U.S. women’s national team star Mallory Swanson was forced out of the team’s friendly against Ireland with a worrisome injury.
Shortly before halftime, Swanson was caught by a late challenge from Ireland defender Aoife Mannion. Swanson immediately signaled for attention, holding her knee and seeming to be in serious pain.
After several minutes of treatment on the pitch, and speaking with Vlatko Andonovski — who was allowed by referees to come have a word with the Chicago Red Stars attacker — Swanson was stretchered off the field, with a cart taking her down a tunnel at Q2 Stadium.
Broadcaster TNT said at halftime that Swanson was being taken to the hospital with a left knee injury.
Following the match, USWNT head coach Vlatko Andonovski told reporters that the team wasn’t sure of her status.
“Mal had to leave the stadium. We don’t know the extent of her injury yet, she is getting checked out as we speak,” said Andonovski. “I’m hoping for good news in the near future.
Andonovski also addressed an earlier collision Swanson had with Ireland goalkeeper Courtney Brosnan that saw her receive what appeared to be an examination for a neck injury.
“We wanted to make sure, and our medical staff wanted to make sure, that she was okay,” said Andonovski. “Obviously with this game being so close to the World Cup, we didn’t want to take any chances. If there was any slight chance she should have not been back on the field, we were going to keep her off, but she felt good. Everything was fine.”
Andonovski said that incident was not an injury to her brain, adding that she said “‘Coach, I’m good!'” when being carted off.
“Any time an injury happens, emotions run high… everybody was a little bit affected by it,” added Andonovski. “Mal is a very lovable person, she’s a happy person and brings joy to the environment.”
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