Messi looms large in COPA semis

“Sure, on paper they’re the team that everybody thinks is going to win. No problem. But ultimately when that whistle blows it’s still 90 minutes of competition.”

Associated Press

HOUSTON

American players maintained over and over that playing Argentina and Lionel Messi in a Copa America semifinal tonight was a big deal, yet not mind-boggling.

Argentina is a two-time World Cup champion and Messi is the only five-time FIFA Player of the Year. While no longer a soccer neophyte, the United States knows it remains a distance from the top tier.

“There’s a bunch of very good players on their team. We have a few good players, as well,” U.S. captain Michael Bradley said Monday. “Sure, on paper they’re the team that everybody thinks is going to win. No problem. But ultimately when that whistle blows it’s still 90 minutes of competition.”

After winning its group, the U.S. beat Ecuador 2-1 to reach a semifinal outside its region for the first time since 2009, when it upset Spain 2-0 in the Confederations Cup semis before wasting a two-goal lead in the final and losing to Brazil 3-2.

It’s not the World Cup, but reaching the final of this expanded 100th anniversary Copa America would be a major achievement for a U.S. team questioned by its growing fan base after it failed to win last year’s CONCACAF Gold Cup.

“We want to take the game to them, as well. We want to keep a high line. We want to go eye to eye,” U.S. coach Jurgen Klinsmann said. “In order to grow, you need to go through some pain and you need to try things out. You need to risk. And when you risk things, here and there you get a lesson.”

While the U.S. is now alongside Mexico as a power in North and Central America and the Caribbean, qualifying for seven straight World Cups, it is 12-43-15 in games against former World Cup champions, including 3-18-1 competitive matches. It is in the Copa America semifinals for the first time since 1995.

And there’s no bigger threat than Messi, who has four Champions League and eight La Liga titles with Barcelona but who has not won any championships with Argentina’s senior team, which is seeking its first major trophy since 1993.

Messi is nicknamed “La Pulga” for his speed and unmatched dribbling ability. He wanders from midfield to the front line, drifts from the left flank to the right and often cuts from the right to the center. He has not scored in three previous matches against the U.S.

Klinsmann will be forced to make changes because of suspensions to midfielders Jermaine Jones and Alejandro Bedoya, and forward Bobby Wood. Kyle Beckerman appears likely to replace Jones, with Graham Zusi, Chris Wondolowski, Darlington Nagbe and 17-year-old Christian Pulisic the top candidates for the other two slots. Right back DeAndre Yedlin returns from his one-game suspension.

“Make it your moment,” Klinsmann recalled telling his players. “It’s about confidence, about hunger, about the willingness to suffer.”