There was a very scary moment in last night’s Vancouver Whitecaps/Chicago Fire as a collision between two players caused one to be knocked out, bleeding from the mouth and had to be stretchered off to go to the hospital.
Early in the game, forward Masato Kudo was trying to get to the end of a long pass. Beating all defenders, Kudo only needed to beat Chicago goalkeeper Matt Lampson. Lampson, defending the goal and presumably himself, collided into Kudo an left Kudo’s head bouncing off the ground at BC Place Stadium. The GIF below is pretty graphic so be warned before watching.
Here’s the Lampson / Kudo incident from #VANvCHI. Graphic collision, but he eventually stood up and was carted off. https://t.co/WYlUwQf11w
— Ben Jata (@Ben_Jata) May 12, 2016
As you can see, Kudo looked like he was immediately knocked out and bleeding out of his mouth. Credit to the players on the scene who immediately knew what to do and made sure to turn Kudo to his side and made sure he didn’t swallow his tongue. After a while, Kudo eventually came to and was able to move his extremities as he was carted off and sent to the hospital. He was “alert and aware” and no doubt has a concussion but appears will eventually be a full recovery.
The game continued with Vancouver eventually winning 2-1, culminating in a bicycle kick goal by Blas Perez that may go down as a Goal of the Year candidate.