Martin Rivero, who has been dubbed the "key to Colorado's season" by the guys over at Extra-Time Radio, has started off the pre-season training on the wrong foot.

Martin went down in the 44th minute after a challenge from one of the Portland players. It had looked like the Timbers team was attacking the pre-season game with the kind of zeal that one would expect from a regular season game, and this may be exactly the kind of play that new head coach Caleb Porter wanted to see from his squad. It was a hard challenge, but the referee saw no wrongdoing, but Rivero looked to be limping afterwards. Looked bad to begin with, and looked even worse later when Martin (@tinchorivero) tweeted the following:

with a lot of anger and pain. now to get ahead! Con mucha bronca y dolor. Ahora a salir adelante!! twitter.com/tinchorivero10…

— martin rivero (@tinchorivero10) January 30, 2013

That's right ladies and gentlemen, to the shock and horror of everyone, Martin Rivero was indeed watching the USMNT exhibition game against Canada.

Oh, and he also has a rather big cast on his foot.

Some fans kept their composure, other fans were decidedly less stoic at the news of Rivero's injury perhaps being worse than a little bit of Magic Spray could heal:

@tinchorivero10 nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

— Ben Heart The Soccer (@thelosthooligan) January 30, 2013

We here at Burgundy Wave will be waiting with bated breath for any good news regarding the status of the 23 year old mercurial Argentine playmaker.