Weston McKennie is one of the many up-and-coming young stars that the United States Men’s National Team has on their roster. McKennie a player for one of the top teams in the world, Italian side Juventus, was supposed to be inside the team’s hotel pretty much during the whole time that he was set to be with the team this week. These measures were set in place to try and prevent a COVID outbreak within the team. As they are set to play their qualification matches for the 2022 World Cup. The midfielder though had other ideas, and ultimately his behavior has seen him kicked off the squad.
The Hotel Was Serving As A “Bubble” Complex
RL0919, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
The anti-COVID measures for Team USA were essentially increased when goalkeeper Zack Steffen tested positive for the virus. This obviously sidelined him for the upcoming games. The rules inside the “bubble” or Nashville hotel, just as we saw with the NBA playoffs in 2020, were simple. You have to stay inside the hotel almost at all times. The players were allowed some time to relax it seems between some of the games and training sessions. They were not allowed, though, to bring a plus one into the team hotel, and they also couldn’t spend the night elsewhere.
Weston McKennie Broke Both Rules
According to, TUDN’s “Hablamos Soccer” podcast team officials became aware that Weston McKennie had spent one night outside of the team hotel in Nashville. On another occasion, he had brought back someone to stay with him at the team hotel. Team officials were potentially aware of the two violations that were committed by the player before the game the team played against Canada over the weekend. That was the reason why Weston McKennie had not seen the field. According to reports, he was dearly missed, as the team only managed a draw with Canada. This puts the US’ points total at 2 in an equal number of games. Which isn’t great, to say the least.
Who Did He Bring Into The Hotel?
Hayden Schiff from Cincinnati, USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
At the time of writing for this article US soccer has not released the name of the person that Weston McKennie brought into the hotel with him. They also have not spoken about where or with whom he might have spent the night with. On the day, that he was reportedly missing from the team hotel. Originally the team had just released minimal information on the reasons why McKennie had been let go. Calling it a COVID protocol violation. Coach Gregg Berhalter later hinted that multiple violations took place. That’s when the story about him bringing someone into the team hotel surfaced.
What’s Going To Happen to McKennie Now?
Really the biggest consequence that could and will potentially come McKennie’s way is that he won’t be called up to the next World Cup qualifying matches with the team. If the team continues to struggle though, McKennie might get a call back despite his antics! For now, McKennie is essentially free to travel to Italy and rejoin his regular team. The US men’s national team has not announced if they fined McKennie or what his status with the team will be moving forward. Chances are though, it’s going to be a while before he gets another chance to play for the United States.
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