Stu Holden lasts 20 minutes in Gold Cup final, leaves match with knee injury

The United States Men's National Team had kicked off against Panama in the Gold Cup Final in hopes of giving Jurgen Klinsmann his first piece of silverware as the US Boss. The match was as contentious as could be expected in the opening stages and Bolton Wanderers midfielder Stu Holden was front and center. The Americans had struggled to make inroads in the opening 20 minutes but Holden's play was one of the bright spots in the opening stages. Then it all went wrong.

In what looked like a fairly innocuous challenge with Stu Holden chasing Alberto Quintero down the Panamanian left flank, the midfielder seemed to knock knees with the opposition attacker. Holden immediately went down, clutching his right knee, that of the plant foot and not the one that hit Quintero's leg. Stu was down on the ground and immediately received treatment from the physio, who took him to the sideline.

Holden walked off the field on his own power and later walked to the locker room on his own but looked completely distraught doing so. The Americans almost immediately made the decision to sub Mix Diskerud in to his spot and Holden was off to hit the showers. The knock appears to have affected Holden's right knee, not the left one that was injured in the Jonny Evans tackle.

There is no word on the severity of the injury, whether it was just a knock or something more, just yet but we'll bring you updates as we have them.