Report: Zaniolo Injures ACL in Italy's Nations League Match Against Netherlands

The UEFA Nations League, instituted in the fall of 2018, was an attempt by UEFA to add some significance to what were otherwise pretty pointless international friendlies. In essence, the Nations League took the prior friendly structure, or lack thereof, and attempted to gerrymander it into an actual league format, complete with rankings, standings...the whole lot. And this tournament, no matter how well intentioned, may have just cost Roma Nicolo Zaniolo.

In the 40th minute of Italy's matchup against the Netherlands at the Johan Cruyff Arena in Amsterdam, Nicolo Zaniolo was subbed following a knee-to-knee collision with Donny van de Beek.

As you can see from that clip, it looks like the injury occurred prior to the collision with van de Beek, right on that little hop-step he took before colliding with him. Now that we can see it, it looks pretty similar to the ACL injury he suffered in January—an awkwardly extended leg planting into the pitch and just erupting upon impact.

While he was able to leave the pitch under his own power, the initial updates haven't been good. Zaniolo may have damaged the ACL in his left knee, which would be the second ACL injury he's suffered in the past eight months, after tearing the ACL in his right knee this past January.

While nothing is official or confirmed, the early word coming from the Italy camp is that Zaniolo may have injured, and possibly torn, the ACL in his left knee.

We'll update this as soon as possible, but needless to say this would be a crushing blow to Zaniolo's young career, not to mention Roma's prospects for the upcoming season.

And it all occurred in a trumped up friendly—it doesn't get much more Roma Happened than that.

Updates:

Italian team officials confirm there was a significant injury of some sort, though they didn't go so far as to provide a specific diagnosis.

More from Italy's team docs:

Italy medic Andrea Ferretti:

“It is a significant sprain of the knee,” Ferretti told RAI Sport.

“It’s difficult to compare the stability with the other knee, because that has already undergone an operation. It’s a significant sprain.

“He is coming back from a long rehabilitation process for the other knee, so obviously he is very worried, as are we.”

The club provides an update on the injury and testing set to occur tomorrow: