USMNT star Weston McKennie capped off a World Cup triumph with a wild bus party on Wednesday.
The USA booked their spot in the Round of 32 at the World Cup with a 2-0 victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina in San Francisco.
And not even Florian Balogun’s red card could spoil the party for McKennie as the midfielder was captured trying to pump up his teammates on the journey home.
Hours after the final whistle, the Juventus star shared a video to his Instagram story of himself blaring music amidst his sleepy teammates.
But it wasn’t the melody of Country Roads or Free Bird, which have become synonymous with USA victories.
Instead, it was something a little closer to home for McKennie. As he swayed on the team bus with the speaker in his hand, Ella Langley country hit ‘Choosin’ Texas’ rang out.
USMNT star Weston McKennie capped off a World Cup triumph with a wild bus party
The Juventus star shared a video of himself blaring music amidst his sleepy teammates
He eventually managed to get his teammates in on the action, with Tyler Adams and Antonee Robinson joining in on the chorus.
Despite his apparent attempts to sleep through the ruckus, even Christian Pulisic couldn’t escape McKennie’s infectious celebration.
Captain America finally lifted his head as McKennie shouted out his name, finishing the rendition with the final line of the chorus.
As he panned around the bus, other members of the Stars and Stripes joined in, letting out shouts of joy.
While McKennie was born in Fort Lewis, Washington, he considers Little Elm, Texas, his hometown, spending seven years in the FC Dallas youth academy before turning professional.
It wasn’t McKennie’s first musical performance of the evening, either. Earlier, he had joined the US fans’ raucous chorus inside San Francisco Bay Area Stadium.
The supporters of the red, white and blue broke out into a loud rendition of Take Me Home, Country Roads by John Denver as it blared over the stadium speakers – something that has become a tradition following USA games at this World Cup.
McKennie skipped towards the stands, wildly waving his arms to amp up the crowd, singing along as he went.
Christian Pulisic, Antonee Robinson and Tyler Adams got in on the action
McKennie also led the team’s postgame celebrations, singing and dancing with the fans
He also appeared to be the team’s designated DJ immediately following the game too, hoisting a large speaker over his head and jumping up and down in the locker room.
The US downed their opponents 2-0 in the Santa Clara sunshine, despite a controversial second-half red card for star man and goalscorer Balogun.
Next up, the group will head further north to Seattle for Monday’s last-16 clash with Belgium – by far their toughest test so far.
And that will be made even harder by the absence of Balogun, who will miss the game through suspension.
Despite the controversial circumstances behind his red, and the players’ disbelief at the decision, there is not an appeals process in place for the federation to attempt to overturn the card.
That means the team will have to make do without its star player as they look to book a spot in the quarter-finals of the competition, back in LA.
