Former USMNT star declares midfield ‘cash money’ as Weston McKennie makes Christian Pulisic statement

USMNT secured their place in the Round of 32 with one more Group D match to play.

USMNT defeated Australia 2-0 in a dominant display at Lumen Field, with the 12th man in full force on Friday night.

USMNT secured their place in the Round of 32 with a convincing win over AustraliaGetty

Australia defender Cameron Burgess accidentally jabbed the ball into his own net just 11 minutes in after Folarin Balogun squared the ball across the byeline.

Mauricio Pochettino’s side doubled their lead minutes before half-time when ‘beast’ Alex Freeman reacted quickest to a deflected Sergino Dest strike to nod past Australia goalkeeper Patrick Beach.

As John Denver’s legendary ‘Take Me Home, Country Roads’ blared at full time at the home of the Seattle Seahawks, hope has clearly never been higher for USMNT.

The dominant performance came without Captain America, who was ruled out 90 minutes before kickoff due to a calf injury he sustained in the win against Paraguay.

With no Christian Pulisic on the field, the rest of the midfield stepped up in a big way, controlling the tempo.

Speaking exclusively to talkSPORT’s US correspondant Ben Jacobs after the game, McKennie gave a candid assessment of the strength of their roster, with their ‘golden boy’ out.

“Yeah, I mean, I think that’s the reason we have a 26-man roster,” McKennie said.

“I think all the players can step up if need to be, if I’m out, if someone else is out, if Christian’s out, if Tyler’s out, it doesn’t really matter, everyone is ready to step up and get the job done.

“I think that’s soccer, it’s 11 people on the field, and I think we showed that tonight,”

“You always have fun, especially if you’re winning games, even more fun, but yeah, I think we enjoy it, we enjoy the intensity that we put, and to see the person next to you fighting for balls and whatnot gives you an adrenaline rush as well to do the same thing.

Weston McKennie has praised USMNT’s ability to ‘step up’ when faced with injury concernsGetty Talksport’s usmnt player ratings

“I think whenever you do something and realizing that it’s clicking as a group, it just makes it even more enjoyable.”

USMNT midfield trio labelled ‘cash money’

Through two games of the World Cup, the midfield trio of Tyler Adams, Weston McKennie and Malik Tillman have been excellent.

In the 2022 tournament, they were dubbed ‘MMA’ with Yunus Musah joining McKennie and Adams – but without Musah in the squad, it’s Tillman completing the trio.

Former USA midfielder Maurice Edu – who won 46 caps for hiss country – said post match on ‘World Cup Now’ that: “They’re cash money.”

“Today, I thought our midfield was a big, big part of why we had success,” Edu said, via FOX Sports.

“Weston McKennie was probably my man of the match. His all-around game – just everything he gives with his movement off the ball, his tackles, his will, the way that he drives this team with his charisma and the way that he plays the game (is great).”

USMNT’s midfield trio has been described as ‘cash money’ by Maurice EduGetty

The US have one final Group stage game to play before the Round of 32 — taking on Vincenzo Montella‘s Turkey on June, 26.

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