Weston McKennie was one of Juventus top playmakers in 2023-24 and he concluded this weekend by registering his first two assists of the new Serie A campaign.
McKennie assisted twice on Sunday in Juventus’ 4-4 road draw with Inter Milan. The U.S. men’s national team midfielder earned SBI Americans Abroad Player of the Week honors for his impactful afternoon.
After Inter grabbed a 1-0 lead, McKennie unselfishly set up Dusan Vlahovic for an equalizing goal in the 20th minute.
Inter Milan would eventually race out to a 4-2 lead, but McKennie added his second assist of the night in the second half. His pass to Kenan Yildiz eventually led to the young attacker’s second Serie A goal of the season, giving the Bianconeri a lifeline.
Yildiz’s second goal of the match would give Juventus a share of the spoils as McKennie watched the final 10+ minutes from the sidelines.
McKennie, who hadn’t started a Serie A match since September 28, will aim to retain his starting spot midweek when Juventus hosts Parma.
Here is a look at some of the other top Americans Abroad performers from this past week:
Ricardo Pepi
PSV’s unbeaten start to the Eredivisie season continued Saturday with Ricardo Pepi scoring twice in a lopsided victory.
Pepi registered his second brace of the season as PSV rolled past PEC Zwolle 6-0 on home soil. The USMNT forward got the nod over Luuk De Jong and made the most of it by delivering a Man of the Match performance.
Pepi now has five goals in nine league appearances this fall.
Haji Wright
Haji Wright loves himself a late winning goal.
The USMNT forward helped Coventry City earn a 3-2 home victory over Luton Town on Saturday. Wright’s 92nd minute finish gave Mark Robins’ squad a massive three points at home after an inconsistent start to the league campaign.
The 26-year-old now has five goals in 12 appearances this season.
Tim Weah
Tim Weah etched his name on the scoresheet as Juventus earned one point at Inter Milan.
The USMNT winger’s tap-in finish was one of eight goals scored at the San Siro on Sunday in a thrilling 4-4 draw. Weah, who has missed time this season through injury, now has two league goals on the campaign.
Thiago Motta has certainly trusted Weah since his injury recovery, which is a positive sign moving forward.
Johnny Cardoso
Real Betis extended its unbeaten run to three matches with a positive 1-0 result over Atletico Madrid.
Johnny Cardoso logged 90 minutes in midfield, delivering a strong shift in the process. The 23-year-old led all players in duels won (9), dribbles completed (3), and tackles completed (4), as he continues to get back to form.
A midweek trip to CD Gevora in Copa Del Rey play comes midweek for Cardoso and Co.
What did you think of these individual performances this past weekend? Was there anyone left off the list that you would’ve added?
Share your thoughts below.
MotB,
“What if I, Alexi Lalas and Wendy Jorgenson think beating Mexico is the more important since not-the-USA will be winning the WC so beating our historic rivals ALL THE TIME is the most important thing?”
In that case the USSF just flushed a lot of money down the toilet by hiring Pochettino since Gregg was awesome at beating El Tri and probably would have been good for a few more seasons at least. You, Lexi, and Wendy must have been likes pigs in shit these last few years. I don’t care if we ever beat them again but I’m pretty sure Pochettino would like to beat his friend Aguirre, who succeeded him at Espanyol as the manager. Maybe someday he will.
“Why bother having them come to camp at all – ever?”
You’re not wrong.
If you look at the big boy teams they don’t play as many friendlies as we do. I assume their training sessions are about as long. I don’t remember if they have a special camp leading up to the World Cup and the Euros/Copa American.
In other words, it looks like they mostly just show up, practice and then play the competitive game.
Of course, at their clubs, their players are more likely to play in similar systems or with even with other We haven’t often, if ever, seen a Weah/Weston link up like we just saw at the derby with Inter.
And of course the big boys have the luxury of much deeper player pools so they are more likely to have 11-18 HEALTHY, in form players to call on than we do.
Harry Kane in as slump? Call in Watkins. Saka hurt? Call in Grealish.
The solution is simple. We just need about five or six more players who can consistently perform their roles at or above Pulisic’s current level of excellence and always be healthy for USMNT games.
IV will find them for you.
Wow! All the guys Poch rested returned to their clubs healthy and have had impactful performances…rather than injured with lengthy recovery periods. What do you have to say to that Mr. Lalas???
Guys looking good for their club. Wow that was an embarrassing loss to Mexico. I wonder if the club teams will now rest the guys before the next FIFA window in return? I don’t think I will hold my breath.
11/9 AC Milan – away at Cagliari – will Pulisic be rested??? WAFO!
11/23 AC Milan vs Juventus
Hm…let’s see. By Pochettino’s rationale it looks like we will have Pulisic, Weah and McKennie for the first leg only. I mean that club game on the 23rd is a BIG IMPORTANT game. Way more important than a Nations League game right? I mean NL are just glorified friendlies right? And we already “know what those three bring” anyway, right? No need to have them play with the other guys. There will be a few more windows before the world cup and in the summer the clubs are done so use the Gold Cup to get the team to gel with the new system. Unless those guys need rest from the long club season. Seems like summer would be a good time to manage their load for their teams because the games they play with them are way more important than the silly CONCACAF tournament. Let Pulisic golf with his girlfriend and hang on the boat with family. McKennie can go play pick up on Venice Beach and Weah can do some shopping in Paris. And anyway, those last two will need to rest for the Club World Cup (way more important than the Gold Cup)
Dude…you can’t compare meaningless friendlies with competitive games. And I would much rather have our key players miss a NL game than participate and suffer an injury that keeps them out of action for five months. Btw—if you can’t make your point in three sentences or less, then you don’t have a point at all.
Betinho,
“Wow that was an embarrassing loss to Mexico.”
CP, Weston and Weah did not play vs Mexico. Nothing to be embarrassed about This group of players has far more to be embarrassed about. People used to give Clint a ton of shit about being selfish and ” saving himself for Fulham”. They will get over it . If not fuck them.
“And we already “know what those three bring” anyway, right? ”
We know what CP will bring. Maybe. If he gets hurt all bets are off.
The other two are not as reliable.
Weah scored a goal but also gave away the ball leading to an Inter goal. Pathetic.
Motta is just beginning to figure out how to use Weah and Weston together. With luck Motta will work out the best way play Weah and Weston together, assuming Weah can keep getting playing time. That is not a given.
The USMNT has one reliable, proven top player and even he isn’t all that proven yet.
N – It’s nice to have the security of our players not being able to be injured in NON-USMNT games or training. Oh wait…that’s not how it works. Maybe they should all be required to be wrapped in bubble wrap.
V- you only get three sentences. Manage your comment load, dude. N-Whit has spoken.
Betinho,
1. The USMNT has never been knocked out of qualifying for the World Cup by Mexico and they beat Mexico in the only World Cup game they ever played.
2. Every other game they have met in is just an artificial bragging rights pissing contest and, most importantly, a high revenue generator for those greedy c+cksuckers.
3. If our players are doing really well with their clubs they are more likely to come into the national team games as confident players instead of the beat down semi-injured, low self esteem scrubeenies that they have been showing up as.
Vaqui-
1. when you break in down…every game is an “artificial bragging rights pissing contest” put on to make some rich people money. And the way we decide which is more important is also artificial. OOOH a corrupt cabal called FIFA says the WC is most important. What if I, Alexi Lalas and Wendy Jorgenson think beating Mexico is the more important since not-the-USA will be winning the WC so beating our historic rivals ALL THE TIME is the most important thing?
2. Why bother having them come to camp at all – ever? The rationale is soooo flawed. It makes swiss cheese look as solid as concrete.