Weston McKennie’s stock has risen in the last two years, he has become a leader on the USMNT and one of its main pieces. At the club level he moved from Schalke to Juventus in the summer and has held his own for the Serie A giants.
By the end of the 2020 calendar year McKennie has already made a very good impression at Juventus, scoring a spectacular Champions League goal against Barcelona and making his presence known in the midfield for Andrea Pirlo’s side.
McKennie wins the award after obtaining 44 percent of the vote, which is derived from National Team coaches, National Team players who were part of a camp in 2020, members of the U.S. Soccer Board of Directors, U.S. Soccer Athletes’ Council, National Women’s Soccer League head coaches for the USWNT and American soccer league (MLS and USL) head coaches for the USMNT, select media members and former players and administrators.
Weston McKennie 2020 USMNT Player of the Year
This was the third time Weston McKennie was a finalist for the award, he became the 26th player to win the honor since the prize began to be awarded in 1984. McKennie is the second player from Texas to win the award behind Clint Dempsey who won the award three times in 2007, 2011, and 2012.
McKennie took the time to respond to questions and stated: “I want to thank everyone for this huge honor. It’s been a journey, especially through these difficult times during the pandemic, our fans have stuck with us throughout and we really appreciate it. Hopefully in 2021 we can have many more memories together.”
The USMNT will have a heavy 2021 as the team looks to qualify to the World Cup in Qatar in 2022 and will participate in the Nations League and Gold Cup. For the moment McKennie will look to lead Juventus to a Champions League and Serie A title.
