Diego Gomez was in tears as he was forced off the pitch after sustaining a serious-looking injury playing for Brighton in their Premier League clash with Tottenham
Brighton star Diego Gomez was visibly upset as he left the pitch after suffering what appeared to be a severe injury against Tottenham.
The Paraguayan international landed awkwardly following an aerial duel with Spurs fullback Destiny Udogie as they contested a header and looked to be in considerable pain, presumably due to fears it could be a major blow ahead of the World Cup, reports the Mirror.
The midfielder covered his face with his shirt as he lay in agony on the turf. The 23-year-old pulled it up over his eyes as he had to leave the field, helped off by two physios from the visiting side at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, and was replaced by Kaoru Mitoma in the 21st minute.
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Gomez has 23 caps for his country, who are set to compete in Group D with tournament co-hosts the United States, along with Australia, and Turkey, at the tournament in North America this summer.
Former Spurs midfielder Andy Reid, speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live while reporting from the stadium, said: “Gomez has been in great form. You hope it’s not too serious but the distress on his face, it doesn’t look great.”
Pedro Porro opened the scoring for relegation threatened Spurs in the 39th minute, when the fullback capitalised on a moment of chaos in the Seagulls defence.
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Goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen almost gifted possession with a poor touch and pass, before the home side gained the ball and Xavi Simons whipped in a cross for the fullback to head home.
But their joy was short-lived as Gomez’s replacement Mitoma levelled in added-on time at the end of the first half. A brilliant left-footed strike from the Japanese star courtesy of a cross from Pascal Gross made it 1-1 at the break.
Tottenham went into the match placed 18th in the table and desperate for all three points under new manager and former Brighton boss Roberto Di Zerbi. His old club meanwhile were sitting pretty in 10th when the match began, with a draw enough to lift them up into ninth.