This wasn't supposed to be the story. This weekend should have been about looking ahead, previewing a quarterfinal challenge, charting the next steps for the U.S. men's national team as they advanced through Copa America 2024.
In a way, that's still the story, but the situation has changed dramatically. After falling to Panama this past Thursday, a victory for the USMNT Monday night in Kansas City against Uruguay isn't just an opportunity. It's now a requirement. This third and final group stage match isn't just a big game. It's a defining one.
Yes, the USMNT's Copa America is very much on the line, but so too are legacies and, very likely, jobs.
Just a year into the Gregg Berhalter Era 2.0, the USMNT finds itself at this crossroads. The match against Uruguay is do-or-die. A win would prove that this U.S. group has nerves of steel and the ability to beat a heavyweight when it matters. Anything less? Well, it will be nothing less than a catastrophic failure.
Berhalter's coaching job is on the line, certainly, but this match is about so much more than that. For years, the USMNT has talked about wanting to be one of the best, a collective desire to be a team that can go head-to-head with anyone under the brightest lights. They wanted it ... and they got it. This is the test they've craved. It's no longer on the horizon. It's right here, right now. Will it be a case of be careful what you ask for?
In some ways, that's daunting, for sure. In other ways, this is could be exactly what this team needs at this moment. All the chips are on the table and there's no pulling out now. Win, lose or draw, by the time Monday night turns into Tuesday morning, we'll know exactly where this USMNT stands, and on our way to finding out the direction in which this USMNT is going next.