CHICAGO--Though they entered Tuesday night's match against Costa Rica knowing that a victory was a must, according to United States Men's National Team manager Jurgen Klinsmann, the USMNT entered the match without any fear.
According to the one-time World Cup winner, the "team understands perfectly how the situation looks, that we have to get things done. For us, it’s not a thought of: ‘What if we lose the game?’ We never think that way. You have three games, you have to find a way to get your points."
Get their points they did at Soldier Field, taking a 3-0 lead into halftime on the back of a sterling performance from Clint Dempsey, who had a goal and two assists in the opening period. A late Graham Zusi goal put the icing on the cake for the hosts.
Klinsmann pleased with team, less so with media
The manager seemed thrilled with the performance from his team, saying, "They deserve a huge, huge compliment for tonight's performance."
However, he didn't seem overly pleased by the questioning he has received from the media, and hit out during his post-match press conference, saying, some media "write all of their articles off the pure result. They maybe didn't even watch the game, but it's ok."
He went on be frustrated by the line of questioning, particularly when VAVEL USA's Vijay Vemu asked about the decision not to bring on either Darlington Nagbe or Christian Pulisic. "I'm talking about the guys who played," said the manager.
Bobby Wood, attack unit praised
However, even his frustrations couldn't take the shine off what was an impressive result. Klinsmann went on to exhort the efforts of Bobby Wood, who had perhaps his best performance for the red, white and blue, at least in a competitive match.
"Bobby was not meant to be a winger, he was meant to be up there with Clint to help out," said Klinsmann.
Wood, Dempsey, and Gyasi Zardes combined to great effect in the final third and seemed to be benefitting from more time together on the pitch. Often times in the Klinsmann era, line-up changes have been necessary, and players haven't been able to build the chemistry required to compete at the highest level. Clearly, that is no longer a problem in the manager's eyes.
"You see that they are starting now to smell each other and make runs off each other," he said.
Hope, optimism the order on the night
Optimism is a Klinsmann hallmark, and it feels rare for him to be caught in a bad mood. Thus, it was unsurprising that he noted the team's desire to do something special in this tournament when he said, "I see a team progressing, I see a team that badly wants to prove itself against these caliber teams. We are there in the driver’s seat to get through this very difficult group. . . . It’s encouraging this group has the extreme hunger now to make things happen."
Though his eternal optimism occasionally seems misplaced, after Tuesday evening's victory, it felt right. The Americans delivered a hopeful performance, one that will leave them feeling like they have every chance of moving on the quarterfinals.