Former MLS winger Alberth Elis suffered a scary head injury over the weekend during a match in France and has been placed in a medically induced coma following surgery.
Elis, who plays for Bordeaux in Ligue 2, was hurt in a collision with Guingamp defender Donatien Gomis roughly 40 seconds into Saturday night’s match at Nouveau Stade de Bordeaux.
The 28-year-old was immediately attended to before he was taken off the field on a stretcher and rushed to CHU Pellegrin Hospital, where the club confirmed in a statement he underwent surgery and was placed in a “protective artificial coma.”
The statement also indicated that Elis’ health would be monitored over the coming days and that it would not be able to provide any conclusive updates on his health status.
“We warmly thank all those who have shown their support for Alberth and those close to him, in particular the clubs across France. Your words warm our hearts and are a great strength in the fight that Alberth is waging,” team president Gérard Lopez said, according to a translated copy of his statement.
Bordeaux did win the game 1-0 after the eight-minute injury delay and in a post on X, manager Albert Riera dedicated the win in Elis’ honor.
Midfielder Gaetan Weissbeck paid tribute to Elis in a post on Instagram and said after the match that the players had also dedicated the win to their injured teammate.
“This is where we realize that things can go very quickly in life,” Weissbeck said, per the Daily Mail. “’We will give him very, very great support. We’re really going to be with him wholeheartedly, checking in on him. We’ve already heard from him, and now we hope that he will get better, and that he will recover as quickly as possible.”
Elis is a Honduras native and began his soccer career in his homeland before stints with Mexican side Monterrey, the Houston Dynamo of MLS, Boavista in Portugal and eventually landing with Bordeaux in 2021.
He is a regular with the Honduran national team, where he’s made 60 appearances and scored 13 goals.
Elis played in 88 games and had 34 goals during his time with the Dynamo and appeared in 60 games with his current club in France.
