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McKennie out for Chile friendly due to ankle injury

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Weston McKennie will not play a part in the U.S. Men’s National Team’s friendly against Chile on Tuesday.

According to ESPN, USMNT head coach Gregg Berhalter confirmed McKennie will be out due to an ankle injury suffered in Thursday’s 1-0 win over Ecuador. Berhalter also stated that McKennie has not sustained any broken bones.

McKennie landed awkwardly after going up for an aerial duel in the second-half in Orlando. He was later stretchered off and replaced by Cristian Roldan.

McKennie joins Tyler Adams and Zack Steffen who have departed this month’s camp. Adams, who did not suffer any injuries, has returned to Bundesliga club RB Leipzig while Steffen was injured in MLS duty last weekend.

The USMNT take on Chile hoping to make it four victories out of four under Berhalter.

Comments

  1. Bless his heart. A bad ligament injury can be just as painful and require a lot of careful rehab.
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    I was appalled by the replay too, and by how long it took just to get the guy some minimal help off the field in the form of a stretcher. (The Spanish-language commentators have already puzzled openly for a while now over why such a rich, high-tech country as the US has apparently not yet heard of golf carts.)
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    He looked to me like someone who had been given a pretty tough job to do in that he seemed to have been told to start at left mid, but to try occasionally to sneak forward to center right front, that is, switching a lot with Pulisic. A couple of days of training and videos doesn’t seem like enough preparation for that by a long shot, but he made a valiant effort. I also noticed that Berhalter fussed after the first half that the attacking midfielders weren’t getting forward enough. I wondered if that criticism had perhaps led McKennie to try to battle harder for possession, including maybe going up for some lower-percentage jumps that were inherently more dangerous, like the one where he came down badly.
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    He also looked to me like someone who has already been trying valiantly to play wherever they have needed him short-term at Schalke, perhaps at the cost of ever learning one position really well. That evidently worked better last year when they had other stronger players around him to pass to, not to mention a defense. This year it has really been an uphill slog, but I have really admired McKennie for getting in there and persisting despite everything. Not to be biased in favor of a Texan (or why not?), but this young man has a lot of heart and can do a lot for a team that is willing to give him the right mix of training and encouragement. But for the remainder of this season, Huub Stevens may be focused on shoring up the defense, so a short break for McKennie might not be such a bad thing, if his absence at least makes them appreciate how hard he had been working before.
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    I hope he gets the support he needs, however long the rehab takes. And for whatever reason he has decided to stay in the US for a few days, whether to postpone the flight at altitude or just to support the team, I hope it will be appreciated.

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    • I thought he looked ok but only saw first half. He looked like someone who hasn’t played much in two years. You could see what he was trying to do but passed just missed.

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