Weston McKennie has continued to grow into one of the best midfielders from the Concacaf region and just like many other of the U.S. men’s national team players will get his chance to impress on the world’s biggest stage later this year in Qatar.
McKennie was not able to celebrate in person with his USMNT teammates after the Americans booked a 2022 FIFA World Cup spot on Wednesday, but was able to connect with several on Friday after learning his opponents for this fall’s group stage. The USMNT earned a favorable draw on Friday with European heavyweights England, as well as Iran, and a European playoff team (Wales/Scotland/Ukraine) joining the Americans in Qatar this November.
McKennie still has eight months of matches and preparation to go before stepping foot on the field in Qatar, but already has one eye on the USMNT’s opponents.
“I think everyone really knows a lot about England and what they have to offer and the roster and caliber of players they have,” McKennie said in a conference call with reporters Friday. “We all know what we up against, some of us play against England players in our leagues, or in their leagues. We kind of know what our opponents are going to look like on the field.
“As for Iran, we don’t know many players and we’ve never played against them,” McKennie added. “It’s definitely going to be tricky matches and especially in tournaments like this, playing against a team you are not familiar with can be hard, but it’s also hard for them to get familiarized with you. The coaching staff and the players are going to have to sit down before and do a lot of research so we can be prepared.”
The USMNT has past history with both England and Iran at previously World Cups, tying the Three Lions 1-1 at the 2010 edition of the tournament and losing to the Iranians 2-1 in 1998. It is minimal experience against both of those national teams, especially with only nine current USMNT players facing England in a 3-0 friendly defeat back in 2018.
McKennie has previously been linked with a move at club level to England and has several international teammates who currently play in the English Premier League (Christian Pulisic, Josh Sargent, Zack Steffen). Gareth Southgate’s side will pose the toughest challenge for the USMNT in group stage play, but McKennie isn’t playing down the major opportunity that the Americans have in front of them to test themselves against one of Europe’s top teams.
“It’s definitely going to be one that catches a lot of people’s eyes,” McKennie said. “I think it’s a great opportunity for us as players and for the federation to play against one of the biggest and historic teams. It’s not a secret they are one of the favorites to win it all, so we are definitely looking forward to that. We are going to have to come out there with the desire and show everyone that we are not scared just because it is England.
“You might be able to see some other sides of players too,” McKennie said. “There’s going to be a lot asked from everyone that is involved with that game, so I think it’s something that will be a good show for everyone to watch and a good game for us to play in.”
McKennie’s presence within the USMNT squad was missed during the final round of Concacaf World Cup Qualifying as the Americans advanced just in front of Costa Rica for the final automatic qualification spot. The 23-year-old scored two goals in seven appearances during the octagonal round, delivering strong performances in victories over Mexico, Costa Rica, and Honduras.
McKennie’s foot injury has forced him to miss the last six matches across all competitions for Juventus, including an exit from the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 to Villarreal. However, the American midfielder is making progress in his recovery and after previously being linked with a return to action this month, continues to set April as his goal to get back in action at club level.
“When I speak in terms of being back in April, in my head I would assume that is playing or training fully with the team,” McKennie said. “That’s a goal I have set for myself, but obviously I know there are many factors and many things that go into play here. From what I’ve seen, I have been progressing, it seems pretty realistic.
“So if that is the case or that is ideal, I’d like to be back in April and play a couple of matches for Juventus before the season ends,” McKennie added. “Then I am hoping to fly straight over for the Nations League.”
For now McKennie will continue his recovery in Turin as Juventus resumes Serie A play this weekend before hopefully getting back into action before the season’s conclusion on May 22.
While it was clear that we sorely missed McKennie during the last window, the USMNT accomplished what it needed to in order to qualify for the WC.
Now Wes needs to focus on getting healthy and back into form. IF everyone is healthy we have enough talent in the player pool to get into the knock-out rounds where we could shock some people.
My hope is that we’ll use the 6 games between now and the WC to focus on getting our best players on the field in a formation (or 2) that will maximize their strengths and minimize our weaknesses. We need to use these 6 games to build real chemistry among the players since we’ve been without some key guys over the course of qualifying.
Getting Dest, Wes, Adams, Musah, Pulisic, Reyna, & Weah playing together consistently down the stretch will be important for our chances in the WC.