Team Overview
By Scott French | @ScottJFrench |
The U.S. overachieved the last time they played in so big an event on home soil, some 22 years ago, and they'll have to do so again to make anything worthwhile in the Copa America Centenario. Advancing to the knockout round is going to take some doing after a tough draw grouped them with Colombia, ranked fourth in the world by FIFA, Costa Rica and Paraguay. The Yanks are a veteran bunch, for the most part, with an aging core -- goalkeeper Tim Howard, midfielder Jermaine Jones and forward Clint Dempsey are well over 30; captain Michael Bradley is just 28 -- and questionable depth undercutting the experience.
Defense always seems an adventure, and they struggle to get off their heels when playing the world's elite, of which this tournament has plenty. Howard is solid if a fraction slower these days in the nets, and Bradley and Jones are heady battlers at their best when anchored by someone like Kyle Beckerman, who, like Jones, is 34. That might work well in a 4-3-3 formation, which Jurgen Klinsmann has toyed with. There are younger players rising -- winger/forward Gyasi Zardes, winger DeAndre Yedlin, forwards Bobby Wood and Jordan Morris, and defender John Brooks -- and everybody's excited to see 17-year-old Borussia Dortmund phenom Christian Pulisic. But Jozy Altidore’s absence due to another hamstring injury will be felt.
The U.S. wants to show well on so big a stage after flaming out at last summer's Gold Cup, finishing fourth, and then dropping the playoff for a Confederations Cup to Mexico in overtime, so playing well and getting results are more vital -- the latter perhaps more so -- than preparing youngsters for the future. Don’t be surprised if Klinsmann believes he can do both
Key Player
Clint Dempsey - America's favorite hip-hop soccer star from Nacogdoches, Texas, sits eight goals from Landon Donovan's U.S. national team record, and he's going to need to cut the gap somewhat if the Yanks are going to do anything worthwhile as hosts of the most anticipated soccer event on these shores since 1994. At 33, Dempsey is on the other side of his arc, but he's still the side's most exciting, stylish and deadliest attacker, and especially when the games count. Among his 49 finishes in a U.S. jersey was that fine strike to tie Italy, en route to their fourth title, at the 2006 World Cup; another in the draw with England, key to winning the group, four years later in South Africa; two more in Brazil two years ago; and there's a long list covering World Cup qualifiers and Gold Cups. He's scored 28 times since Klinsmann debuted in August 2011, and 20 of those have been in competition.
The former Fulham star -- he also had a brief stint with Tottenham -- hasn't been particularly impressive this spring for Seattle but seems to be finding his step as the Sounders figure out life after Obafemi Martins, and his growing partnership with Jordan Morris could pay dividends here.
Manager Spotlight
No one's ever going to question Klinsmann's quality as a striker: The 51-year-old German legend, who has called Southern California home for nearly two decades, scored 47 goals in 108 international games, won World Cup and European Championship titles, scored 11 goals in three World Cups -- the first man to score at least three in three successive tournaments -- and averaged almost 20 goals a year over 14 seasons with VfB Stuttgart, Inter Milan, AS Monaco, Tottenham and Bayern Munich. He's a much more controversial figure as a manager, a rah-rah sort who presided over Germany's stunning run to third place as host at the 2006 World Cup, then held the reins less than a season at Bayern, where the established guard bristled at his modern methods.
He's been in charge of the U.S. for nearly five years, achieving plenty -- dominant runs to the 2013 Gold Cup crown and in the 2014 World Cup qualifiers, advancing from a brutal group in Brazil, road wins over Italy, Holland and Germany, the first U.S. win over Mexico at Azteca -- but drawing sometimes deafening criticism from everywhere.
Omitting Landon Donovan in 2014 caused a stir, his lineups can be perplexing, and his relationship with his players is constantly scrutinized. Some observers were calling for his head when, after the Yanks' 2015 disappointments, Guatemala in a March World Cup qualifier beat them for the first time in 28 years. There's no discernible identity or style of play, and whatever advances are happening in the big picture are most opaque. There seems no threat to his job security, but everyone would be a lot happier if the U.S. plays to its capabilities.
Success Looks Like...
Expectations dropped a bit when the Yanks were drawn into the toughest of the four first-round quartets, and if Colombia is a the clear favorite to win Group A, then the U.S. is battling Costa Rica and Paraguay for the other quarterfinal berth. That's no simple path, and the order of games -- with the Colombians up first, June 3 in Santa Clara -- does them no favors. Beating Costa Rica, higher in FIFA's rankings, in the second game might be mandatory if they're going advance, which they must for this to be any sort of success.
That's probably good enough, since the quarterfinals likely bring Brazil, who has beaten the U.S. in nine straight since Kasey Keller's perfecto in the 1998 Gold Cup semifinals. How they start the Colombia game -- aggressively confident, a tad cautious, or trying to hold off James Rodriguez and Co.'s onslaught -- will say plenty, and the U.S. is certainly capable of an upset, the top spot in the the group and, if everything aligns, a place among the final four. There's precedence: They've played as guests in three previous Copas America, and reached the semifinals in 1995.
Failure Looks Like...
There's failure and then there's failure. Not getting to the quarterfinals while playing at home, no matter how tough the opposition is, would not be looked upon kindly, and it's very possible. There may be some wiggle space in this if the Americans play well and fall just short, but if they can't notch at least one victory, it won't be not good. This could come down to goal difference or goals scored, so one mistake and it could all go to hell, and although home field ought to be an advantage, last year's Gold Cup makes an argument to the contrary.
