Sweden’s Kosovare Asllani suffered what appeared to be a nasty injury as her team battled it out with Netherlands last night in the second semifinals matchup from the FIFA Women’s World Cup.
The match ended up taking nearly 100 minutes to decide the winner, with the Netherlands going through to the finals with an extra time goal.
Here’s an update on Asllani’s injury including what happened and her condition now.
Kosovare Asllani injury results in stretcher
Kosovare Asllani’s injury occurred during Wednesday’s semifinals in just the final minutes. On another player’s kick, the ball struck her in the head. She grabbed at her neck as she fell down to the field. Players and fans were immediately concerned over Asllani’s situation.
The 29-year-old was attended to by medical personnel for about 10 minutes. Asllani was eventually put on to a stretcher to be taken off the field. Most fans were of the belief she suffered a concussion. Those in attendance and many people online showed their support for her well-being.
Bad injury to Asllani, who is sadly stretchered off. Into the last two minutes.
— louise sage (@nutmegscrgirl) July 3, 2019
This looks like a very bad injury for Asllani #FIFAWWC
— Matt (@matt_johnson_89) July 3, 2019
#FIFAWWC#WomensWorldCup #NED #SWE Sweden's midfielder Kosovare Asllani (C) is brought off the pitch in a stretcher by medical staff after an injury #AFP
?@JpKphotographer pic.twitter.com/XHqVNSfQpF— AFP Photo (@AFPphoto) July 3, 2019
Sad to see Asllani being taken off the field with a head injury…hope she makes a full recovery #NEDSWE
— Chilindrina, tu madre (@KallpaJuanjui) July 3, 2019
After being transported to a medical facility, Kosovare Asllani underwent an MRI and CT scan. The good news is that when the initial medical tests were performed, an update on Kosovare Asllani’s injury indicated no serious damage for the Swedish footballer.
A report from SVT Sport (translated to English) gave the statement via Swedish national team doctor Houman Ebrahimi. “After the match we have been in hospital and performed CT (computer tomography) and MRI (magnetic resonance imaging). The preliminary defense does not show any signs of more serious damage,” Ebrahimi said.
Asllani was active on her official Instagram on Wednesday evening, posting a series of photos from the World Cup. The second photo shows her laying on the pitch and grasping her neck. She captioned the series with a broken heart emoji, most likely due to her injury and team’s loss.
As seen in the Instagram post, Asllani received nearly 2,000 comments, mostly in support of her health after the injury.
The ball striking her head was one of several hits that Asllani took during the game. According to another report, she was hit in the head during an earlier collision with Stefanie van der Gragt.
Sweden moves on to the third-place game
The game ended 1-0 in favor of the Netherlands. The winning goal came courtesy of Jackie Groenen in the 99th minute after a scoreless affair. The Netherlands moves on to play Megan Rapinoe, Alex Morgan, and Team USA in the World Cup finals on Sunday (July 7).
It was a disappointing finish for the losing side. Since Sweden lost to the Netherlands, they will play in the third-place game. That matchup arrives on Saturday (July 6) in France. They’ll face England in the game which is slated for 11 a.m. Eastern Time on FOX.
In a tweet posted to the team’s Twitter, the caption translated to English reads, “Heavy loss today – but together we’ll wage war on the bronze on Saturday! ???? #viärsverige”
Tung förlust idag – men tillsammans ska vi kriga mot bronset på lördag! ???? #viärsverige pic.twitter.com/eZjpCUUFc0
— Svensk Fotboll (@svenskfotboll) July 3, 2019
It’s unknown right now if Sweden’s striker Kosovare Asllani will participate in that game on Saturday. However, the best news at the moment is that her injury was not severe.
More: Women's World Cup