The injury news will not stop as NYCFC loses Alonso Martínez to a knee injury

When New York City FC beat Charlotte FC in the final game of the Round One Best-of-3 series of the MLS Cup Playoffs, they were able to celebrate winning 3-1 on the road. However, there was also some sorrow for Andrés Perea. The midfielder injured his lower leg, requiring surgery and ending his season. The club did not reveal which part of the lower leg was hurt, but the assumption was that it was near the ankle based on how his foot turned.

Unfortunately, the injury news will not stop for NYCFC. Alonso Martínez was with Costa Rica, playing a World Cup Qualifier against Haiti. The striker ended up hurting his knee in the Thursday game, and fans awaited the news. Reports began to trickle out, but there was hope, as there always is before confirmation.

Alonso Martínez is out for a while for NYCFC

But it is not good. NYCFC revealed on Saturday morning that Martínez suffered a knee injury and that further details will be released in the future. The club might know exactly what it is, but they are probably waiting for their own doctors to confirm the dreaded news.

Nevertheless, the belief is that the striker will be out for a long time based on the report from Kevin Jiménez. The Costa Rican journalist posted that Martínez tore his ACL and meniscus. As such, he will miss eight to nine months. It is unknown how he came to that timeline, for a further evaluation will likely provide a more concrete range.

Still, NYCFC fans can expect that they will not see Martínez on the pitch for quite some time. ACL tears alone can take a while to recover from, and sometimes athletes will not play again for a year or more. Hopefully, the star will not take that long.

It would be ideal for him to have a recovery time similar to Maxi Moralez, or even less. The Argentine ruptured his ACL on September 2, 2023, and was back by May 31, 2024. What fans do not want to see is that his recovery time takes over a year, like it did for the club's former striker Héber, who was never the same with the Pigeons.

Meanwhile, during Friday's podcast of The Sick Podcast, Glenn Crooks blamed the turf where Costa Rica and Haiti were playing. Haiti could not host at home, so they were playing in Curaçao at Ergilio Hato Stadium. Crooks said he has been there before, and the artificial turf is horrible. He believes that contributed to the knee injury.

Martínez's injury is awful, and now being without him and Perea for the future is terrible. Plus, NYCFC must figure out who to put as the striker when they play the Philadelphia Union in the playoffs next weekend. The injuries will not go away, and everyone must hope that this is the last one for a long time. After all, the Pigeons have been missing Malachi Jones for over a year and Keaton Parks for most of 2025.