For the entirety of World Cup qualifying, the U.S. men’s national team has been playing a game of injury Whac-A-Mole. One star comes back, two more go down. One area gets reinforced, another requires a scramble toward a solution.
So it’s only appropriate that ahead of the final window of qualifying, with a ticket to Qatar within reach, the moles go up and down once more. At least for now, days out from the anticipated release of the final squad, the game is working in favor of the U.S. and manager Gregg Berhalter.
Weston McKennie’s injury is a certainty. He’s out for the rest of Juventus’s season after fracturing his foot in the Champions League round of 16. The only question regarding McKennie as it relates to World Cup qualifying is what shape he would be in should the U.S. finish fourth in Concacaf and have to play in a June playoff vs. Oceania’s champion in Qatar for a final berth in the fall competition.
