireworks safety on New Year's Eve, provoking a fair amount of jokes at Damm's expense after the club made clear he shouldn't have a significant period of time away because of the injury.
Creo que alguien no siguió sus #Seguritips 🙄 pic.twitter.com/vgPolOCINW
— Irving Mendoza (@Irving__17) January 2, 2018
Damm came on in the second leg of Tigres' 3-2 aggregate victory over crosstown rival Monterrey in December's Apertura final, playing the final half-hour of the contest. It was the first final between the two rivals, and Tigres are set to defend their crown as Monterrey and the rest of the teams in the league try to keep them from repeating. Ferretti has several players who can play on the wing in Damm's absence, and rumors had linked Damm with a summer exit from the club. A move is yet to materialize, however, and the Veracruz native is hoping to push his way into the Mexico national team squad for the World Cup with a strong Clausura.
He's competing with Enner Valencia for starting minutes with Javier Aquino and Eduardo Vargas also playing in the Tigres attack behind Andre-Pierre Gignac. After Friday's trip to meet Puebla, Tigres return home to take on Santos Laguna on Jan. 13.
