Gold Cup winner left the field with a knee injury.
USA international Brek Shea could face a spell on the sidelines after being injured in Stoke City’s friendly with Philadelphia Union.
Three days after winning the Gold Cup, the winger was named in the starting line-up and the Potters made a tremendous start when Michael Knightly volleyed home a cross in the fourth minute.
Midway through the first half, Shea continued his goal scoring streak when he poked in a clever finish.
His luck ended there though, when he went down in the 27th minute under a clumsy challenge from Union reserve Matt Kassel. Shea limped off the field and was on crutches after the game, with what manager Mark Hughes described as “a nasty injury”.
The full extent of the knock will be made clear after an MRI, but serious or not, Hughes made no secret of his anger at the tackle in his post match interview:
“I thought it was a very, very poor challenge by the boy. What the hell was he was thinking of, I have no idea.”
“It’s a friendly game,” Hughes added.
“You need to protect your fellow professional. And I don’t think the guy did that. I don’t know who he was. Maybe he was trying to make a name for himself, I don’t know. He went the wrong way about it.”
Kassel was booed by some of the fans in the PPL Park after the challenge, and showed his remorse after the game with an apology.
Brek Shea echoed Kassel’s assertion that he had been going for the ball, and made it clear he bore no grudge: “I tried to put my body in front of his and it’s soccer. Tackles happen – good and bad. I’ve done worse to other people. I’m not mad at all.”
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