Christian Pulisic injury update: USA star forced off in World Cup battle

· Yahoo Sports

Editor's note: Follow USA vs. Belgium LIVE

Visit extonnews.click for more information.

SEATTLE — Christian Pulisic is out of the United States’ round of 16 World Cup match after appearing to suffer an injury.

The USMNT star came out of the game against Belgium in the 59th minute, with Sebastian Berhalter replacing him just a few minutes after he went down and was in noticeable pain.

In the 54th minute, Pulisic was going for a shot when Belgium's Youri Tielemans got in the way just enough for the U.S. player to trip on the opponent's foot before he kicked his own. The crowd and U.S. was angry that a call wasn't made, and Pulisic was down on the ground for a few moments holding onto his right knee.

He eventually got up on his own accord, but was noticeably limping and in pain as he tried to jog it off. After Belgium scored its third goal of the day to make it a 3-1 lead, Pulisic was taken out.

The 27-year-old stayed on the bench after being removed, visibly in pain and frustrated.

Why did Christian Pulisic come out for USA match?

While there was no clear reason why Pulisic came off, it's likely because of his limited abilities since he was injured.

It's been an injury-riddled tournament for the U.S. star as he hasn't been able to play all 90 minutes in any of USMNT's five matches in the World Cup. He suffered a left calf injury in the opening match against Paraguay that resulted in an early exit and him missing the second match against Australia. He came on as a second half substitution in the final group stage match against Turkey. He nearly played all of the round of 32 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina, coming off in the 88th minutes of the match when the U.S. were already up 2-0 in the eventual victory.

Pulisic's departure is a major blow for the U.S. as it just went down two goals when he was taken out. He had been a major reason the attack had performed so well when he was playing.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Christian Pulisic injury update: USA star forced off in World Cup battle

Read full story at source