Anything is possible.
That was Jurgen Klinsmann’s message on Sunday morning, a little more than 12 hours after the US national team learned Argentina and Lionel Messi would be their semifinal opponent when the hosts’ Copa America Centenario journey moves to Houston on Tuesday (9 pm ET; FS1, Univision, UDN).
On the other side of the bracket, Chile brought Mexico’s tournament to an end with a lopsided 7-0 victory that often defied belief and meant the US would be the only CONCACAF representative in the final four. Klinsmann and his coaching staff paid close attention, watching together at the team hotel, and he used the result as an example of the unpredictability that accompanies knockout games.
“Like you saw last night, anything is possible. Anything can happen,” Klinsmann told reporters. “You have a bad day, it can happen like it happened to Mexico. You have a good day, it happens to you like Chile. These are one-offs. It’s a completely new tournament after the group stage. These are two different chapters.
“Now it’s about understanding a tournament writes its own stories,” he added. “A tournament is very different from anything else.”
Argentina, of course, are well versed in the final chapters of tournament soccer, and will be huge favorites against a US side without three starters – Jermaine Jones, Alejandro Bedoya and Bobby Wood – because of yellow-card accumulation. They’ll be plenty motivated as well, after losing to Germany in the 2014 World Cup final, then to hosts Chile in last year’s Copa America final.
And, of course, there’s Messi, who took his time making an on-field impact in Copa America Centenario, but dutifully assumed his place as the tournament’s biggest star after a hat trick against Panama, then a goal and two assists in a quarterfinal win over Venezuela. Though his club legacy with FC Barcelona is close to unparalleled, Argentines are impatiently waiting for him to lead his country to a major tournament title, something that hasn’t happened since 1993.
That’s to say nothing of the 22 other world-class talents that make up Argentina’s roster. For the US to win on Tuesday, Klinsmann knows he’ll have to draw an extra level out of his players on a stage that demands near-perfection.
“We are not scared of them at all. We admire their players, but we don’t even need to mention all of them, because this is really now a special moment,” Klinsmann said. “This is a moment that, I told the players before training yesterday, is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for you now. You got into the semifinal, you made yourself proud. But now go for more.
“Be even hungrier. Be even more aggressive, more determined than you ever were before. Add another 10 percent to what you did already. If everybody does that, we have a game with Argentina. … Make this unique week in your career, make it yours.”
Klinsmann didn’t provide specifics when it comes to his team’s tactical approach on Tuesday, but he did say the staff sat down immediately after Argentina’s win and put together a “very good idea and plan about how to approach [the match].”
“Like every team in the world, there are strengths and weaknesses,” he said. “You say, ‘OK, let’s analyze things. Let’s find ways to break them down. Let’s find ways to score against them.’ Obviously we have to be on top of our game defensively, that’s a no-brainer. But we’ve done extremely well the whole competition defensively. We’ve only given away set pieces. Out of the play, we haven’t conceded a goal. We are ready to fight, to chase them, to be all over them.”
And if the US can do that, who knows?
“A tournament is very, very particular,” Klinsmann said. “To get a tournament culture, to build that, it’s not going to happen overnight. This is about a learning curve, and the learning curve for us is making it further in these knockout games, these one-offs where anything can happen.”
