Canada found a rather inventive way to treat captain Atiba Hutchinson after he suffered a bloody nose during their World Cup clash with Croatia.
The 39-year-old, appearing at his first World Cup finals, was on the wrong end of an elbow to the face in the second-half of Canada’s 4-1 loss to Croatia on Sunday.
Hutchinson, who plays for Turkish club Besiktas, was forced off the pitch with a bloody nose and Canada’s medical team quickly began treatment.
The veteran soon made his way back onto the pitch and fans noticed he had a tampon in one of his nostrils as the Canada medics found an inventive way to manage the bleeding.
Hutchinson’s 100th appearance for Canada ended in heartbreak as John Herdman’s side suffered a 4-1 defeat to crash out of the World Cup after just two games.
Bayern Munich star Alphonso Davies headed home Canada’s first ever World Cup goal and the fastest goal of the Qatar World Cup after just 67 seconds, but Croatia soon took control to ensure they go top of Group F.
Andrej Kramaric and Marko Livaja put Croatia 2-1 ahead at half-time and the 2018 World Cup finalists continued to dominate after the interval, with Kramaric and Lovro Majer rounding off an impressive display.
Croatia now only need to avoid defeat against Belgium in their final group game to progress to the knockout stages.
Following Canada’s World Cup exit, Maple Leafs boss Herdman said: ‘As I keep saying, we’re here to push as far as we can. We’re here to change the mentality of the group.
‘It wasn’t to be but I think we showed in those first 25 minutes that little Canada can compete with the world.’
Canada goalscorer Davies added: ‘I’m very happy for the moment. I’m disappointed in the result. It’s not easy to take defeat. We needed those three points.’
Analysing the game for BBC Sport, former England defender Micah Richards said: ‘Croatia were brilliant towards the end of the first half. Credit to Canada for taking the game to them but Croatia were too good for them in the end.’
Elsewhere in Group F, Morocco secured one of their greatest World Cup wins as they beat Belgium 2-0 at the Al Thumama Stadium.
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