NYCFC star Alonso Martinez undergoes knee surgery

Alonso Martinez underwent successful surgery at Montefiore Einstein in The Bronx on Thursday, weeks after suffering a devastating ACL injury in his right knee that upended New York City FC’s playoff run. 

Martinez suffered an ACL rupture in his right knee, an injury that he sustained while on international duty with the Costa Rica National Team in November. 

The NYCFC forward will rehab with the club’s medical staff, according to a news release issued Thursday night. 

“Everyone at the Club wishes Alonso all the best in his recovery,” NYCFC said in a statement. 

The club had been quiet about the details of Martinez’s injury, only officially saying that he had “sustained a knee injury” in a statement in mid-November. 

Initial reports suggested, however, that Martinez would be out eight to nine months because of the injury, which occurred during a match against Haiti in Curaçao, and in a social media post by the footballer on Thursday seemed to indicate an extended absence. 

“I’m starting a stage in my life that at first was hard to take in knowing I wasn’t going to play for a while,” Martinez wrote in the post. “But I never doubted that God has a purpose for me. Now it’s time to focus on coming back and working day to day, which is what characterizes me. Thanks everyone for the well wishes.”

NYCFC did not provide a timeline for Martinez’s return.

Martinez was NYCFC’s leading scorer during the regular season, putting up 17 goals in 30 matches while adding a pair of goals during the club’s first-round playoff series against Charlotte FC. 

The timing of Martinez’s injury could not have come at a worse time for NYCFC, which was in the midst of a playoff run. 

They defeated the Philadelphia Union in the conference semifinals before falling to Inter Miami in the Eastern Conference Finals last weekend, a match where having Martinez on the pitch could have paid dividends for NYCFC. 

With Martinez’s extended absence, one of the first tasks new NYCFC Sporting Director Todd Dunivant will have to tackle is finding someone to make up for the Costa Rican’s goal scoring.