Christian Pulisic suffered a “pelvic contusion,” the U.S. men’s soccer team said Tuesday evening, on the play when he scored the goal that sent the Americans to the World Cup’s round of 16.
When Pulisic crashed the net to finish Sergiño Dest’s setup pass in the 38th minute, his lower body — to put it politely — slammed into Iran goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand’s onrushing left knee. Pulisic immediately grimaced and reached for the area in question, then stayed down.
In the game’s immediate aftermath, a team spokesperson said it was an abdominal injury, and said Pulisic was taken to a hospital in Qatar. Scans at the hospital led to the official diagnosis.
After the collision, Pulisic was attended to by U.S. team medical staff, and was not able to leave the field for nearly three minutes. Pulisic was clearly in a lot of pain, but was eventually able to jog off enough of it to return to play. U.S. manager Gregg Berhalter was seen on the TV broadcast waving off a move for a substitution, and Pulisic reentered the field in the 43rd minute.
“You want the definition of laying it on the line for your country? Right there, in a game,” Fox TV analyst Stuart Holden said on the broadcast. “My, oh my. Pulisic, big time.”
Pulisic battled through the rest of the half, then could go no further. He was replaced by Brenden Aaronson at halftime.
Right after the final whistle, Berhalter told Fox: “It’s a wonderful thing when one of your best players is also one of your hardest-working. He is certainly that — I can’t say enough positive things about Christian.”
Later, Berhalter told reporters in his postgame news conference that Pulisic was also feeling some dizziness, and taking him to the hospital was a “precaution.”
Berhalter said he did not want to speculate about whether Pulisic will be available for the round of 16, where the U.S. will play the Netherlands on Saturday at 10 a.m. (Fox, Telemundo, Peacock). The U.S. team’s statement said Pulisic is “day to day.”
Because Pulisic went to the hospital, the 24-year-old winger was not available to speak with the media. he posted on his Snapchat account from the hospital, saying that he was “so proud of my guys” and that he’d be “ready Saturday don’t worry.” Reserve outside back Joe Scally told reporters in Qatar that the players had a FaceTime chat with Pulisic in the U.S. locker room after the game.
Some time after that, Pulisic was discharged from the hospital. It’s not clear when, but a video posted on social media by the U.S. team showed Pulisic in the lobby of the team’s hotel when the rest of the squad got there.
He didn’t move much, but he was in a plenty happy mood.
