Sept. 25
On Friday, NYCFC confirmed that Heber suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his right knee during Wednesday’s match against Toronto FC. He will miss the remainder of the 2020 MLS season. Heber is expected to undergo surgery in the near future to repair the tear and begin his recovery process.
Sept. 23
NYCFC striker Heber entered Wednesday's night match against Toronto FC as a second-half impact sub, and left it with an injury that may impact the remainder of the team's 2020 season.
The Brazilian standout went down with little contact in the 84th minute of what would turn out to be a 1-0 home defeat to its conference rivals, holding his knee. He was replaced by Nicolas Acevedo, who would leave his own unfortunate mark on the game, committing the penalty that led to the game's lone goal.
"I didn't like the look on his face," said NYCFC head coach Ronny Delia, who was asked about the injury right off, in the post-match press conference's first question. "Hopefully, the picture will show something different," he added, noting that it appeared the outside of Heber's knee was involved.
Though NYCFC had a six-match unbeaten streak heading into Wednesday night's contest, it also has had trouble scoring lately. Wednesday's match was the team's third match in its last four where they failed to score a goal. Should the team's leading goalscorer from 2019 be out for an extended stretch, that would certainly affect what NYCFC is able to do offensively heading into the playoffs.
