‘USA would even deep-fry the soles of their shoes': How Weston McKennie and Tim Weah got into ‘food fight' with Emiliano Viviano over American and Italian cuisines

Indian Express

26-06-2025

With the FIFA Club World Cup matches in USA facing plenty of flak due to the games being played in excessive heat or getting delayed due to thunderstorms, there's a different kind of storm brewing off the pitch. Recently, USA players Weston McKennie and Tim Weah, both playing for Italian club Juventus, said the Italian cuisine did not have any variety compared to the American cuisine and have caught plenty of flak.
The comments as expected did not go down well with former Italian goalie Emiliano Viviano blasting the duo, calling USA the worst country when it comes to food.
'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 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,' Viviano said on TV Play.
'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,' he added.
'You guys don't have variety – it's pasta, pizza, fish, steak,' McKennie said. '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 steakhouse, 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,' McKennie had said on Juventus' Talk With Us while Weah nodded in the affirmative.