Copa America 2016 quarterfinal: USA – Ecuador preview
The US have responded perfectly after the Opening loss 2-0 to Colombia with two straight clean sheets and 5 golas scored. They will now face an Ecuadorian team that they beat about 3 weeks ago for the preparation of Copa America 1-0. However, Ecuador arrives undefeated in this Copa America and not as the underdogs. USMNT will have to play to thier best to have a chance to advance to the semifinals.
Coach Kilnsmann preview the quarterfinal match:
“It’s not getting any bigger than this. This is the biggest game of the year. It’s a moment for a player to shine. The whole world is watching them, and I think the players understand that right now and they know if I want to define myself as an individual, this is the place to be. This is knockout. This is do-or-die.
The friendly helps to kind of have a good feeling for how good they are. They were not complete when we played them in the friendly. A couple of very special players were missing.
Ecuador is a good team. But this is what we want. We want to learn how to beat those teams when it really, really matters in a big competition. I think they have a lot of respect for us.
That’s what we’re building. We’re building more respect out there…Our players know how to take the game to the opponent and this is the big learning curve that will become even better if we get to the final four.”
This is where you want your team to understand and figure out a way to get into the semifinal of such a huge competition. Hopefully they go on the field tonight with a lot of pride and also a lot of confidence.”
