The United States came into Copa America with its coach under fire and a quarterfinal loss to five-time world champ Brazil its best likely fate. But somehow the Americans played their way to first place in Group A, into validation for Jurgen Klinsmann and a much easier path into a potential semifinal.
And they’ve played their way into a chance to steal the American sports spotlight in Thursday’s quarterfinal with the NBA Finals potentially ending on Monday.
How have they done it? Luck. Pluck. And, according to midfielder Jermaine Jones, cojones.
“This game shows we got, we got, you say it, hmm-mm,” Jones said, glancing down below the belt. “[Saturday] was a good team effort. Everybody was on the same page and that’s why we won the game.”
That win — a 1-0 victory over Paraguay, despite playing a man down from the 48th minute on — was a huge gut-check.
“This is a huge statement to teams in South America or whoever watched on TV,’’ Klinsmann said. “This team has fantastic spirit and character.”
That spirit and character, long a hallmark of US teams, have been inconsistent during his tenure. But the Americans showed some in bouncing back from an opening loss t o win their group and the word “character” kept cropping up, player after player.
“It showed a lot of character from the guys to stick it out there and just be ready for everything,’’ midfielder Kyle Beckerman said.
“What I’m proud about this team is the character they showed, the determination, the heart,” said Clint Dempsey, who scored Saturday’s winner but wants more. “In the last two World Cups, the Confederations Cup, we advanced out of the group, and we were in difficult groups. But now it’s about once you advance out of the group, what are you going to do? Hopefully we can keep pushing. ”
A surge will be easier after finishing atop the group thanks to Colombia’s loss on Saturday. Now the US gets to face Group B runner-up Ecuador — 4-0 winners Sunday over Haiti — on Thursday in Seattle instead of that group’s surprise winner, Peru, Friday at MetLife Stadium. The Americans beat Ecuador 1-0 in a friendly on May 25.
Team USA’s path may have just opened up for a semifinal run.
The only Copa America semifinal the US has ever reached was in 1995, before Christian Pulisic was born and back when starting defenders DeAndre Yedlin and John Brooks were in diapers.
To get back, the Americans will have to do it without a suspended Yedlin, who was issued a red card Saturday. Klinsmann will have tough calls to make: Does he stick with the 4-4-2 or go back to the 4-3-3? How does he juggle his shorthanded back line?
And they’ll have to handle the duress of a chippy knockout game.
Klinsmann has talked about making the semifinals in the 2018 World Cup in Russia, which is a tall task. Going all the way back to the inaugural 1930 World Cup, including the Copa America and Confederations Cup, the U.S. has only gotten past three knockout games. It has to start learning how to win them sometime.
During a quiet U.S. sportscape is the perfect time.
“When teams come together and have that special cohesiveness and that team environment, I think you can go a long way,’’ center back Geoff Cameron. “I’ve been fortunate enough to play here right now and feel that, and you feel something special happening.”