Nashville, Tennessee (AP) —US midfielder Weston McKennie did not play in the World Cup qualifying match against Canada on Sunday night after violating the rules of Team COVID-19.
McKenny, who plays for Juventus, is one of America’s top players, starting a 0-0 draw in El Salvador on Thursday night.
“Unfortunately, the match was interrupted tonight because we violated the team’s COVID-19 protocol,” McKennie said in a statement posted on Instagram before the Americans drew one-on-one. “I’m sorry for my actions. I hope to support the boys tonight and come back to the team soon.”
US coach Gregg Berhalter would just say that McKeny violated the team’s policy and refused to go into the details.
When asked if McKennie would return to Wednesday’s match in Honduras, Barholter said, “I haven’t seen it yet.”
Born in Fort Lewis, Washington, 23-year-old McKennie left the Major League Soccer Dallas team’s player training academy and signed with Schalke 04 in 2016. He made his professional debut at Schalke in May 2017 and played full-time at the club for three seasons. It was lent to Juventus in 2020-21. The Italian club purchased his contract in March of the following year.
“He’s a very important player and important character for the team, so it’s clearly not the ideal situation,” said midfielder Tyler Adams. “He obviously brings what he’s doing on the field, but even off the field it shows how close the team is. So yeah, that’s a bit disappointing, but that was-the next person. Way of thinking. “
McKennie was dropped for the Juventus derby in Turin on April 3 by Andrea Pirlo. McKennie and his teammates Paulo Dybala and Arthur were undressed, and Italian media reported that the reason was a party at McKennie’s residence in Turin, which violated the Italian COVID-19 restrictions.
Adams said other members of the team were informed about the situation at a team meeting on Sunday.
“For fairness, it hurt us,” Adams said. “But I don’t think it affected the team too much. We were ready to come out and compete.”
Sebastian Lletget has replaced Mackeny in the US lineup.
“We tried to make sure that the whole situation didn’t affect us much,” said American star Christian Pulisic. “Obviously it’s about putting everything aside and focusing on the task at hand. And obviously I missed him today. It’s just trying to move forward and win the game.” Said.
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