Los Angeles (United States) (AFP) – Star forward Christian Pulisic fractured his leg during the United States’ crushing 4-1 World Cup loss to Belgium, the team said Thursday. Pulisic appeared to suffer the injury early in the second half of Monday’s game as he attempted a shot but instead kicked the back of Belgian midfielder Youri Tieleman’s leg. The US team’s talisman attacker attempted to play through the injury but was substituted several minutes later, soon after the co-hosts went 3-1 down. The thrashing in Seattle meant the US was eliminated from the tournament in the round-of-16 for the second consecutive World Cup.
“Christian Pulisic has been diagnosed with a microfracture and bone bruise of the tibia/fibula in his right leg suffered during the match against Belgium,” wrote the US Soccer Federation on social media. US Soccer and Pulisic’s club team, AC Milan, “will be collaborating on his recovery plan,” it added.
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The loss to Belgium was a bitter end to a US campaign that had begun brightly and even briefly raised hopes of a miraculous home World Cup triumph among many American fans. Pulisic — the team’s biggest name — had drawn heavy criticism from ex-US players for departing the game early. In particular, Landon Donovan claimed in an expletive-laden podcast rant that the manager would “have had to drag me off the field.”
“I would have punched the doctor in the face and said, ‘You’re not taking me off the field,'” said Donovan, who remains the all-time US top scorer at World Cups, with five goals. While US Soccer did not immediately put a timeline on Pulisic’s recovery, the nature of the injury means he would not have been able to play in later rounds if his team had won.
The Athletic reported that Pulisic “will be sidelined for several weeks but not months,” citing multiple people briefed on the diagnosis. AC Milan opens their campaign in Italy’s Serie A on August 23.
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