USMNT striker Patrick Agyemang leaves Derby County game on stretcher | USA
Patrick Agyemang left the Derby County match on a stretcher after an apparent non-contact injury. The USA international striker rose to collect a ball in the 37th minute and collapsed to the ground, with photographs from Pride Park showing Derby medical staff treating his left ankle.
Witness accounts at the scene said the 25-year-old jumped to control the ball with his chest before landing awkwardly and falling to the ground. Play was stopped for five minutes before Agyemang was sent off on a stretcher. His replacement, Jaydon Banel, scored the opening goal to boost the Rams’ chances of promotion.
“No [update] Again. He’s gone for a scan, so we’ll wait and see the results,” Derby manager John Eustace said afterwards. “It’s not [nice to see]. We don’t want to lose any players. We don’t want to see players go out on a stretcher. Hopefully it’s not as bad as it could be. Until we get the results of the analysis, we will have to wait and see.
However serious the injury, it could not have come at a more precarious time for Agyemang, who made his debut for the United States in one of Mauricio Pochettino’s first windows as manager. The striker performed well in his first league season after leaving Charlotte FC in July, scoring 10 goals and adding three assists in 36 league appearances.
He had also maintained regular status in Pochettino’s teams. While the forward is among the deepest areas of the U.S. men’s player pool, Agyemang joined Folarin Balogun and Ricardo Pepi on the roster for the recently concluded March window. He was the only forward of the trio to score, finishing the scoring in the United States’ 5-2 loss to Belgium after an interception by Pepi.
