The USMNT faces Peru in its first friendly after the 2026 World Cup. However, it won’t be with all of its stars. For instance, Weston McKennie won’t be playing today for Mauricio Pochettino’s side.
Christian Pulisic won’t be playing either vs Peru. McKennie has been nursing and injury that has had him sidelined from Juventus games in the Serie A in Italy. That paired with the fact that Pochettino selected a very young group of players for this international window, made him a prime candidate to not play today vs Peru.
Folarin Balogun will also not play vs Peru. After all, Pochettino wants to see new blood start to become important for the USMNT. It’s very relevant for him to see new generations start to earn their place on the national squad.
McKennie is the engine for the USMNT
Weston McKennie serves more as the emotional heart, box-to-box engine, and chaos agent for the USMNT rather than its traditional “metronome” midfielder. He doesn’t dictate tempo, he disrupts the tempo of the rivals.
McKennie thrives when he is allowed to cover ground vertically. Rather than sitting deep to orchestrate passes, his strength is disrupting opponent builds, winning duels, and immediately transitioning the ball forward, as well as timing his ‘late‘ arrival to the box.
Who will play instead of McKennie for USMNT vs Peru?
Yunus Musah or Sebastian Berhalter are projected to fill the central midfield role in place of the absent Weston McKennie for the USMNT vs Peru friendly. Musah has similarities with McKennie due to his box-to-box prowess.
Meanwhile, Berhalter is more of a metronome. A traditional deep-lying playmaker with great technical range and precise long-range passing. Berhalter has more composure and dictates the game, while Musah is more of a ‘run-first, make play-second‘ kind of player.
Key takeaways
- Weston McKennie will miss the USMNT friendly against Peru while recovering from an injury.
- Head coach Mauricio Pochettino prioritized selecting a young squad for this international window.
- Yunus Musah or Sebastian Berhalter are projected to replace the missing midfielder in central midfield.
