U.S. Men’s National Team standout Weston McKennie defended teammate Christian Pulisic on Monday after Landon Donovan made indirect comments toward the current captain.
While commentating Portugal’s celebration after the team won the UEFA Nations League final Sunday on Fox Sports, Donovan said, “This is what it means to represent your country. … I can’t help but think about our guys on vacation not wanting to play in Gold Cup. It’s pissing me off.”
While Donovan didn’t name Pulisic, it’s clear the former USMNT captain was referring to the latest one. Pulisic decided to take the summer off after two straight 50-match seasons with AC Milan instead of joining the national team for the Concacaf Gold Cup later this month. Donovan, himself, also took a brief sabbatical from the team in 2013.
“Obviously, none of us take for granted playing for the national team. None of us want to lose games,’ McKennie told USA TODAY Sports on Monday, from Juventus headquarters in Italy preparing for the Club World Cup. ‘All of us want to compete. And for me, it’s a little bit, I won’t say sad, but as a former national team player, I think as a national team player pool – previous, present – I think it’s more about trying to build or even say something like that to a person directly rather than putting it out there.
“That’s just my opinion because we’ve all been through those moments, even when comments about us losing the Nations League were made by many players from before, but they’ve had the same thing on a bigger stage with not qualifying for the World Cup.”
McKennie is also not participating with the USMNT this summer to help Juventus compete in the FIFA Club World Cup. Juventus is in Group G of the tournament and will play Al Ain (United Arab Emirates) on June 18 in Washington D.C., Wydad AC (Morrocco) on June 22 in Philadelphia, and Manchester City (England) on June 26 in Orlando during the group stage.
Still, McKennie is keeping an eye on his teammates with the national team led by new coach Mauricio Pochettino.
McKennie believes the USMNT has a good group of players who are ambitious with room to grow before World Cup 2026, co-hosted by the U.S., Canada and Mexico. He believes the team needs to find its identity by practicing in a competitive environment.
“You fight for each other. You run for each other. You sacrifice for each other,” McKennie said. “I think with the group that we have and some of the players that have been there a little bit longer, including myself, need to start not thinking that we’re young anymore. We’re veterans on the team, and we need to start acting like that. And take control.
‘And show the way, and show the culture that the U.S. men’s national team has presented before because we’ve always been known as a country to fight, never give up, maybe not have been the best talented-wise. But now we have a lot more talent. And so now, we just need to add that grit and grind, and competitive nature back into the system.”
As for Donovan’s comments, McKennie sided with Pulisic while reiterating their desire to suit up for the national team because of its significance.
“No names were named,” McKennie said. “Coming off a long season, a stressful season, obviously, some players feel a different way about it, and some players feel another way. But the comments are comments. Everyone has their own opinions, and that’s life, and that’s football.
“Obviously, like I said before, none of us take for granted that we get to represent a national team because it’s one of the biggest honors that we can have in the sport of football. …
“So, any chance that we get, we want to play. But obviously, if you don’t feel like your body is in the right condition, and you don’t feel like your body is in the best form or shape or whatever, to be able to do that at 100%, and you feel like you’re risking injury, then it’s better to let someone else go in that is completely 100%.”