This spring, Revolution forward Charlie Davies was diagnosed with liposarcoma, a rare cancer found in soft tissue fat cells.
But he did not share it with the public. Instead, Davies waited until he went through treatment, saying Saturday that he is now in remission.
The team said in a statement Saturday that the privacy was necessary for “Charlie to concentrate on his family and treatment during the past few weeks and the club honored his wish.’’
Davis is no stranger to fighting his way back. In 2009, he survived a single-car accident that left him with a lacerated bladder, grave head trauma, a torn ligament in his left knee, and a fractured right tibia and femur. He recovered from that to bounce between the MLS’s DC United and the Danish Club Randers before landing in New England in 2013.
“The New England Revolution will continue to support him through full recovery and are looking forward to seeing him back out on the pitch.’’
Since joining the Revolution three years ago, Davies has 14 goals and eight assists in 63 games. He is traveling with the team for Sunday’s match at Orlando City.
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The Revolution look to keep climbing up the Eastern Conference standings as the second half of the MLS season begins with Sunday’s trip to Florida.
While the Revolution have been in top form of late, Orlando City has struggled to earn points. The Lions recently fired longtime coach Adrian Heath, hiring former New York City FC and Real Salt Lake coach Jason Kreis as his replacement.
Kreis will make his Orlando City debut in what will be a highly scrutinized match on Sunday. Following a long team meeting on Tuesday, Kreis began implementing tactical adjustments during his first day of practice.
“[Tuesday] morning’s meeting was all about tactics,’’ said Kreis. “Just a general overview of how we want to play and how we’ll see the game going forward.
“I didn’t want to have to deal with a match in the first week. We’ll approach that match and use it as an evaluation piece to make decisions.’’
New England has never lost to Orlando City in MLS play, holding a 1-0-3 record.
The last meeting came April 30 at Gillette Stadium, with the teams playing to a 2-2 draw. The Revolution squandered a pair of one-goal leads in what was New England’s seventh draw in its opening 10 games.
The Revolution are coming off a fine defensive performance in a 1-0 victory over the Chicago Fire last Saturday. Je-Vaughn Watson scored his first goal in more than two years in the 85th minute to secure three points for New England.
Orlando played to a 2-2 draw in Columbus last Saturday. Trailing, 2-0, after 45 minutes, Kevin Molino scored and then set up the equalizer to snag one point from the trip.
The New England defense will look to silence an Orlando attack that features former FIFA Ballon d’Or winner Kaka and 2015 MLS Rookie of the Year Cyle Larin.
All-Star Andrew Farrell and the Revolution have conceded only two times in their last four league matches and have had prior success against the Lions’ dangerous offense.
“We just kind of came together and decided this is the point in the season where we’ve got to turn it around,’’ said Revolution defender London Woodberry. “Defensively, things have gotten tighter. It’s still not perfect yet but we’re working each week to try and get it as tight as we can in the back.’’
