Juventus midfielder Weston McKennie admits he ‘lost all confidence’ after he was kicked out of the USMNT squad for violating COVID-19 rules. ‘I let my country down.’
The American was excluded from the squad in September 2021 against Canada and Honduras following his breach of the social distancing regulations, reportedly bringing a girl back to the team hotel.
He was welcomed back into the side by coach Gregg Berhalter and spoke to reporters for the first time since the incident in a Zoom press conference.
“I think it was just a learning lesson, obviously,” said the 23-year-old Juventus midfielder.
“I felt like I let my team down, let my country down and my family and myself.”
The exclusion and press attention from that incident also damaged McKennie’s performances for Juventus at club level.
“I struggled for a bit. I lost all my confidence,” he added.
“I think as I went back, it was just important for me to put my head down and work. So whenever I got called back in it was just to try and rebuild the relationships and the trust with everyone and just perform and show that I’m there for the team, that I’m there to try to win.
“And so I think the best thing as a person to do is be available also. I think that was my biggest thing, is just to be available and not have a situation like that again.”
McKennie has already been forgiven, scoring in November’s 2-0 victory over Mexico.
At club level, he has scored four goals in 23 competitive matches so far this season, including one in the Italian Supercup against Inter.
Weston McKennie says he let his team and nation down when he violated team COVID-19-rules in September, which caused the American midfielder to miss a pair of World Cup qualifiers. https://t.co/xZPih5QXMV
— AP Sports (@AP_Sports) February 2, 2022
Lost 2 nil to an unbeaten Canada !
Go Canada Go!
Got to be stronger than that son.
Juventus needs men out there on any given Sunday
Strong characters & mentalities
No room for the weak
Keep your head down bro and keep banging you’ll be fine. Really thought on Sunday against my rouges in the hammer he was going to level it at the stroke of half with a typical Wes finish but was denied by the Serbian wall 🔥🇨🇦🔥
But glad Wes is back and learning from his mistakes. Doesn’t matter for the US obviously because 🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦 Is too good but for Juve he’s turning into a key piece 💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻 Let’s goooooooo 🇨🇦⚪️⚫️🇮🇹
He was the best player on the pitch, Canada v USA.
Didn’t see the match versus Honduras but he did score there.