Back and better. That's the mantra for U.S. U17 Men’s National Team forward Joe Gallardo.

Gallardo broke his lower tibia in August while playing with the U17 MNT at a youth international tournament in Mexico. It's a significant injury for any player, but the timing was even more crushing. The U.S. was six months away from the start of qualifying.

“The doctor said that I would be out for four months,” Gallardo told TopDrawerSoccer on Wednesday from a hotel in Honduras as the U.S. prepares for the CONCACAF Championship.

It took four months of intensive rehab for Gallardo to return to form and regain his spot on the roster prior to qualifying.

Gallardo spent his rehab period in Florida with the U.S. Residency Program. He was mere feet away from his teammates, who were pushing each other for one of the starting spots on the youth national team while he learned how to run on his repaired leg.

“My teammates really supported me,” Gallardo said about rehabbing in Florida. “I knew that I had the best doctor and physical therapists there.”

During that period, the U17 MNT chugged along, but struggled to find a center forward with Gallardo's qualities. The dynamic talent with a nose for goal understood the role of the No. 9 better than anyone else on the roster, and the absence of a true striker was apparent at this year’s Nike Friendlies.

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The U.S. finished with a 2-1 record after losing to Brazil in the finale. In 2013, the U.S. captured the title at the event with Gallardo at the point of the attack.

“It was really frustrating,” Gallardo said when asked about watching the Nike Friendlies this season while in the midst of his recovery efforts. “Last year, I killed it at the Friendlies. I wish I could have played. [During the games] I thought I know I am going to come back stronger at qualifying.”

Like any path to success, it was not a straight line for Gallardo from the injury to his spot back on the team. There were hiccups along the way.

“Getting back to running,” Gallardo said about the most difficult part of the recovery. “It wasn’t the same. My leg and my muscles would hurt. I had little minor setbacks. I would just listen to the doctors and they told me it was normal.”

Gallardo put his faith in that advice and continued to plug away. He says he is back to full fitness now. The coaching staff agrees as they put him on the 20-man roster for the CONCACAF Championship. Gallardo found out he made the cut on Sunday.

“I was really excited,” he said. “I called my dad and told him that I made the roster. I believed in myself. I thank the Lord for giving me the chance.”

Gallardo has been with the Residency Program since the injury, which meant considerable time away from his club, C.F. Monterrey.

“I’m likely going back to my club [after the CONCACAF Championship],” Gallardo said. “They know that I am back and they are waiting for me to come back [to the club].”

The teenager was a prized signing for the club in 2013 when the Mexican giants lured him away from a spot in the Residency Program and into their youth academy. Gallardo is hoping that the CONCACAF Championship will be the platform to show that he is back to the levels that had so many international clubs interested in his services in the past.

“I want to score the most goals that I can,” he said about his goal for the event. “I am going to work hard for myself and for teammates.”

Gallardo and the U.S. U17 MNT opens up play at the CONCACAF Championship on Friday against Cuba.