FC Dallas was dealt a rather significant blow on Thursday when head coach Nico Estévez revealed that Alan Velasco tore his ACL during Monday’s game. Velasco will likely be out 9-10 months and he’s the third player Dallas has lost this year to a season-ending knee injury, joining forward Tarik Scott and right back Geovane Jesus.
“Everyone is sad because Alan is a lovely kid, we all love him, not only for what he brings on the field but off the field he’s an amazing guy and teammate,” Estévez said. “It’s the worst part of sports, when any player gets injured. Now, we have to think about his recovery.”
It was initially believed that Velasco suffered the injury when Alex Roldan fell into/was tackled into him in the 12th minute. Velasco eventually came off in the 16th minute and was replaced by Liam Fraser.
But Dallas is now saying that Velasco actually got hurt in the 2nd minute when he made an awkward lunge for the ball, which means he was able to play almost 15 more minutes.
The injury happens when he slides to reach the ball at 1:08, so he played another 17 minutes while injured before subbing out. pic.twitter.com/QXJQSMaAPd
— Garrett Melcer (@GarrettMelcer) November 2, 2023
Velasco is considered one of the top young talents in MLS, having recently been named the top player in the 22 Under 22 list and getting a call-up to the Argentina national team. In two MLS seasons, the 21-year-old has 10 goals and 11 assists.
FC Dallas is preparing to host Game 2 of their best-of-3 series against the Sounders on Saturday. The Sounders won Game 1 2-0 on Monday.
