Uruguay midfielder Manuel Ugarte is expected to miss significant time because of a knee ligament injury, The Athletic reported Sunday, putting his start to next season for Manchester United in jeopardy.
Ugarte was carried of the field with the injury during Uruguay’s 1-0 loss to Spain at Zapopan, Mexico, on Friday. Uruguay finished 0-1-2 (two points) in Group H play and was eliminated from the World Cup.
According to the report, Ugarte will continue to undergo testing to determine the severity of the injury.
Ugarte’s injury only added to what was a rough World Cup run for Uruguay, who were the highest ranked team at No. 16 not to advance to the round of 32.
Following Friday’s loss, multiple reports indicated that the Uruguayan soccer federation canceled the squad’s scheduled charter flight from the team’s training base in Playa del Carmen, Mexico to the home capital city of Montevideo, leaving the team to take commercial flights home.
Uruguay captain Jose Maria Gimenez, who remained on the bench for all three matches, said per Uruguayan broadcast company Tenfield: “The pain is immense. The feeling is one of profound sadness. The reality we have to face is incredibly difficult. We apologize to the Uruguayan people. It wasn’t what we all expected, but football is like this, and we have to accept it.”
Ugarte is set to make more than $6 million next season, with Manchester United likely to recover some of that cost through FIFA’s program to compensate clubs for injuries sustained during international play.
