Greg Garza exits MLS All-Star Game with apparent shoulder injury

It didn’t take long for a player to fall to injury in the 2017 MLS All-Star Game vs. Real Madrid in Chicago. Unfortunately for Atlanta United, it was starting left back Greg Garza that came off in the fifth minute due to an apparent right shoulder injury.

The actual incident came in the third minute as Garza was running down the near touchline with the ball with Real Madrid midfielder Isco in pursuit. Isco made a sliding challenge for it but got tangled up with Garza in the process. The 25-year-old Texan fell and would be tended to by trainers before exiting the game after being ruled unable to continue.

The Houston Dynamo’s Damarcus Beasley ended up taking Garza’s place in the lineup. We’ll have to wait and see whether or not MLS All-Star coach Veljko Paunovic’s decision to pull Garza was a mere precaution or if it’s something more serious (FS1 called it a separated shoulder, for what it’s worth), but Atlanta can ill afford to lose one of its key defenders with the back half of the season staring at them.