The U.S. men's national team is flying high after a 2–0 win—Dos A Cero once again—over Mexico, which lifted the Americans to the top of the Concacaf World Cup qualifying standings. The victory did come at a cost, though.
Midfield star Weston McKennie received a yellow card, giving him two in the 14-match competition, while center back Miles Robinson was dealt two in the second half, resulting in a red card and a sending off. McKennie's accumulation and Robinson's ejection mean both will be unavailable for Tuesday's qualifier in Jamaica. Any player who accumulates two yellow cards over the course of the competition is forced to miss the subsequent match. McKennie, Tyler Adams and DeAndre Yedlin were the U.S. players carrying yellows into Friday's match vs. El Tri. John Brooks and Jordan Pefok also picked up yellows earlier in qualifying, but they are not in this camp.
McKennie received his as part of the fallout of a skirmish that followed Chaka Rodríguez appearing to grab Brenden Aaronson's face and eyes. Rodríguez saw yellow in that sequence, as did U.S. goalkeeper Zack Steffen.
Robinson saw yellow in the 59th minute before getting his second in the 90th for taking down Hirving Lozano from behind. It left the U.S. down to 10 men for the duration of stoppage time. Robinson has been a constant in the back for the U.S. throughout qualifying, and his absence opens up a place for Chris Richards or Mark McKenzie, the other two center backs in camp in addition to Friday's other starter, Walker Zimmerman.
U.S. coach Gregg Berhalter indicated in his postgame remarks that the U.S. would look at the possibility of calling in reinforcements for the trip to Jamaica. The U.S. began camp with 25 players, with third-string goalkeeper Sean Johnson and 18-year-old Borussia Monchengladbach fullback Joe Scally the two not in uniform for the 23-man matchday squad.
The U.S. is level on points with Mexico (14) through seven games, with both a point clear of third-place Canada and three clear of fourth-place Panama. Fifth-place Costa Rica has just six points, and with the top three teams automatically qualifying for the 2022 World Cup and the fourth-place team going to an intercontinental playoff for one last place, the top half of the table is starting to separate from the pack.
