Wisconsin Soccer Central

Nineteen weeks after rupturing the Achilles tendon in his left leg just 7 minutes into the Major League Soccer season, center back Jay DeMerit (Green Bay/Bay Port) is nearing a return to the Vancouver Whitecaps.

The 33-year-old DeMerit told the Vancouver Sun last week that he thinks he'll be able to return to full training within the next two to three weeks, play in one or two Reserve League matches to get back into game fitness and be ready to play by the team's match against the Los Angeles Galaxy on Aug. 24 – the day before his wedding.

"That would be my goal and I think that's a reachable goal right now, as long as we take care of the process and keep working hard every day and there are no hiccups along the way," Demerit said in the interview. "I would think that I would at least be ready for selection at that point."

The typical recovery time for a ruptured Achilles is six to eight months. DeMerit was injured March 2 in the Whitecaps' season-opening 1-0 win over Toronto FC and had surgery two days later, which would put his return between September and November. But as DeMerit has proven many times in the past, he doesn't fall under the norms.

He currently warms up with his teammates at training and does some technical work, then heads off to do individual physiotherapy. DeMerit also said he's been sprinting on a treadmill in recent weeks.

"We don't want to get ahead of ourselves, but he's coming along nicely and putting in all the work that will pay off in the end," Rick Celebrini, the Whitecaps' head of sports medicine and science, told the Sun.

The lengthy interview also included comments from DeMerit on his contract status and his international career.

He was the first player signed by the Whitecaps when they made the move to MLS, and he'd like to remain with the club after his contract expires at the end of this season.

"I'd like to stay and there's definitely no hiding the fact that I like it here," DeMerit told reporter Bruce Constantineau. "I came here to help the club grow. I didn't come here to leave, put it that way."

And even though the most recent of his 25 caps for the U.S. national team came back in March 2011, DeMerit won't be announcing his international retirement anytime soon.

"As long as I'm an active player, I believe that I will always be actively taking the chance to play for my national team," he said. "I don’'t expect to ever officially retire from international soccer until I officially retire from the game."

Read the full story, along with a video clip of the interview

• Ethan Finlay (Marshfield) came on in the 60th minute as Major League Soccer's Columbus Crew lost to Premier League club Wigan 2-1 in an international friendly Saturday night. Finlay, playing with a cast on his right arm, also played a season-high 32 minutes July 7 as the Crew snapped the Portland Timbers' 15-game unbeaten streak with a 1-0 victory, and was denied his first MLS goal on a tremendous save by Donovan Ricketts in the 75th minute. (Sequence starts at 4:50)