EAST HARTFORD, Ct. – After breezing past Belize and crushing Cuba, now the U.S. will finally get its first Gold Cup challenge tomorrow against Costa Rica. After last week’s warm-ups, they’ll finally get tested as they close out Group C foe tomorrow at Rentschler Field (8 pm, FSC, Univision).
“We are very well aware of Costa Rica, and (they’re) the first real benchmark for us,” said head coach Jurgen Klinsmann, whose team comes in with a U.S. record-tying seven straight wins after a 4-1 rout of Cuba. “Everybody has respect for Belize and Cuba, but the benchmark for us starts with Costa Rica.’’
The United States may just be dead-even with Costa Rica, 12-12-6 all-time, they clearly have not only the advantage in Gold Cup play, but in their most recent meetings.
They’re undefeated against Costa Rica in the Gold Cup at 5-0-1; and more recently – and far more importantly – they won a disputed 1-0 victory over Costa Rica in their recent World Cup qualifier in Denver. The game was played in a blizzard, with the Costa Rican federation filing a protest over the conditions.
“We’ve probably been on their list since that last qualifier, so we have to be ready,” U.S, goalkeeper Nick Rimando said of Costa Rica.
The United States comes in on a hot-streak, their 16 goals in the past three games tying a team record. And striker Chris Wondolowski has clearly broken through on the international level, with five goals in just two Gold Cup games, the only U.S. player to ever tally that many in a single Gold Cup tournament.
Now it remains to be seen if Wondolowski – a scoring machine in MLS – can keep that pace up as the U.S steps up in competition. They’ve already clinched a berth through to the quarterfinals, win or lose. And holding a plus-eight goal differential – compared to Costa Rica’s plus-four – the only way they can fail to win Group C outright is if they lose by three or more goals tomorrow.
“We need now where we’re eye-to-eye with the opponents, where we know it’s going to go down to the wire,’’ said Klinsmann. “Therefore we’re really looking forward to that match now in Hartford.’’
It will also be a tantalizing preview of the rivals’ World Cup qualifier when they meet with even more at stake on Sept. 6 in San Jose.