Klinsmann: USMNT needs to get angry to bounce back from Mexico loss
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Jurgen Klinsmann believes his United States players need to get angry in order to get their World Cup campaign back on track.
Klinsmann’s side suffered its first home defeat in a World Cup qualifier since 2001 on Friday when it came unstuck 2-1 against arch-rival Mexico in Columbus in the opening game of the final round robin that will decide who reaches Russia in 2018.
With a testing visit to World Cup quarterfinalist Costa Rica on Tuesday, Klinsmann was adamant that an immediate response is needed if the team is to avoid a troubled path through the hexagonal qualifying stage that will send three teams from the CONCACAF region to the tournament.
“(Losing to Mexico) gets a sense of anger in all of us and absolutely a sense of urgency because we don’t want to be behind in the group,” Klinsmann said. “All these qualifying games are nail-biters, they are all difficult, and that is what the players are prepared for.”
Costa Rica produced a superb performance in the World Cup in 2014, finishing top of a group that also included England, Italy and Uruguay, before eventually falling to the Netherlands on penalty kicks in the last eight. The last time the teams met on Costa Rican soil, in September 2013, the hosts won 3-1.
After one game Costa Rica, Mexico and Panama sit atop the CONCACAF group with three points, with the U.S. on zero alongside Honduras and Trinidad and Tobago.
“The message is simple,” Klinsmann said. “We have got to go there and get a result, which we will do. (Friday) was the first of 10 qualifying games. I told the players we are going to correct it in Costa Rica. It is just part of the qualifying process. It is a long road over 10 games. It is not a problem but obviously it is disappointing.”
The U.S. is expected to be without goalkeeper Tim Howard, who sustained a groin injury while taking a goal kick against Mexico that caused him to be substituted. Brad Guzan, who replaced him in Columbus, is slated to make the start.