New York City FC has taken a massive hit.
Star forward Alonso Martínez suffered a knee injury during international duty with the Costa Rica men’s national team on Thursday, NYCFC confirmed in a statement on Saturday.
While NYCFC’s release was light on details, multiple reports on Friday night painted a bleak picture for the club’s leading scorer, indicating he tore his ACL and would be out for the next eight-to-nine months.
The injury had reportedly been sustained during Costa Rica’s World Cup qualifying match against Haiti in Curaçao.
New York City FC said in a statement that Alonso returned to New York “for further evaluation” and that updates would be provided in the coming days.
Martinez made a heartfelt post on his Instagram Story on Saturday afternoon, thanking fans for the support and promising to return.
“From the bottom of my heart, thank you for all of the support, for the encouraging messages that have come to me. I have no words to thank you, may God bless you!” he wrote, translated from Spanish. “Thanks to the doctors of the Federation, thanks to my club [New York City FC], who have been behind me since Day 1 of my injury. With God’s help, we will come back stronger, I have no doubt about that!”
The loss is a devastating blow to both Costa Rica, which is still trying to secure a spot in the World Cup next summer, and NYCFC, which is in the midst of a playoff run.
Martinez was NYCFC’s leading scorer during the regular season, posting 17 goals and finding the back of the net twice during his club’s first-round series win over Charlotte FC.
NYCFC was already going into their conference semifinal match against the Philadelphia Union without Andrés Perea, who underwent surgery to repair a lower leg fracture he suffered in Game 3 against Charlotte.
NYCFC will face the Union next Sunday.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
