By John Ogunsemore
United States and Juventus midfielder, Weston Mckennie has incurred the wrath of former Italian goalkeeper, Emiliano Viviano after claiming Italian food “has no variety”.
Mckennie, alongside compatriot and Juve teammate Timothy Weah, sat for the Juventus Talk With Us podcast and discussed a range of subjects, including the local cuisine in Turin.
Speaking on the food, McKennie, 26, said, “You guys don’t have variety: it’s pasta, pizza, fish, steak.
“You know what the problem is with Italian food? It’s great, it’s good specific food that you do very well, but in America if I go to a burger joint or a steak house, then I go to another place 10 minutes down the street, I’m still eating a burger, but it’s a completely different taste.
“In Italy, I go to this restaurant and get a pesto pasta, I go 10 minutes down the street and order a pesto pasta, it’s the same thing.”
However, his assessment of Italian food did not sit well with many Italians, including Viviano.
Reacting, the retired Arsenal and Palermo goalie said, “The United States is the country with the worst food in the world.
“They would even deep-fry the soles of their shoes. If I was (Italian Prime Minister Giorgia) Meloni, I wouldn’t let him back into Italy!
“How can you say there’s no variety in Italian cuisine? His very definition of ‘variety’ irritated me. McKennie, there are 200 million of you Americans and all you ever eat are hamburgers.
“The truth is, all the food in America was brought there by other nations. I just want to tell McKennie that he has achieved the incredible feat of managing to unite all of Italy against him. It is not about fans anymore, he can be insulted by absolutely everybody.”
In August 2024, Juventus attempted to offload the American and removed his shirts from the club’s store after he turned down a new contract earlier in the year.