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Sandy • The topic du jour in Major League Soccer is Nigel De Jong.
The new L.A. Galaxy midfielder, known as one of soccer's foremost aggressors, introduced his rough-and-tumble style to MLS Sunday night when a 50-50 challenge against Portland's Darlington Nagbe went awry.
The 31-year-old Dutch international whiffed on the attempt and came down directly on Nagbe's left ankle, sending MLS followers into a tizzy. And in a season in which MLS referees have been so quick to send players off — 16 red cards through the first 42 matches of the year — De Jong ironically avoided an early jaunt to the showers.
Sports Illustrated's Grant Wahl reported Tuesday that the MLS Disciplinary Committee has decided to hand a retroactive red card to De Jong, but has yet to choose the length of an ensuing suspension. De Jong could miss L.A.'s first 2016 clash with RSL when the Galaxy host RSL on April 23 in Carson, Calif.
Nagbe's injury wasn't as severe as initially feared as the 25-year-old Timbers midfielder suffered an ankle sprain that will keep him out for Portland's next match.
But De Jong's challenge ignited controversy.
"No one wants to see anything like that," RSL coach Jeff Cassar said. "I don't think there was an intent to break somebody's leg, but those things can happen when you do those kinds of tackles. What I did see was De Jong go up to Darlington after the game and speak to him and I thought that was really nice."
Left back Chris Wingert joined the chorus of MLS pros saying De Jong's tackle was unnecessary.
"Look, it's a dirty tackle," Wingert said. "We don't want that happening … tackles are going to happen, but at the same time, we want to keep those out of the game as best we can."
Training report
Three RSL regulars missed training Tuesday ahead of Saturday's home match against the Vancouver Whitecaps.
Midfielder Sunday Stephen is being evaluated for a lower leg injury suffered in the 1-0 win over Colorado when he was fouled by Dillon Powers in the 77th minute. Cassar said "Sunny" is dealing with soreness in his leg, but said X-rays came back negative.
Right back Tony Beltran is dealing with back tightness. The 28-year-old made his 200th career appearance with RSL in the win over the Rapids.
Forward Yura Movsisyan and wife Marianna welcomed a daughter late Monday evening. Cassar expects the striker to return to training Wednesday.
Early season waves for Vancouver
After a breakout 2015 campaign, the Whitecaps have hit an early-season drought. Off to a 2-3-1 start, Vancouver is riding a 247-minute scoreless streak and hasn't scored a goal beyond the penalty spot since the season opener on March 6.
"It's a team that we're going to have to be at our best to beat," Cassar warned.
Vancouver is still earning chances, just not scoring them. The last four Whitecaps goals have been penalty kicks awarded.
"They have incredible talent up there," Wingert said of the Vancouver's front line. "It's always a real difficult challenge for us in the back dealing with their guys up top because they have so much juice."
The Whitecaps swept RSL in 2015 and enters Saturday with a six-game unbeaten streak against RSL.
Twitter: @chriskamrani