Goalkeeper loses two teeth after jarring clash with opposing striker

Goalkeeper Nelson Espinoza will not have fond memories of the game his team Deportes Copiapó lost 4-1 against Universidad Católica in the Chilean First Division, not because of the defeat itself but the fact he had to abandon the game in an ambulance with two teeth missing.

Ouch!

Goalkeeper loses teeth after colliding with striker

The nasty sequence occurred with the game still tied 0-0.

Espinoza successfully cleared a cross from the left with his fists. Sadly, the inertia of his intervention made him hit his face with the knee of Universidad Católica's striker Fernando Zampedri who was trying to score.

Fuerte choque

Zampedri chocó de manera accidental con el portero Nelson Espinoza y el meta tuvo que salir en ambulancia de la cancha en el #COPvsUCxTNTSports

Disfruta de lo mejor de nuestro fútbol en Estadio TNT Sports, . Revisa más en nuestro link en la bio pic.twitter.com/2BaQ8z0Jy0

— TNT Sports Chile (@TNTSportsCL) May 14, 2023

Yep, no bueno. 

The goalie immediately knew things were not great.

"I don't remember a lot from the accident. I only remember that I touched the ball and then the hit. Later, I touched my face to see if I was bleeding and realized that a tooth was missing," he said to newspaper Las Últimas Noticias.

But when doctors approached to assist him, they soon realized things were even worse. 

"When I got there, he told me they took a tooth away. But he had another one hanging," said team kinesiologist Luis Silva. "A teammate found the tooth that fell, and we sent Nelson to the hospital. He was sore and his face was all swollen."

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According to the medical diagnosis, Espinoza suffered a fracture in his jaw and had dental surgery. 

The goalie will now spend at least a month recovering before returning to training.