Canadian star defender Moise Bombito sidelined with a broken leg

Canadian star defender Moise Bombito has been sidelined by injury, again.

OGC Nice has confirmed the 25-year-old from Montreal suffered a fractured left tibia in Sunday's 2-2 draw at Monaco in French Ligue 1 action.

After a four-month absence following wrist surgery and a tibia stress fracture, Bombito returned to club action Sept. 28 against Paris FC and was due to rejoin Canada for friendlies against Australia and Colombia in the October international window.

But he was carried off the pitch at the Stade Louis-II on a stretcher after falling awkwardly in the 50th minute, trying to corral a long ball from Dutch defender Jordan Teze aimed to put Monaco forward Folarin Balogun behind the defence. The ball bounced off a chasing Bombito's head and fell in the path of Balogun, who chested it down and kept heading toward goal.

The two tangled before the American striker could launch his shot, with Bombito left on the ground, clutching his lower leg in pain.

Rubbing salt into the wound, Bombito was yellow-carded and Monaco scored from the ensuing penalty to pull even at 2-2.

"We're thinking of you, Moise," the Canadian men's team said in a social media post Sunday.

The Canadian men, who rose to a record No. 26 in the latest FIFA world rankings, host No. 25 Australia in Montreal on Friday before facing No. 14 Colombia on Oct. 14 in Harrison, N.J.

"Really excited that Moise is back," Canada coach Jesse Marsch said in announcing his roster last week. "Moise is a really mature young player and has established himself at an incredibly high level with Nice.

"An incredibly important player with a big future. And for us, I think that he's going to prove to be an incredibly important player for the national team as well."

Bombito, who