Ilsinho to miss about two months after undergoing surgery

Veteran super sub Ilsinho won’t be available off the bench until the summer after undergoing surgery for a groin injury that has limited him to one abbreviated 10-minute sub appearance this season.

Philadelphia Union head coach Jim Curtin said Wednesday that his offensive weapon will be missing significant time after the decision was made to go the surgery route.

“We decided it’s better to act and be proactive and get him back for the most important parts of the year in August, September, October and playoffs rather than the possibility of letting it go another several weeks and not ever really healing,” Curtin said. “He’s so important to us, we’re going to miss him.”

The time frame shared by Curtin would mean Ilsinho would return in time for the first leg of the Concacaf Champions League in Mexico City against Club America in mid-August.

While the news was bad for Ilsinho, Curtin said second-year homegrown attacker Jack de Vries will return to full training in the coming days. The 19-year-old has been in concussion protocol for weeks.