USMNT's Weston McKennie stretchered off for Schalke against Eintracht Frankfurt (video)

U.S. men’s national team and Schalke defender/midfielder Weston McKennie was removed from Sunday’s Bundesliga match against Eintracht Frankfurt on a stretcher after a scary first-half collision.

The incident happened less than 10 minutes into the contest when the 21-year-old Texan — a finalist for the USMNT’s player of the year award won last week by Chelsea’s Christian Pulisic — contested a header with Frankfurt striker Bas Dost. Dost appeared to have body position as McKennie challenged from behind, but the Dutchman’s flailing arm caused the American to lose his balance on the way down, and McKennie landed awkwardly on his left shoulder and stayed on the ground for more than two minutes before being carried off the field by paramedics:

The extent of the injury wasn’t immediately clear. Reached via text message, a U.S. Soccer spokesman told Yahoo Sports that the national team’s medical staff was aware of the situation and would be in touch with their Schalke counterparts regarding McKennie’s condition.

Timing-wise, things could’ve been worse for McKennie and the two teams he plays for. Schalke has just two more league games, at Wolfsburg on Wednesday and home to Freiburg next weekend, before Germany’s almost month-long winter break begins, while the full-strength USMNT won’t convene again until late March ahead of a pair of friendly matches in Europe vs. the Netherlands and another TBD foe, giving the youngster plenty of time to get healthy.

It’s not the first time McKennie’s smash-mouth style of play has landed him on the sideline. The versatile former FC Dallas academy product — he had been playing center back rather than his usual midfield role recently for his club — missed time for Schalke last season after tearing ankle ligaments while on U.S. duty. He also sat out a pair of Bundesliga games in October because of a muscle ailment.

But he’s been a regular fixture in coach David Wagner’s lineup when healthy, starting nine of the 12 league games he’s featured in this term.

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