An assistant referee had to exit the Concacaf Gold Cup quarter-final between the US and Canada after bleeding from the head, following a blast to the face during the match's opening minutes. Mexican Christian Espinosa received a point-blank ball to the face within the first 10 minutes of Sunday's game and required immediate medical attention after Canada's left back, Kamal Miller, kicked the ball out of bands from the pitch's right side, following a tussle for possession with U.S. midfielder, Gianluca Busio.
The clearance was so powerful that Espinosa got down to his knees before covering his face in front of cameras, as he seemed to be in pain and bleeding from his head, according to Marca. Referee Marco Ortiz was forced to suspend game play so that Espinosa could be medically treated. The amount of game time that it took to treat the linesman - 11 minutes - was added on as extra time at the end of the first half.
At that moment, it was unclear if the assistant referee fractured anything, though the fact that he was bleeding could hint at a broken nose. It's also possible that Espinosa suffered a concussion from the blast. Footage from the game showed medics cutting the Espinosa's shirt open so that they could take a look at other possible injuries, while taking off the mic attached to his match kit. Espinosa was then handed a towel to cover his face. Blood was seen on the white cloth as he exited the high stakes matchup between both North American countries. After the assistant referee Christian Espinosa was forced to leave the quarter-final game in Cincinnati, Concacaf has received confirmation that “he suffered a broken nose. Christian is doing well, and we wish him a speedy recovery”. Since there was no reserve assistant referee (RAR) appointed, the fourth official Oshane Nation (JAM) acted as assistant for a few minutes when play was resumed until Concacaf was able to bring back on the field Caleb Wales (TRI), who was assistant referee in the previous quarter-final Guatemala – Jamaica, played on the same stadium.
Source: Daily Mail
