U.S. men's national soccer team gets Gio Reyna back for critical World Cup qualifiers, but lose Weston McKennie

For the last few years, we've been hearing about the U.S. men's vaunted depth. How they were built to withstand injuries, quick turnarounds and different styles of play because there wasn't a steep drop-off after the first dozen or so guys. 

It's about to be put to the test. Yes, even more than last summer, when coach Gregg Berhalter fielded almost entirely different teams for two separate competitions and the USMNT beat Mexico for titles in both of them. 

The Americans will be without midfielder Weston McKennie, who has established himself as the USMNT's best player over the last seven months, when the critical final round of World Cup qualifying begins next week. McKennie is expected to miss 8-12 weeks after breaking his foot Feb. 22 during the final minutes of a UEFA Champions League game against Villareal.

The Americans are also likely to be missing starting defender Sergino Dest after he left Barcelona's game Thursday with what appears to be a hamstring injury. Matt Turner, who has alternated starting goalkeeping duties with Zack Steffen, is also injured. 

"You don’t replace (McKennie), that’s the thing," Berhalter said Thursday night after announcing his 27-man roster for the final qualifiers. "He’s been so important to this group. We’re not going to plug a guy in and get a like-to-like. That’s OK. We've won games before without him and we’ll do it again.

"We’ll have enough bodies to get someone on the field that we feel can perform the role adequately," Berhalter added. 

The top three teams in Concacaf qualifying automatically get spots in this year’s World Cup in Qatar, while the fourth-place team will go to a playoff in June against a team from Oceania. The USMNT is currently second in the standings with 21 points – it leads El Tri on goal differential – but only four points separate the Americans from fourth-place Panama and Costa Rica is just another point back. 

The Americans open the last round of qualifying next Thursday at Mexico’s Azteca Stadium, where their only win came in a 2012 friendly. They return home to play Panama on March 27 in Orlando, then close out qualifying in Costa Rica on March 30.

The thought is the USMNT needs to beat Panama, and try and steal a point at either Mexico or Costa Rica. 

"We’re prepared," Berhalter said. "We know there are going to be challenges involved, we know there’s going to be ups and downs. But we're in good position now and the goal is to finish it off and qualify for the World Cup by the end of these three games."

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While McKennie's absence is big, this type of scenario is why Berhalter has mixed and matched his rosters the last two years. He has the luxury of leaving a player like John Brooks home while playing guys who are contributing at some of the biggest clubs in Europe. 

That will again include Gio Reyna, who is finally healthy after missing much of the last seven months with a hamstring injury suffered in a Sept. 2 qualifier in El Salvador. Reyna has come off the bench in Dortmund's last two games, and had the game-winning assist Wednesday. 

"Qualifying for the World Cup is (most important) but secondly is Gio returning healthy to his club," Berhalter said. "We're mindful of his load and we're mindful of the work he's done in the last couple of weeks, and we're going to adjust accordingly." 

Christian Pulisic is in top form again at Chelsea, scoring three goals and having an assist in his last six appearances, while Jordan Pefok leads the Swiss league with 17 goals in 25 games. 

Steffen, who missed the last round of qualifiers with a back injury, was available for Manchester City for its game Monday and Berhalter said there's a chance he could play this weekend before joining the USMNT.

"For us, it's not trying to get cute," Berhalter said. "It's trying to put teams on the field in each game that we think can win the game." 

The schedule presents an added challenge, though, with the first game at Mexico's high-altitude Azteca Stadium. The USMNT has won just one game there, and it was a friendly back in 2012. 

But if there's a time for the Americans to end that oh-fer streak, now is it. El Tri has tied twice at Azteca during the Octagonal, including a 0-0 draw against Costa Rica in January played in front of 2,000 people as punishment for Mexico fans’ repeated use of a homophobic slur.

The Americans also dominated Mexico in a 2-0 – what else? – win in Cincinnati in November.

Then it's back to Orlando. Asked if he'll use a different squad against Panama because of the altitude and turnaround, Berhalter said no. 

"When you look at some of our players, the rhythm that they're playing is basically Saturday, Wednesday, Saturday, Wednesday through most of the year. So some of our players -- not all, but some -- will be able to play three, 90-minute games," Berhalter said. "It's just identifying who and then rotating other ones out that aren't." 

But should the Americans go to Costa Rica needing a win, it could get dicey. The USMNT has never won a qualifier in Costa Rica and are 0-9-2 overall at Estadio Nacional. 

"It's going to be a difficult game for us," Berhalter said. "But these are the challenges that we need to embrace and we need to hit head on because they're difficult games and we're looking forward to them."