US Soccer confirmed that Christian Pulisic sustained a small fracture and bone contusion in his leg during the United States’ 4-1 defeat by Belgium in the World Cup round of 16 on Monday.
The injury occurred in the second half in Seattle, and he was substituted shortly afterward. He underwent X-ray and MRI examinations on Tuesday to determine the severity of the damage, and it is expected that he will be sidelined for several weeks. US Soccer added that the federation and AC Milan are cooperating on his rehabilitation plan.
In the wake of the Americans’ crushing elimination from the tournament, some commentators seized on his post-match remarks to reporters about the injury. Asked to describe what happened, Pulisic said, “I just completely rolled my ankle and twisted my knee on a single play … now I’ll have time to recover. It’s just a regrettable way to conclude things.”
Carli Lloyd, the former US women’s national team icon who now serves as an analyst for Fox, tweeted the day after the fixture, “Rest is for when your playing career is done. Full stop,” in an apparent reference to Pulisic.
Information panel for Christian Pulisic
Landon Donovan, former captain of the US men’s national team, said on his Unfiltered Soccer podcast, “The truth is, [Pulisic] walked off the field in a home World Cup knockout game with his leg still attached … someone would have had to physically haul me off the pitch. I would have decked the doctor and said, ‘You’re not taking me off. Inject me with whatever you need to, I’m staying out there.'”
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Pulisic’s injury-riddled tournament campaign was one of the biggest letdowns of the Americans’ journey to the last 16. The Milan attacker sparkled in the opening 45 minutes of a 4-1 victory over Paraguay, but was taken off at half-time after aggravating a left-calf problem — an issue that also sidelined him for the US’s second group match, a 2-0 win over Australia. He came on as a substitute in a dead-rubber 3-2 loss to Turkey, then started and stayed on for 88 minutes but was only sporadically threatening in the 2-0 last-32 win against Bosnia and Herzegovina.
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