This time no unhelpful outbursts are needed. Just hours before the previous make or break encounter for Jürgen Klinsmann, the Copa América Centenario group match with Costa Rica, which followed the dispiriting opening defeat to Colombia, the head of US Soccer Sunil Gulati saw it fit to heap more pressure on the German’s shoulders.
More wins was the order from on high. No more chances could slip away. Just what you need four hours before kick-off. The response, however, was rapid and on point. Two wins – 4-0 against Costa Rica and 1-0 against Paraguay – quickly followed, Klinsmann was able to wallow in the afterglow, and now all roads lead to Seattle and a chance to reach the semi-finals of the Copa.
An unchanged line-up for the first three games saw the German, for once, keep his tactical nerve and hit the jackpot. To paraphrase Sir Alex Ferguson: international soccer? Bloody hell.
“It has been a real team effort and the atmosphere from the playing staff to the coaches has been excellent,” goalkeeper Brad Guzan told the Guardian on Wednesday. “We cannot control what happens on the outside and will let others judge on how we are doing.”
But they can control how they play on Thursday night. If they beat Ecuador, Klinsmann will have set up a tantalising semi-final with Argentina in Houston next Tuesday. Ecuador, whose Premier League triumvirate of Antonio Valencia, Enner Valencia and Jefferson Montero will pose a multitude of questions – especially with DeAndre Yedlin suspended following his red card against Paraguay – are an improved team, in form and riding on the crest of a wave.
The US will boast supremacy in the stands with Seattle’s soccer mad hordes set to fill CenturyLink Field, as well they should do for a game of this magnitude, and the edge of the seat could become the go-to position, especially with a draw heading straight to a penalty shootout instead of the normal extra 30 minutes.
Klinsmann, and his friends who skip happily in the corridors of power, can talk incessantly about hopes of becoming an elite soccer nation yet until they actually produce in occasions like this – when it really, really matters – their words count for nothing. His cause has been helped considerably by a once porous backline finding form. John Brooks was fantastic in the win over Paraguay while Guzan and Geoff Cameron exuded confidence at the requisite times.
Yedlin’s absence will be felt, yet with Michael Orozco poised to deputise, the manager is confident of his team will not be weakened significantly. “He’s a logical inclusion in the squad,” said Klinsmann. “He has always been there for the team. Every time he’s come in, he’s done a good job.”
History, though, makes uncomfortable reading for US supporters. Their record in knockout matches at major tournaments is unimpressive: just three wins coming at the 2002 World Cup, the 2009 Confederations Cup semi-finals and the penalty-kick triumph over Mexico in the 1995 Copa.
The most recent exit – a 2-1 defeat to Belgium at the World Cup in Brazil – saw unforgettable heroics from Tim Howard yet no leap forward to assure the disbelievers that, one day, the US will be serious competitors on the grandest stages of them all.
“It is a good thing to have players from the last World Cup campaign,” added Klinsmann. “You try and bring young players through but it helps to have guys on board who know how to play these games. They have a wonderful team but we have leaders who played in Brazil – Michael Bradley, Jermaine Jones, Clint Dempsey – every position we are there and we can compete with these guys. Now it’s down to momentum and peaking at the right time. This is a big game, a nailbiter like the last one but this time it’s 50/50. We want to get into the semi-finals.”
This edition of the Copa América, coming so fast off the shoulders of last summer’s tournament, is no World Cup. Yet no matter. It’s an opportunity for the United States and their manager to make a real statement on home turf in front of arguably the country’s most fervent fanbase.
Chances of further redemption simply don’t come any better than this.
