Marsch praises Koné after injury scare: Imperfect but why we love him
· Yahoo Sports
Canada coach Jesse Marsch praised midfielder Ismael Koné after he suffered a heart-breaking injury during their 6-0 thrashing of Qatar at the World Cup on Thursday.
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Koné went down after a challenge with Assim Madibo in the 52nd minute and it looked like he suffered a serious leg injury.
His team-mates looked clearly distressed and he needed to be carried out on a stretcher. He left the pitch in tears but putting his thumbs up to the fans.
Madibo had initially received a yellow card, but after video review, that was upgraded to a red, leaving Canada with nine men on the pitch as Homam Ahmed had been previously sent off.
It's unclear how serious the injury is or whether Koné will be able to keep playing at the World Cup.
"Ismael is such a great kid. He's so imperfect but that's part of why we love him," coach Marsch said after Canada's first-ever World Cup win.
"He can do things that nobody else can do and then in the next moment he loses concentration for a second. But he really embodies a lot of what this team is. And it's a huge loss for us.
"He will be fine, we'll get him to the doctors. That kid got a big future."
Nathan Saliba's scored Canada's fourth goal from a free-kick in the 64th and celebrated holding up a jersey with Koné's name and number.
Canada are co-hosting the tournament with the United States and Mexico. They top Group B tied on four points with Switzerland, whom they face on June 24 in the final group stage match.
"I've said all along that the best resource of this team is the players. They embody everything that's great about this country," Marsch said.
"They're incredibly kind and generous but they're also great players, great talent, great competitors. Coming here my idea was to elevate them and we saw that today."