A place in the Round of 16 at the Qatar World Cup gave the U.S. team a confidence boost ahead of Saturday’s match against the Netherlands, in which the Stars and Stripes will be underdogs.
“It’s a great opportunity. But it’s not something we go into thinking it’s an honor,” head coach Gregg Berhalter said at the Al Thumama Stadium. “We deserve to be in the position we’re in and we want to move forward. We don’t want to be at home on Sunday,” he commented.
The game against the Netherlands will be very special
“For us it’s about how we bounce back from this game and prepare to play against a very good Dutch team, very well coached, a ton of quality all over the field,” Berhalter added.
For center back Walker Zimmerman, the team has its sights set on making it all the way to the Final. “It’s more about getting through the group, because we know that’s the next step. That’s the only way to win the World Cup, to get to the knockout stages. So that’s the number one mark.
“But we have a lot more from this group, a lot more expectations from this team. The whole environment, we said it from the beginning, we’re unpacked, we’re here until December 19 (the day after the final) in our head. And we want to make it happen. To do that, now we have to take it one game at a time. But we certainly don’t think we’re playing with house money.“
They’re in the right frame of mind for Saturday’s game
After a tough first group stage, coach Berhalter rested his players, who are motivated to face one of the teams that are always favorites to win the title.
“It’s a great opportunity for us. It’s going to be an unbelievable game,” Tyler Adams said. “Obviously, we’ve played some good competition here, like England; the Netherlands could be another favorite to win the World Cup.
“They’ve done really well in the group stage of the tournament so far, some incredible players, we’re going to have to be ready for that game. But I think right now, we enjoy this moment, we have some time off to relax and recover now, focus mentally.”
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