LEIRIA, Portugal – A childhood dream came true for FC Dallas academy product Weston McKennie on Tuesday, as he scored in his US national team debut to earn a 1-1 friendly draw with European champions Portugal.
“When the national anthem was playing, I was smiling, thinking in my head, ‘I finally got to this point,’” a delighted McKennie told the press postgame. “I just wanted to do the best I could to help my team get a good result, and luckily I was blessed and I was able to score a goal, on my debut. Looking forward to making more.”
But the New York Red Bulls’ Tyler Adams also made a strong impression on his debut and 22-year-old Kellyn Acosta – a former FCD academy colleague of McKennie’s – completed a power trio in midfield.
“I don’t know if you know past history – me and Kellyn have known each other since I was 11 or 12 years old, coming up to Dallas,” said McKennie. “I’ve always seen him as a mentor. He always kind of guided me and took me under his wing in this camp too. I think the connection was good. We have good communication and feelings for each other.”
McKennie, who now plays in Germany for Schalke 04, also has a long youth national team history with Adams, the Red Bulls Homegrown who produced a breakout season in 2017 at the tender age of 18.
“Me and Weston obviously go further back, since we were younger, playing together,” said Adams about the USMNT’s midfield chemistry. “Obviously we’re looking for each other, trying to set each other up for different opportunities in front of the goal. And then Kellyn and Danny [Williams] obviously hold it down. They are a little bit more experienced, so they gave me confidence, and it was easy to play with them.”
Caretaker coach Dave Sarachan fielded Adams in a wide role on the right flank, a spot he manned for RBNY over most of the season. Afterwards he noted that he settled into the position “more in the second half than in the first” once he worked out the early nerves, paying particular mind to his defensive duties against Portugal’s flank threats.
“Anytime you play a top three team in the world, they’re going to have individuals that are going to make it challenging on you,” said Adams. “Any opportunity we have to defend, we can’t take effort doing it and we can’t give up easy chances. The work rate has to be there in order to stop some of their wingers.”
McKennie and Adams were two of the five young newcomers called up by Sarachan. The 19-year-old defender Cameron Carter-Vickers also earned his first cap, coming off the bench to prove that he too can contribute to this revamped US squad.
“The fans who were watching saw a team full of energy,” said McKennie. “We fought from beginning to end. As the coach said, the guys [earning] this first cap, Carter-Vickers, Tyler Adams and myself included, wanted to come out here and seize the opportunities. We wanted to turn the page and show the US what the future holds.”
