U.S. goalkeeper Tim Howard returned from a groin injury to be named to the Colorado Rapids starting lineup on Saturday.
Howard has been sidelined since suffering "a fracture of the right adductor longus" during the national team's U.S. team's World Cup qualifying defeat to Mexico and had surgery shortly thereafter.
He missed the U.S. training camp in January as well as the Rapids' season opener last weekend after experiencing some lingering pain.
Howard's recovery plan had long called for him to return to training this week, and coach Pablo Mastroeni deemed him fit enough to start against the New York Red Bulls.
The news will be welcome to U.S. coach Bruce Arena, who said earlier this week that he was prepared to be cautious with Howard ahead of key World Cup qualifiers against Honduras on March 24, and Panama four days later.
"I'm aware of the fact that [Howard] trained pretty hard yesterday," Arena said on Monday. "So I think when you come back from those kind of injuries, you always have some kind of minor little setback. You get a strain or a little bit of fatigue ... I think that's normal."
Shkelzen Gashi, the Rapids' top goal scorer last season, was named to be bench after missing the Rapids' opener and last two preseason games with an Achilles injury.