Walker Zimmerman: Nashville SC captain hospitalized with injury | OneFootball

By Charles Boehm

Nashville SC captain Walker Zimmerman was briefly hospitalized on Saturday after suffering a frightening injury in the Coyotes’ 2-1 loss at Charlotte FC.

Zimmerman received medical care and was eventually released hours after taking a kick to the face when he headed away a cross as Charlotte winger Kerwin Vargas attempted an overhead kick in the 71st minute at Bank of America Stadium.

The 31-year-old center back got extensive treatment on the pitch and was fitted with a neck brace before being wheeled off on a gurney, leading to 11-plus minutes of added time at the game’s conclusion.

“He's been taken to a local hospital in stable condition,” Nashville head coach B.J. Callaghan told reporters postgame. “He is responsive. So everything is being handled by the medical professionals and we'll let that process take place. But he's under good care and we send him the best vibes that we can.”

Walker Zimmerman

Defender · Nashville SC

A five-time MLS Best XI honoree, two-time MLS Defender of the Year winner and 2022 World Cup veteran with the US men's national team, Zimmerman was playing in his 273rd career regular-season match.

The incident caps a trying week for Nashville, with the deadly storms and flooding that ravaged much of Tennessee complicating their preparations for the trip to North Carolina.

“We're not going to make any excuses as a group, but it's been a strange week, I'll say, for us. I thought the group overall handled things really well,” said Callaghan. “With the final piece kind of being the moment where Walker goes down. We have a ‘next man up’ mentality and I'm proud of the group, of the way that they responded, and there's some areas that we'll learn from.”

Charlotte scored both goals after Zimmerman’s departure. NSC had dominated the game’s early stages, but suffered their third loss of the season.

“Just a difficult situation. You have a guy trying to score a spectacular goal, who has no mal[icious] intent, has no idea Walker is going to stick his head in there. He's just trying to score a goal, and Walker is going to put his face in there to try to save a goal, and he ultimately did,” said Nashville left back Dan Lovitz. “It's tough. I'd be lying if I said it wasn't something that was tough to watch and maybe impacted us a little bit. But we pride ourselves on trying to move forward.

“It was a unique situation, and I think something that no one ever wants to see happen.”