25.05.2021 21:59 h

Peru international Polo out for season after horror tackle

Portland Timbers midfielder Andy Polo will miss the rest of the season as a result of injuries suffered in a red-card tackle against the Los Angeles Galaxy, the Major League Soccer club said Tuesday.

The Timbers said in a statement Peruvian international midfielder Polo had suffered a ruptured quadriceps muscle and a torn meniscus in his left leg following the brutal challenge by the Galaxy's Derrick Williams.

Ireland international Williams was given a straight red for the tackle which came in a 3-0 defeat for Galaxy at Portland's Providence Park.

Polo left the stadium on crutches and wearing a leg brace.

Galaxy coach Greg Vanney was critical of Williams' challenge, saying the defender had mistimed the tackle.

"It's a tackle that is going to be a red card every single time," Vanney said after Saturday's match. "It's just never going to be OK, whether it's this league or any other league."

Polo, 26, has been capped 31 times by Peru, and earned his most recent cap during a World Cup qualifying defeat to Argentina last November in Lima.

However he was not included in a squad for World Cup qualifiers against Colombia and Ecuador next month, and was not expected to feature in this year's Copa America.