U.S. is taking nothing for granted in World Cup

SANTA CLARA — Malik Tillman was among the hundreds of thousands of viewers who tuned in Monday for Paraguay’s gorgeous World Cup victory over Germany. And he might have been a more viewer than most.

Not only was Tillman born in Germany, but the U.S. group he performs for in this World Cup routed Paraguay in its event opener. So now that the South Americans have overwhelmed the Tenth-ranked group in the world, does that make the U.S. better than Germany?

Tillman laughed off the query.

“This is up to you guys to say,” he told a group of reporters. “Of course it gives us a little bit of confidence. But I think the most important lesson is that you have to be ready. Anything can happen.”

Much has occurred three days into the elimination levels of this World Cup. Paraguay and Morocco eradicated European giants Germany and the Netherlands on penalty kicks and Brazil, a five-time champion, needed a purpose deep in stoppage time to beat Japan, which has never received a knockout recreation.

All those outcomes offer a cautionary story for the U.S., which is closely favored in its round-of-32 recreation with Bosnia-Herzegovina on Wednesday at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara.

“The knockout round is unforgiving,” defender Chris Richards said. “Every team that’s in the knockout round has earned it and deserved it. So I’m going to go into it with the same mentality.”

The group stage is three video games long, that means groups will get at least one Mulligan. The U.S., for instance, received its first two video games to clinch a spot in the next spherical, then misplaced to Turkey in a meaningless closing recreation.

But there is no room for errors now. Previous performances are wiped away and everybody goes even into the elimination rounds, where a win will ship you on and a loss will ship you home.

“We don’t think too much about we beat this team, they beat this team. It doesn’t really matter. We just have to be ready going forward,” said Christian Pulisic, who has been restricted by a calf injury to one start and 78 minutes in the event.

However Pulisic, who hasn’t performed a full 90-minute recreation in more than three months, pronounced himself match before training Tuesday.

That’s good because the knockout rounds have never been type to the U.S., which has received just one elimination recreation in its historical past. That got here in 2002 when the Americans beat Mexico to attain the quarterfinals of a World Cup for the only time in the trendy period.

And that’s not the only historical past the U.S. will probably be looking for to upend Wednesday against Bosnia and Herzegovina. The U.S. is winless in its last 12 video games against European opponents and has misplaced its last 10 straight, starting with its closing recreation in the last World Cup when it was eradicated by the Netherlands.

“I don’t believe that,” said U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino, who said he wasn’t conscious of his group’s dismal report against European groups. “It’s pure coincidence.”

The last European group the U.S. beat? Bosnia and Herzegovina, in December 2021.

That was a different group though, one managed by Bulgarian Ivaylo Petev. Under coach Sergej Barbarez, a former skilled poker participant, the gritty Bosnians not often gamble, instead taking part in a disciplined and bodily model that emphasizes compactness and swift counterattacks.

Barbarez said he’s been having fun with both his time in the U.S. during this World Cup, but also watching the enjoyment and enthusiasm with which the Americans play.

“I’m smiling because these guys, they’re making me smile,” he said. “I’m happy that I’m still in the USA. This is the seventh city in the USA — hopefully we’ll be in the eighth.”

“This is a team that deserves a huge respect from me … the way they use this euphoria around them for this World Cup, it’s nice to see this. I really respect them.”

Bosnia beat Wales and Italy in back-to-back playoff video games in March to qualify for its first World Cup in 12 years, and its method right here has been more comparable to that of Australia, a group the U.S. beat 2-0 in the group stage, than to European neighbor Turkey, the only group that has taken down the U.S. in the World Cup.

Getting through the first stage was a breeze for the U.S., which received its first two video games, amassing six factors in group play for the first time since 1930. Its eight targets are the most ever for an American group in the event and a win Wednesday over a Bosnian group the U.S. has never misplaced to would add to the historical past, giving the Americans three victories in a World Cup for a first time.

Yet given what has already occurred in this event and given the pedigree of the groups already headed home, Pochettino is taking nothing for granted.

“For us, it is the final of the World Cup tomorrow. Because we don’t have another opportunity if we fail,” he said. “And if we go through, the next one is going to be another final of the World Cup. That needs to be our mindset and our mentality.”

Staff author Mirjam Swanson contributed to this report.