Several U.S. men's national team players are set to depart camp before the upcoming friendly against rivals Mexico.
The Stars and Stripes began the Mauricio Pochettino era with a 2–0 win against Panama at Q2 Stadium in Austin as Yunus Musah and Ricardo Pepi were both on the scoresheet for the USMNT.
The decision to send Pepi, Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie, Marlon Fossey and Zack Steffen back to their respective clubs comes with Pochettino preserving the players' fitness by sending them home early so they could return without injuries.
While Pulisic started and played 67 minutes and Pepi came off the bench in the 67th minute, McKennie, Fossey and Steffen didn't feature in Pochettino's first match as USMNT boss.
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Pochettino explained after the match that he wasn't going to take any risks with McKennie's fitness in a friendly contest. "We protect him," Pochettino said. "He arrived [with] some, not big problems, but some uncomfortable situation, and we didn't want to take a risk."
Pulisic and McKennie have already played 720 and 358 minutes for their respective clubs AC Milan and Juventus in the early stages of the season. Meanwhile, Pepi and Fossey have logged over 300 minutes for their respective teams PSV Eindhoven and Standard Liege while Steffen's 3,600 minutes are among the most for MLS players as he returns to the Colorado Rapids.
The USMNT return to action Tuesday night to square off against El Tri at the Estadio Akron in Guadalajara, Mexico.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Weston McKennie, Christian Pulisic Depart USMNT Camp After Panama Win.
