Test for Klinsmann as USA, Mexico clash in play-off - FIFA CONFEDERATIONS CUP
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| AFP |
USA and Mexico clash on Saturday in a winner-takes-all shoot-out for a place at the FIFA Confederations Cup Russia 2017 with US coach Jurgen Klinsmann facing arguably the biggest test of his four-year reign.
A sell-out crowd of more than 92,000 is expected to cram into the vast expanse of the Pasadena Rose Bowl for the latest instalment of the fierce rivalry between the North American heavyweights. A play-off to determine the CONCACAF region's representative at the Confederations Cup in Russia in two year's time was required after the United States won the 2013 Gold Cup and Mexico lifted the 2015 edition.
The United States' failure to win this year's Gold Cup on home soil, where they were stunned by Jamaica in the semi-finals, and a 4-1 friendly thrashing by Brazil last month, left Klinsmann's critics sharpening their knives.
"I'm very confident about it (the Mexico match)," Klinsmann told ESPN. "With all the respect to the Mexican team - there's no doubt that they have a lot of quality - I'm confident that if our group sticks together and works with a tremendous amount of energy and chemistry, we're going to beat them."
For Klinsmann's players, Saturday represents an opportunity to avenge their shattering 2011 defeat to Mexico at the same venue in the final of the Gold Cup, when they squandered a 2-0 lead before crashing 4-2.
Chance for revenge
USA skipper Michael Bradley, a veteran of that defeat, admitted the loss still weighed heavily on the players who experienced it. "Any time you lose a final, you don't forget that quickly," Bradley told ussoccer.com. "And when you have to watch your big rival lift a trophy, that stays with you."
Bradley meanwhile urged his team to savour the prospect of another titanic battle with Mexico in what is expected to be a highly charged atmosphere. "Games against Mexico don't come around every day," Bradley said. "Games against Mexico that have so much on the line don't either ... the atmosphere is going to be amazing."