Mark Delgado choked up as he spoke.
“Our heart is with him,” the LA Galaxy midfielder said during a media call about his injured teammate Riqui Puig. “It definitely gives us the reason to give our all for him.”
It has been an emotional week for the Galaxy. The team celebrated their return to Major League Soccer’s biggest stage – MLS Cup – after a 10-year absence. But the victory came at a heavy cost. During the second half of the Western Conference Final against the Seattle Sounders, Puig tore his ACL. Unknown to most, he played 30 more minutes with the injury, delivering the game’s decisive moment: an extraordinary assist to Dejan Joveljic for the lone goal in a 1-0 win.
Now, as they prepare to host the New York Red Bulls in the final, LA is coping with the absence of their star playmaker.
“He’s the ultimate competitor,” Galaxy manager Greg Vanney said. “He wants to win, compete, and take responsibility on the field. He drives the team in so many ways.”
Delgado echoed those sentiments.
“Special player. Everyone can see that. Definitely irreplaceable, right? He just brings something completely different than anybody can really bring,” he said. “So, yeah, and that aspect, you’re really gonna miss them, yeah, and then yeah, we just, we have to move forward, you know, the game stops for no one, and we just got to sort it out.”