McKennie will start for the United States against Jamaica

Christian Pulisic and Gio Reyna are absent from the US squad due to injuries, but Weston McKennie will play at the start after the indiscipline he incurred last month.

For its part, Jamaica will lack its main forward Michail Antonio, for reasons not clarified.

The American team receives the Jamaican this Thursday night, after reaping five points on the triple date that marked the beginning of the final octagonal of the CONCACAF tie to the World Cup next year.

It is a brutal tie, of 14 games in seven months. The pandemic forced to compress the calendar and expand the number of participants in the final phase, from six to eight.

The Reggae Boyz reaped just one point, in their attempt to return to a World Cup, from which they have been absent since France 1998.

“After three dates, I don’t think there is any reason for any team to panic about their situation in the table,” US coach Gregg Berhalter said Wednesday. “Here it is about resisting and moving forward on each date until you reach the number that allows you to qualify.”

Reyna has not played since September 2, when she suffered a hamstring injury in the first game against El Salvador. Pulisic has not recovered from a sprained ankle suffered six days later in Honduras.

Jamaica learned Tuesday that Antonio, West Ham’s Premier League player of the month, had not traveled. Technician Theodore Whitmore neither confirmed nor rejected a report that Antonio was upset that he was not allowed to travel with his physical therapist.

“I cannot comment if there was a compromise with that. It is a delicate situation, there is not much that I can say ”, indicated Whitmore. “I don’t want to point at anyone. I don’t know who was to blame. All I can say is that the player was called up. “

Jamaica will have only 20 players called up, including three goalkeepers, out of the 26 allowed. Whitmore said it was too late to call in replacements.

“Personally I would like to summon more than 23,” he said.

Berhalter did have the 26 in the concentration. Yunus Musah’s involvement after an inconclusive COVID-19 test was uncertain, and he trained separately on Wednesday.

The selection awaited a new PCR.

“It was a precaution that we needed to take,” Berhalter said.

McKennie played all 90 minutes in the 0-0 away game against El Salvador, but missed the 1-1 draw against Canada, after violating the team’s COVID protocols, which ended up sending him home before the 4-1 win in Honduras.

“We are dealing with young players, and I think there will be times when mistakes will be made … You just have to be accountable for them, learn and move on,” Berhalter said.

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