United States release Johnny Cardoso over left leg «discomfort» | OneFootball

The international break has brought the first scare, ahead of the second round of international matches, for Atlético de Madrid. Midfielder Johnny Cardoso started in the United States' 2-5 defeat to Belgium, but alarm bells rang when the Atlético man was taken off at halftime. After the match, Pochettino made it clear that the plan had been for him to be substituted at the break, though he hinted at some physical issue.

The United States has announced that Johnny Cardoso has left the training camp and will return to Atlético de Madrid in the coming hours. After the United States 2-5 Belgium match, the coach of the American side stated that “Johnny was doing well, a good game. But… we need to listen to the players and the medical staff, and that was the plan. The plan was for him to play 45 minutes. He has been playing a lot.” The coach, who previously worked in La Liga, added a detail that raised concerns: “Since the beginning of the week he had been feeling some discomfort in certain parts of his body. We decided he would play 45 minutes as a precaution and not take any risks with him.”

Ahead of the national team’s second match, Johnny Cardoso gave more details about the Atlético player’s situation. During Pochettino’s press conference before the American side’s second game, he gave further details and added: “The plan for Johnny was to play 45 minutes against Belgium, but at halftime he felt some discomfort in his left leg, so we decided not to push him and to release him so he could return to Madrid.”

The Argentine concluded by saying: “The positive part is that he is not playing this weekend due to a suspension for yellow cards, which will allow him to recover as soon as possible.”

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.