Pulisic suffers leg fracture in World Cup loss

Christian Pulisic fractured his right leg during the United States’ 4-1 World Cup round-of-16 loss to Belgium, an injury that would have ruled him out for the rest of the tournament had the Americans advanced, U.S. Soccer said Thursday.

The federation said Pulisic, 27, has a bone bruise and a microfracture of his tibia and fibula. The diagnosis came after X-ray and MRI scans on Tuesday, one day after he was injured in the second half of the knockout match in Seattle. He is expected to miss several weeks.

Pulisic was hurt in the 52nd minute while attempting a shot, when he hit the leg of Belgium captain Youri Tielemans. He stayed on the field but was visibly hobbling before Sebastian Berhalter replaced him in the 59th minute.

After the match, Pulisic described the play to reporters by saying, “I just totally twisted my ankle and my knee in one play … I have time to rest. It’s just unfortunate way to finish.”

U.S. Soccer said the federation and AC Milan are working together on his rehabilitation plan. Pulisic is expected to resume training before Milan’s Serie A opener at Torino on Aug. 23. The coming season will be his fourth with the Italian club.

The injury ended a difficult World Cup for the U.S. star. Pulisic did not score in the tournament, though he has 30 goals in 90 international appearances. He missed one of the United States’ five matches because of a calf injury and left two other games early.

The Guardian reported that Pulisic played strongly in the opening 45 minutes of a 4-1 win over Paraguay before leaving at halftime after aggravating a left-calf injury. That injury also kept him out of the Americans’ second group match, a 2-0 win over Australia. He later appeared as a substitute in a 3-2 loss to Turkey, then started and played 88 minutes in a 2-0 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina in the last 32.

The United States’ exit drew criticism from former national team players working as commentators. Carli Lloyd, the former U.S. women’s national team star and Fox analyst, posted on social media the day after the Belgium match: “You rest when your playing career is over. Period.” The Guardian reported that the comment appeared to be directed at Pulisic.

Landon Donovan, the former U.S. men’s national team captain, said on his Unfiltered Soccer podcast that “the reality is, [Pulisic] came out of a World Cup knockout game at home, with his leg still intact … you would have had to fucking drag me off the field. And I would have punched the doctor in the face and said, ‘You’re not taking me off the field. Put whatever you need to put in me, and I’m staying on the field.’”

The U.S.-Belgium match also received extra scrutiny when FIFA lifted the red card suspension of U.S. lead scorer Folarin Balogun after a call from President Trump, CBS News reported. Trump has defended his decision to contact the league, which typically does not allow appeals of red cards, according to CBS News. Balogun did not score against Belgium.