Weston McKennie, USMNT midfielder, on the losses against Portugal and Belgium, “I think we’re headed in the right direction”

The World Cup is closing in and for the United States mens national team. This is an opportunity for Mauricio Pochettino’s men, but there is also the chance that the team crashes out of the tournament hosted on their home soil. The later of the two possibilities seem to be concerning fans of the red, white and blue but one of the USMNT stars isn’t bothered.

Sensations good in USMNT camp

The last international break was certainly a wake up call for the US side. They took on a couple of powerhouses, and looked over matched, out hustled and out of their league in both matches. The first came against Belgium and despite going up a goal to the good in the first half, Belgium came roaring back and beat Poch’s men 5-2. Then they were dominated by Portugal in a 2-0 match that was never in question.

The US has been preparing for this World Cup hosted in Canada, United States and Mexico for years if not decades but in the days leading up to the tournament kicking off, there is more cause for doubt than hope. US and Juventus midfielder Weston McKinnie says that he and his teammates are calm despite the turbulence that surround the team. “Internally, I don’t think we’re really that worried,” that was McKinnie’s main message.

“Obviously it’s normal for fans or for media or for whatever to question or to feel that way,” McKennie said about people being worried. “But ultimately being in the camp and being around the guys and around everyone, just the environment itself, I think internally, I don’t think we’re really that worried.”

Kickoff a month away

While the scoreline certainly paints one picture, the feeling that the USMNT was left with in part of the match gave them a feeling of comfort that they could match the level of the likes of a Portugal or a Belgium. “Because those two games for us, if you want to take positives away from it, if you look at the first 25, 30, 35 minutes, or even first half in general of the games, I think it was a good sign for us to show like, ‘Okay, we can definitely hang with these guys.´”

Even coach Pochettino said that there were times during the match, especially against Belgium, where his side played as good or better than Belgium there was just a problem with dips in the level of quality and intensity. “And even in some parts of the first half, we dominated the game. But I think we just obviously made some mistakes and some tactical mistakes as well, and positioning wise, and being out of position sometimes, and teams like that punish you for those,” said McKinnie.

The US has a couple of tune ups before the World Cup kicks off on June 11th. They will play Senegal on May 31st and Germany on June 6th and then turn their attention to their first match of group stages against Paraguay. The US will play Paraguay, Australia and Turkey in group stages, and McKinnie acknowledged that feeling isn’t going to be enough in the World Cup. They need to win. “At the end of the day, the results is what people see and that’s what ultimately counts at the end of the day as well.”

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