{"id":19353,"date":"2026-07-01T19:32:28","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T19:32:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=19353"},"modified":"2026-07-01T19:32:28","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T19:32:28","slug":"us-enters-world-cup-knockout-match-with-just-win-baby-mindset","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=19353","title":{"rendered":"US enters World Cup knockout match with \u2018just win, baby\u2019 mindset"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

SANTA CLARA \u2014 Mauricio Pochettino\u00a0listened closely as a reporter taught him Al Davis\u2019 famous motto for the Raiders.<\/p>\n

Read more California vowed to transform kids\u2019 mental health. Many schools are still waiting<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cJust win, baby?\u201d\u00a0the U.S. coach repeated back with a smile. \u201cOK.\u201d<\/p>\n

RELATED:\u00a0World Cup chaos: Police declare unlawful assembly in San Jose<\/strong><\/p>\n

If the United States does that as expected Wednesday against Bosnia and Herzegovina at Levi\u2019s Stadium, it will make for a smooth entry into the World Cup\u2019s already unpredictable knockout phase.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor us, it\u2019s the final of the World Cup tomorrow. If we don\u2019t think in this way, we are going to struggle,\u201d Pochettino said Tuesday at the 49ers\u2019 home stadium. \u201cWe\u2019ve seen already, in the games after the group stage, how difficult it is. No one game was easy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bristling at the notion Team USA is a strong favorite after winning Group D, Pochettino cited Monday\u2019s shootout losses that eliminated Germany and the Netherlands as the Round of 32 got underway. His counterpart for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sergej Barbarez, was more willing to accept the framing.<\/p>\n

\u201cLook, of course they are favorites, with their place on the table, and they\u2019re hosts,\u201d Barbarez said. \u201cWe\u2019ve never had a problem with being an underdog. This word doesn\u2019t mean anything to me. You can throw it around. What matters is what happens on the pitch.\u201d<\/p>\n

The United States\u2019 World Cup history consists of only one win in eight knockout-phase games, in 2002 with a 2-0 victory over Mexico to reach the quarterfinals. Even worse, the U.S. is just 1-13-7 against European teams in the World Cup since 1990, beating only Portugal in 2002.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

\u201cMaybe it\u2019s pure coincidence,\u201d Pochettino said. \u201cTomorrow we have a good opportunity to fight against history.\u201d<\/p>\n

After failing to advance out of its group in 2014, Bosnia and Herzegovina\u2019s path to this game came via last week\u2019s 3-1 win over Qatar, which followed a 1-1 tie with Canada and a 4-1 loss to Switzerland. It took shootout victories, over Italy and Wales in March, to secure a second World Cup berth since 2002.<\/p>\n

When the World Cup opened three weeks ago, FIFA ranked Bosnia and Herzegovina 64th in the world. The U.S. was 17th, then opened with impressive wins over Paraguay and Australia to clinch the group before last Thursday\u2019s mostly meaningless 3-2 loss to homeward-bound Turkey.<\/p>\n

Monday\u2019s shootout-driven exits of the No. 8-ranked Netherlands and No. 10 Germany didn\u2019t go unnoticed by the Americans.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s our chance to go far in this tournament,\u201d U.S. defender Chris Richards said before Tuesday\u2019s training at PayPal Park. \u201cAlso, now we\u2019ve seen two big boys fall. It\u2019s a matter of us getting through this game, putting forth a good performance and hopefully we continue that. It\u2019s starting to open up. It\u2019s very exciting for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Forward Christian Pulisic said he feels great after a calf issue kept him out of their win over Australia; he was a second-half substitute against Turkey.<\/p>\n

So, how are he and his teammates at penalty kicks?<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an extremely hard thing to do, for sure, to go up and take penalties,\u201d Pulisic said. \u201cFor the people that go up and shoot, it takes a lot of courage. And it\u2019s not easy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Richards agreed after watching Monday\u2019s games, saying: \u201cIn the moment you\u2019re a fan, then afterward, you realize this is the same tournament. It\u2019s a weird dynamic. We saw upsets, so it\u2019s about making sure we don\u2019t allow that to happen to us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Only once in last year\u2019s windup to the World Cup did the U.S. go to a shootout, beating Costa Rica in the CONCACAF Gold Cup quarterfinals. U.S. goalkeeper Matt Freese saved three kicks, while the penalty lineup featured Tyler Adams (goal), Malik Tillman (goal), Sebastian Berhalter (miss), Alex Freeman (goal), John Tolkin (save) and Damion Downs (goal). Tolkin and Downs are not on this roster.<\/p>\n

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Mind you, the United States has never gone to a World Cup shootout. \u201cUltimately you don\u2019t want to get there, but we do a lot of training throughout the year, honestly, with penalty shootouts,\u201d Richards said.<\/p>\n

A shootout decided the last World Cup played stateside: Brazil defeated Italy at the Rose Bowl in 1994.<\/p>\n

Bosnia\u2019s Barbarez made sure to compliment this World Cup\u2019s co-hosts, saying of the U.S.: \u201cThis is a team that deserves huge respect from me for the way they play and use this euphoria around them for this World Cup.\u201d<\/p>\n

Barbarez added that he did not feel disrespected by viral comments from a Los Angeles-based television reporter, who quipped last week that she didn\u2019t know the location of Bosnia and Herzegovina (in Southeastern Europe, bordering Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro).<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the consequence of today\u2019s culture with social media, and everything comes out,\u201d Barbarez said. \u201c\u2026 We are a small country and sometimes things like that happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Upsets happen, too.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey have a very experienced attack, so we have to make sure we do our very best in the back to take that away from them,\u201d Richards said. \u201cOur guys up front have been flying throughout the tournament, so it\u2019s about getting the ball to them and let them do what they do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ermin Mahmi\u0107 has scored two of Bosnia and Herzegovina\u2019s goals. Captain Edin D\u017eeko, 40, is their all-time leading scorer and has subbed into their past two games after sitting out their opener.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody knows D\u017eeko as a well-respected striker in the world,\u201d Richards added. \u201cIt\u2019s a chance for me to also play against one of the best. I\u2019m excited for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eight teams will be eliminated by kickoff at Levi\u2019s Stadium, where near-capacity crowds flocked for five group-stage matches, averaging 68,503 fans.<\/p>\n

Now comes the marquee attraction, the home country, looking to win only its second knockout-stage game ever while staving off an upset.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the beauty of the World Cup. There\u2019s gonna be upsets,\u201d Pulisic said. \u201cAll the games (Monday) were fantastic, so we\u2019re expecting nothing easy tomorrow. We have to go and perform extremely well at the highest level.<\/p>\n

\u201cDoes it give us hope? I mean, there\u2019s still so many good teams in the tournament that can cause problems, and we just want to be one of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Just win, baby.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we\u2019re capable of going through, the next one is going to be another final of the World Cup,\u201d Pochettino said. \u201cThat needs to be our mentality.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Harry Kane sends England into the round of 16 of the World Cup after 2-1 win against Congo<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The U.S. isn’t overlooking Bosnia and Herzegovina entering Wednesday’s World Cup game.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19352,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19353","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-based-on-facts-either-observed-and-verified-directly-by-the-reporter-or-reported-and-verified-from-knowledgeable-sources","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nUS enters World Cup knockout match with \u2018just win, baby\u2019 mindset - Silicon Valley Moving Post<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=19353\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"US enters World Cup knockout match with \u2018just win, baby\u2019 mindset - 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