Devastation followed elation for Melbourne City striker Holly McNamara as she was stretchered off with a knee injury after scoring the winner in a 3-2 ALW win over Newcastle.
The 20-year-old scored twice late on in Newcastle to secure the win for her side but while scoring her second, in the second minute of injury time, she fell down clutching her knee.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Holly McNamara in tears after knee injury.
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McNamara, who has suffered two ACL ruptures in her short career, was in tears as she was carried off the field.
She had been called up to the Matildas squad this week to play two friendlies against Canada in December.
“Didn’t look great. A couple of things, Holly’s reaction when she went down and just the fact there was no contact as well,” Matildas great Alicia Ferguson told A-League’s Dub Zone.
“Played that ball past the goalkeeper – she landed and there was a little twist, no contact there. You could see her mouthing the words, ‘my knee, my knee’.
“Obviously in some distress. Wishing Holly all the best for that injury.”
Two-time A-League champion Teresa Polias added: “Just seeing her reaction was heartbreaking.
“Our thoughts are with Holly, it’s never nice to see that. As a player who’s done it before, you could see in her reaction maybe she knew.”
McNamara, 20, has three Matildas caps since debuting in 2022 and playing at that year’s Asian Cup before tearing her ACL.
The latest injury appears certain to rule her out of the friendlies with Canada next month.
“I selected her all the way back in April. But she wasn’t really ready at that time to be in the senior Matildas environment for different reasons – she needed more time to get back from the ACL and play continuously,” Matildas coach Gustavsson said last week.
“And so we said ‘let’s not stress her – let her have her time’ – which was important. I actually honestly think she might have been a contender for the World Cup roster otherwise.
“… But once she did get that time to ease her way back into playing time, she once again proved (herself) now in the A-League, look at the stats.
“(McNamara is) once again off the charts when it comes to goal scoring but also creating goal-scoring chances, line-breaking actions, one-v-one stats, pressing actions.
“She really fits the bill of how we want to play and she can play in all four attacking spots for us.
“So I’m really, really happy to bring her back into our environment.”
– AAP
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