Copa America 2024 USA should set tempo vs Bolivia Tim Ream

DALLAS — United States males’s nationwide group defender Tim Ream stated his group should set the tempo early in Sunday’s Copa América opener in opposition to Bolívia.

“Now we have to come back out with an depth, with a need to impose ourselves on the sport and be sure that we are the ones which might be doing the precise issues and creating the texture and the depth of the video games,” Ream instructed reporters on Thursday on the Cotton Bowl. “It should be necessary for us to try this from the primary minute. Clearly, we do not wish to have something occur like [against] Jamaica, the place you are scrambling for the remainder of the sport.”

That Jamaica sport was the Concacaf Nations League semifinal in March. The USMNT conceded within the first minute and equalized in second-half stoppage time earlier than scoring twice in additional time to advance to the ultimate, which the Individuals gained.

Sunday marks the start of the USMNT’s Copa América marketing campaign on dwelling soil, the group’s greatest check forward of a co-hosted 2026 World Cup. The USMNT is the favourite in opposition to a Bolivia group ranked 84th on the earth, the worst amongst all South American groups.

Bolivia, nevertheless, is underneath new administration as of final 12 months with the appointment of head coach Antônio Carlos Zago, a former Copa America winner with Brazil as a participant in 1999. The USMNT expects a extra aggressive Bolivia group at Copa América primarily based on the adjustments that Zago has made.

“They’ve just a few gifted gamers on the ball that in the event that they get the area to show within the pockets and are available at us, it may very well be bother,” USMNT goalkeeper Matt Turner instructed reporters on Friday. “They prefer to shoot from distance, put balls into the field, and never for nothing however their area is tough. They are going up in opposition to actually, actually good groups on a regular basis.

“So, for us, it should be a difficult sport. It is a sport for us to know what this event is admittedly all about and the way a lot it means to all these South American international locations as nicely. So I believe we received a style of that within the friendlies, however now that the lights are actually on, it is necessary for us to place our foot down and put out a great efficiency.”

Ream additionally expects a higher-pressing Bolivia group however says the USMNT can be prepared in the event that they encounter a extra conservative opponent sitting in a decrease block.

“They’ve modified their fashion just a little bit when it comes to the way in which they press, and we’re ready for that,” Ream stated. “We’re ready for them to, greater than something, press greater up the pitch, as a result of that has been the change that they’ve made. However once more, you do not know till you get into the sport and browse what is occurring.”

Bolivia enters Copa América on a run of three straight losses in preparation matches in opposition to Colombia, Ecuador and Mexico. The U.S., in the meantime, bounced again from a 5-1 loss to Colombia earlier this month by drawing with Brazil, 1-1, on June 12.

The USMNT and Bolivia final performed in 2018, when the Individuals gained, 3-0. An 18-year-old Josh Sargent scored in his USMNT debut that day, and fellow 18-year-old Tim Weah additionally scored his first objective in his second look. Each gamers are a part of the USMNT’s Copa América roster.

Ream is the oldest participant ever named to a USMNT Copa América roster at 36 years outdated. This can be Ream’s first Copa América alongside a younger squad which largely has not skilled the event. Solely Christian Pulisic and goalkeeper Ethan Horvath had been on the roster for the USMNT’s Copa América Centenario squad in 2016.

Taking part in South American opponents in a aggressive setting — together with Uruguay within the group stage — is an expertise the USMNT does not usually get.

“It is a fantastic alternative for us,” Ream stated. “It is a fantastic alternative to check ourselves, to play in opposition to the perfect in South America, and a great likelihood for us to see how far we have come up to now three to 4 years.”