CHESTER, Pa. -- Hobbling off the pitch with his arm around a trainer, Stoke City's Brek Shea walked by the Sons of Ben to a spattering of "U-S-A!" chants.
The moment was unlike his previous trips to Philadelphia, and it certainly didn't reflect the kind of week Shea was having to that point.
The winger led the U.S. men's national team to a Gold Cup final win over Panama on Sunday with the game's lone goal in the 68th minute.
And, including the start of Tuesday night's friendly against the Union, Shea had some noteworthy moments playing in Philadelphia.
Shea scored his first professional goal with FC Dallas against the Union on May 15, 2010 at Lincoln Financial Field.
The 23-year-old earned his first international cap for the U.S. senior team a few months later against Colombia at PPL Park.
And Tuesday, Shea notched Stoke City's second goal in the 19th minute of the club's 2-0 international friendly victory over the Union (see story).
But just eight minutes later, the Texas native was grimacing on the ground, holding his left leg after a hard challenge by Union defender Matt Kassel.
Shea slowly rose to his feet and tried walking off the injury along the sidelines before heading to the dressing room. He did not return to action.
Kassel, who was issued a yellow card after the offense, said his level of play wouldn’t have changed simply because it was a friendly match.
However, Stoke City manager Mark Hughes thought differently, echoing harsh words toward the challenge made by Kassel.
“I thought it was a very, very poor challenge. ... I don't know what the hell he was thinking,” Hughes said. “You don't expect that. It's a friendly game. You have to protect your fellow professional. ... He went the wrong way about it to be perfectly honest.”
The manager stated the injury was to Shea’s knee ligaments and his winger will be out of action “for a number of weeks at least.”
Kassel was adamant that there was no intent behind the challenge and he spoke briefly with Shea after the incident.
“Obviously, I didn't mean to go in [to] hurt the guy,” Kassel said. “It was completely just going for the ball. Unfortunately, things happen in the game and tonight he unfortunately got hurt. I already tweeted at him. I wish him all the best.”
Shea said his knee is throbbing, an MRI will be done on Wednesday and jokingly mentioned that he wasn’t a doctor.
All kidding aside, what started out as another prime performance in Philly by Shea ended more damagingly than he expected.
"It's soccer. … I've done worse to other people. I'm not mad at all,” Shea said. “Hopefully, it’s not as bad as it feels.”