Lille and USMNT striker Tim Weah has suffered a setback in his effort to establish consistency for club and country, as Lille head coach Jocelyn Gourvennec told reporters that the American forward suffered an injury in practice.
Weah was strangely absent from Lille’s squad on Saturday for their 2-1 victory over Troyes in Ligue 1 action, with no prior announcements from the club indicating any problems.
When asked about the Brooklyn-born attacker’s absence in the post-game press conference, Gourvennec clarified that he was forced to sit out due to an injury in training the day before.
“He hurt his muscles on Friday night, at the end of training,” Gourvennec answered. “We were waiting for the examination which revealed a muscle injury in the quadriceps. Is he out for Wolfsburg? Yes.”
Lille’s game at Wolfsburg on Wednesday is a critical matchup that will ultimately decide whether they go through to the final 16 of the competition, potentially as group leaders, or fall down into the far less lucrative Europa League knockout round.
In an incredibly tight group, a loss to the Germans will drop them in to the second-tier competition, while a draw or win in Germany will be enough to see them through.
While not explicitly stated by the coach, multiple reports in the French media have also indicated that the injury will shut Weah down for the rest of 2021, which means he is also expected to miss their final two league games of the year against Lyon and Bordeaux, and a French Cup match against Auxerre.
Prior to recently establishing himself as a starter for the USMNT over the last two international windows, scoring one goal and setting up another in recent World Cup qualifiers against Mexico and Jamaica, Weah has had several long-term injury issues that have limited his momentum.
Most recently, he missed several weeks in August and September with a thigh problem, however he missed nearly a year during 2019-20, also with leg injuries.
Overall, the American has scored five goals and set up another five across all competitions for Lille since joining in 2019, and a pair each of goals and assists for the USMNT in his 18 caps.
