USMNT crushed Mexico 3-0 but red cards for Sergino Dest and Weston McKennie pose challenges for Concacaf final
McKennie #McKennie
After a wild game against Mexico, where the United States men’s national team defeated Mexico 3-0 Thursday in Las Vegas to advance to the Nations League final against Canada, manager (for now) B.J. Callaghan will be left with quite a few questions as Weston McKennie and Sergino Dest won’t be available for the final (you can catch the action Sunday, only on Paramount+) due to being sent off with red cards. There were good performances in attack from Gio Reyna, Christian Pulisic, who scored two goals, Tim Weah and Folarin Balogun, not to mention Ricardo Pepi scoring off the bench, but they were overshadowed by who won’t be there for the Concacaf Nations League final.
It’s a point where Tyler Adams, usually the team’s starting defensive midfielder, but currently out injured, is truly missed because while he brings a lot on the pitch in breaking up attacks, he also is a natural leader who helps ensure that his teammates stay out of sticky situations. When things need to be cooled down, Adams is the guy who is in the middle of it ensuring that players like McKennie don’t lose their minds, even if they’re protecting their teammates.
Despite the cards, B.J. Callaghan was still proud of the team’s performance.
“We have a strong culture in our team and what happened comes from a good place. They care about each other so much in that locker room that they’re standing up for each other and sometimes does it have an issue where we take a red card? Yeah but when you know where it comes from, you can accept it and it’s a learning lesson for us all.
“It’s a learning lesson because now we’re going to go play in the final but it’s also something that we preach. ‘Next man up’ and we’ve got 23 guys on this team and there’s a reason that we’re going to use all 23 players to go try and win a second trophy.”
Each time that the team interacts it’s clear that they’re not only teammates but also genuine friends off the pitch. It’s a team that cares about one another and a team that played together in the youth ranks, for the national team, and now even in some of their respective countries as more and more members of the USMNT move to leagues abroad. While you never want to have a player sent off in a match, there are some moments when teammates have to stand up for each other even if it means they may miss a match.
Control was lost by referee Ivan Barton and with trash raining down from the stands onto the pitch and challenges coming in left and right from Mexican players, it’s understandable that cooler heads didn’t prevail, but it does leave the United States in a tough spot ahead of the final against Canada.
Looking at the 23-man roster that Callaghan mentions, the replacements for McKennie and Dest are clear in Joe Scally and Luca De La Torre. Both are players who have been coming off of the bench for the USMNT, but who have also had moments that they shined as well. Dest will be a big miss as up until his red card, he was in the midst of one of his best performances for the national team as despite his club struggles with Barcelona and AC Milan, Dest has joined the group of players where international duty is a safe haven raising their performances. Shortly before he was sent off he assisted on the team’s third goal, sliding a ball in behind for Pepi to run on to before rounding Memo Ochoa to score.
He has become one of the first names on the team sheet and Scally will have big shoes to fill. Scally can get caught out at times when he goes forward but if he can stay disciplined, he brings similar qualities to Dest. In De La Torre, along with Yunus Musah, the USMNT as the potential to form quite a unique midfield pivot to throw Canada off of their game.
Defensively the duo will be light, but what they lack in diving in for challenges, they make up for with impressive skill on the ball. It’s a testament to the team’s depth that it isn’t all doom and gloom that they will miss two out of three regular midfielders and the starting right back against Canada but if the USMNT plays their game, it’s certainly a winnable match versus Canada.