United States men's national team midfielder Weston McKennie said that players from the USMNT squad will rise above recent failures and will use it as fuel to fight for objectives such as qualifying for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Speaking with ESPN's Herculez Gomez, the Schalke star added the next generation of U.S. players don't dwell on not reaching the 2018 World Cup and that it is time to move on.
- Herc's full chat with McKennie on U.S. Soccer, Bundesliga, and more!
"Whenever you see people outside saying 'this, that, they're not good,' it gives you extra motivation, so I would say I don't wish that they would forget [not qualifying in 2018], but I also wish they did," McKennie said.
McKennie added that many players expected to feature for a chance at Qatar weren't part of the last World Cup cycle.
"Most of the guys here weren't part of that group, but we win as a team and we lose as a team, even the current guys on the national team, we feel it," McKennie said.
One player that did play in the World Cup qualifying loss at Trinidad & Tobago in 2017 was Christian Pulisic, but McKennie assured that the Chelsea winger remains a key cog for the USMNT.
"What makes him so special, is that he isn't afraid to try what he wants to try," McKennie said "His explosiveness and his desire to score goals, its rare to have a player with some much confidence."
McKennie joined Schalke's academy in August 2016 from MLS side FC Dallas and has become a mainstay for the Bundesliga ever since his senior team debut late in the 2016-2017 season. He spent several months out with a shoulder injury earlier this season but has become one of the surprise breakouts of the German top-flight division.