Nashville SC defender Walker Zimmerman has been discharged from hospital after receiving medical care following a bicycle kick to the face, a club spokesperson told ESPN.
Nashville coach BJ Callaghan had earlier said that the United States international was in a “stable condition” and responsive after being taken to a local hospital following the injury suffered during Saturday’s MLS game at Charlotte FC.
“He’s under good care and we send him the best vibes that we can,” Callaghan said.
In an attempt to get the ball out of the box, Zimmerman dove head first and collided with Kerwin Vargas’ bicycle kick. The medical staff rushed to the scene, attending Zimmerman before laying him down on the cart with a neck brace to be transported off the pitch.
“I’ve played with Walker long enough to see him put his head in some crazy situations, and quite frankly, it’s what makes him great and such a valuable part of our team and such a weapon offensively and defensively,” Nashville defender Daniel Lovitz said.
“That’s just a difficult situation. You have a guy trying to score a spectacular goal who has no bad intent, has no idea Walker is going to stick his head in there, is just trying to score a goal.
“Walker is going to put his face in there to try to save a goal, and he ultimately did. It’s tough.”
Charlotte FC player Ashley Westwood also expressed his concern following the game.
“First of all, we just want to make sure Walker is alright,” he said. “It wasn’t nice to see, hopefully he’s doing alright.
“We send our best wishes as a team to him and his family. It’s not nice to see, Kerwin is just devastated. He was shaking on the pitch. Hopefully, he’s alright. Nothing else matters.”
Nashville fell 2-1 to t Charlotte FC at Bank of America Stadium as goals from Wilfried Zaha and Idan Toklomati secured the three points for the home team.
Zimmerman, a two-time MLS Defender of the Year, played in his 273rd career MLS regular-season match on Saturday. The 13-year veteran is in his sixth season with Nashville. He has 25 career MLS goals and 11 assists.
Zimmerman has made 43 appearances for USMNT and has three goals and one assist.
Information from Field Level Media was used in this report.
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