U.S. Winger Tim Weah Returns From Injury, Immediately Suffers New One

The Lille and USMNT winger has not had injury luck on his side this season.

Injury luck has not been on Tim Weah's side this season.

After leaving PSG for Lille, Weah missed the bulk of the season so far with a hamstring injury before making his long-awaited return over the weekend. That return lasted but a few minutes, with Weah hurting his other hamstring and the club confirming another long layoff ahead.

It's a brutal setback for the 19-year-old son of former FIFA World Player of the Year and current Liberia president George Weah, who would be in the mix to be a core part of the U.S. Olympic team, should the men qualify for the first time since 2008. He hadn't seen the field since August before coming on as an 80th-minute substitute vs. Marseille.

"During his return to first-team action against Marseille on Sunday, Timothy Weah suffered a tear to his right hamstring. Our forward will now begin a process of rehabilitation. The entire team at LOSC wish Tim a speedy recovery," Lille wrote on its official Twitter account.

Weah himself confirmed the setback on his personal Instagram account, calling it a "small setback for a major comeback."

It remains to be seen how severe this hamstring injury is. Gregg Berhalter dubbed is last one a "very bad" tear, one that kept him out of U.S. men's national team games vs. Uruguay and Mexico last September. 

Weah had emerged as a regular with the men's national team under Dave Sarachan, appearing in eight senior team friendlies with the interim manager turning largely to youth during his time in charge. Weah was also a key part of the USA's U-20 World Cup team last year, scoring twice in the run to the quarterfinals: one in the quarterfinal defeat to Ecuador and the lone goal in the 1-0 win over Qatar that punched the USA's ticket to the knockout stage.

He left PSG in hopes of securing more playing time in Ligue 1 and appeared on course to doing so after playing in two matches in August. Instead, he missed half a year–including Champions League group matches vs. Chelsea, Ajax and Valencia–and has been dealt another setback early in his burgeoning career.