McKennie recovers as USMNT deploys unchanged lineup to face Trinidad and Tobago

Weston McKennie leads an unchanged U.S. national team lineup to face Trinidad and Tobago after recovering from the hamstring injury that forced him out of the U.S. team's victory against Guyana.

Gregg Berhalter is going with the same starting lineup that posted a 4-0 victory in its Gold Cup opener against Guyana, a group that struggled through a lackluster first half before an improved second led to a comfortable win.

Christian Pulisic and Michael Bradley will face Trinidad and Tobago for the first time since they both started in the U.S. team's World Cup qualifying loss in 2017, which cost the USMNT a place in the 2018 World Cup. Berhalter removed Pulisic and Bradley from the win against Guyana in the XX minute with an eye towards keeping them fresh and healthy for Trinidad and Tobago.

Gyasi Zardes retained his place as the team's lead striker, starting ahead of Jozy Altidore, who is apparently still not at 100 percent. Altidore is projected as the team's top striker, but is still waiting to make his first national team start in 20 months, since starting against Trinidad and Tobago in the infamous World Cup qualifying defeat.

Zack Steffen returns in goal and will be looking to perform better than he did in his last outing in Ohio, when he committed a costly passing error in the U.S. team's friendly loss to Venezuela in Cincinnati. Steffen didn't have much to do in the victory against Guyana, recording one save in the shutout. 

The defense remains the same, with Walker Zimmerman continuing to hold off Matt Miazga for the spot next to Aaron Long in central defense. The fullback positions are also unchanged, which isn't much of a surprise given how well Nick Lima has been playing, and Tim Ream's status as the clear-cut top starter at left back. 

The Americans will be looking for a win against Trinidad and Tobago in order to keep pace with group leader Panama, which defeated Guyana, 4-2, in the first match of the day to improve to 2-0 in group play. The United States and Panama face off in the group finale in Kansas City, Kansas on Friday.