USMNT clown Weston McKennie is always at center of things as unorthodox World Cup force

IRVINE, Calif.— Weston McKennie has taken up a new habit at the U.S.

men’s national team’s World Cup base.The team’s setup for media availabilities has two players talking behind, essentially, bleachers.So McKennie, the team’s resident pot-stirrer, has started to stand on the bleachers while his teammates give interviews, messing around at will.“Good guy, kind of a clown,” Max Arfsten said last week, with McKennie looking on.

“That’s all I can say, really.”That’s typical McKennie.He sits next to Folarin Balogun on the plane and flicks his ear to keep him awake.

He doesn’t have much interest in watching other soccer games, not wanting the sport to consume his whole life.He’s also one of the most crucial pieces of Mauricio Pochettino’s side, the only player to start all three group-stage games and in the midst of an excellent World Cup.Given McKennie’s versatility — at various points this season, he lined up at practically every spot on the field for Juventus — there was some debate heading into the competition over how deep he should play.Especially after Pochettino selected a squad with seemingly little depth at defensive midfield, dropping him into a deeper role where he’d partner with Tyler Adams seemed likely.McKennie’s best position, though, and preferred spot, is attacking midfield.Pochettino stuck to that, putting Malik Tillman next to Adams instead to help create a midfield “pentagon,” in the words of Paraguay coach Gustavo Alfaro, that’s vexed the opposition.“I think he’s really important for us,” Sergiño Dest said Sunday as the USMNT returned to full training ahead of its round of 32 match against Bosnia-Herzegovina.

“He’s kind of a box-to-box player.He runs a lot, he helps a lot, he goes into every duel with full effort.

That’s really helpful for the team, because we need balance.We have a lot of different types of players and he’s just a really important one.”McKennie, indeed, has been a h...