“We want to get to the final four,” screams a Tweet from US Soccer on Jurgen Klinsmann’s goal for the United States national team in this summer’s Copa America Centenario.
That aim is, of course, nothing new, but how big of an accomplishment would it be for the Yanks to go marching into the semifinals?
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It’s not quite the challenge of making the penultimate round of a longer tournament, but it is a sizable challenge nevertheless: advance from the group stage and win a game.
“We have to learn how to get in a tournament really to the next level. And the next level is – and at Copa America now – is to win your quarterfinal. Win your quarterfinal against whoever that will be in order to make the final four. This is our goal, so we want to be in that tournament very long. We want to play six games in this tournament, and we believe that this roster is very, very hungry, very determined and very aggressive going into these games.”
Getting out of Group A is to be expected despite a difficult group schedule that could see them start behind the 8-ball after opening with Colombia. The Yanks will get one more day of rest than second opponent Costa Rica before closing with Paraguay.
Winning against Paraguay is a must, and the South American nation is no dud. The Paraguayans did not lose in the group stage of the 2015 tournament, finishing about Uruguay and Jamaica before beating Brazil in penalties and getting stomped by Argentina.
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The Yanks will have to topple a Group B team to advance to the semis. Brazil will be favored to easily win its group, with Ecuador, Haiti and Peru completing the quartet. If the U.S. finishes first, it will projected to earn a match with Wednesday’s friendly opponent: Ecuador.
The USMNT was battered by Brazil in the last matchup between the two sides, a late Danny Williams goal its only highlight, while it drew Ecuador 1-1 in 2014. The latter was Landon Donovan’s final USMNT game, and more pageantry than competition.
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We’ll get a good taste for the Yanks’ chances in how John Brooks and Geoff Cameron (or Matt Besler) fare in handling the attacks of Ecuador and Bolivia in this week’s friendlies, because attempting to stop Colombia is a lost cause if they can’t handle that duo.
Still, a loss to Colombia could be amended by defeating Costa Rica and Paraguay, matches that will be more about attacking prowess and finding goals (especially if Colombia rolls up digits in the group opener). In that instance, the readiness of Bobby Wood and Clint Dempsey to bury chances will be key.
“We want to get to the final four.” - #USMNT head coach @J_Klinsmann on expectations for @CA2016pic.twitter.com/xJ0Q3nDagI
— U.S. Soccer (@ussoccer) May 24, 2016
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