Good news! Bright Dike's surgery was a success according to a press release issued by the Portland Timbers last evening. Bad news! He is expected to be out for at least 6 months. That would put him squarely into August for a return and probably an extra couple weeks on top of that just to get him match fit.

Really it's quite tragic what happened to Dike. After having a solid end to the 2012 season and then going on to score for his national team against a Carles Puyol-led Catalonian team, to be injured like this is a pretty tough thing to get over it. Luckily, Dike is as strong as they come. He's still fairly young at 26 and it's likely that this won't hold him back long.

We wish him the speediest of recoveries and, more so than that, a quick return to form upon his return.

Will you miss Bright Dike in the upcoming first part of the season?

Full press release:

PORTLAND, Ore. - The Portland Timbers today announced that forward Bright Dike underwent successful surgery of his left knee to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and medial collateral ligament (MCL) in addition to undergoing a successful lateral meniscectomy. The procedures were performed by Timbers Director of Medicine Dr. Richard Edelson at Sports Medicine Oregon in Tigard, Ore.

Dike is expected to be out for at least six months. He sustained the injury in the Timbers' preseason match against Seattle Sounders FC on Feb. 5.

Dike, 26, was one of the Timbers' leading scorers in 2012, recording five goals in 12 games over the final half of the campaign. Additionally, he tallied five goals in five appearances with the Timbers Reserves last season. Dike, who has family ties to Nigeria, recently earned his first two caps with the Nigeria National Team, scoring his first international goal in a friendly against the Catalonia National Team on Jan. 2.