Seattle Sounders goalkeeper Stefan Frei was pushed off the sphere by ambulance and brought to a hospital to be evaluated for head and neck accidents on the finish of a Main League Soccer match in opposition to the Columbus Crew on Sunday.
Frei was alert as he left the sphere, Sounders coach Brian Schmetzer mentioned. “His fingers had been shifting, so he was OK in that regard,” Schmetzer mentioned. “No paralysis, nothing main, however clearly I do not need to downplay it.”
Frei jumped ahead to make a play on a free kick, and as he got here down, his head collided with the knee of a Crew participant. Frei dropped to the turf at Lumen Discipline and teammates signaled to the sideline for assist.
With the match tied at 1-1 deep in stoppage time, Schmetzer and Crew coach Wilfried Nancy appealed to the referee to finish it. As Frei was stretchered to the ready ambulance, Seattle followers chanted his first identify.
Schmetzer turned emotional when describing how Nancy agreed to name the sport, though the Crew had received a nook kick within the ultimate moments.
“I admire what he did, as a result of the ref wasn’t going to cease the sport, and everyone knew the sport ought to have been stopped,” Nancy mentioned. “So good on him. So thanks, Wilfried.”
Frei, 39, has performed for the Sounders since 2014. He helped Seattle win the MLS Cup in 2016 and 2019, and he was named MLS Cup MVP in 2016. He was an All-Star in 2017.
The Sounders mentioned Frei made his 1,000th regular-season save with the workforce within the first half. Solely former Actual Salt Lake goalkeeper Nick Rimando (1,128) has extra with a single workforce.
Born in Switzerland, Frei’s household moved to the USA when he was a teen, and he was a standout on the College of California.
Reporting by The Related Press.
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