“We believe in the group. We believe in keeping the group together. We believe that everyone can contribute to this team’s success, and we wanted to show that. The guys have been training really well and they deserved this opportunity.”
“I think it means the world to the entire group to show that he has confidence in everyone,” veteran defender Omar Gonzalez added. “We said from the beginning that the star of the show is the entire group – the collective – and the fact that he can make an entire change just shows there’s belief and confidence with every single player. It was on us to get the result and we did it.”
Coming out of the group stage, 22 of 23 players on the squad have started a match, with only goalkeeper Tyler Miller yet to appear.
Sticking to his comments made earlier this month about wanting to cultivate a group of leaders in the team, Berhalter continued to spread the captain’s armband around, with veteran center back Omar Gonzalez leading the team out on the field for the first time in his career on Wednesday night.
“It was an incredible feeling today when Gregg told me,” Gonzalez said. “I got the chills, just because I have 51 caps and this was the first time I was able to wear the armband. It was a really special moment for me tonight, with the fact that we could win and do it with all new faces, it was incredible. Hopefully it’s not the last time because I really enjoyed it.”
The team has little time to rest on its laurels as it shifts focus to preparation for Sunday’s quarterfinal against Curaçao. While not the first match between the two nations, it will mark the first meeting since home-and-home World Cup Qualifying matches that took place in 1984 – games that took place before anyone on the USA’s 23-player roster was born and when Curaçao represented in soccer circles as the Netherlands Antilles.
Berhalter described the Dutch Caribbean island nation as the “Cinderella” team of the tournament in his post-match press conference. Midfielder Wil Trapp echoed the sentiment and emphasized the team can’t take Curaçao lightly.
“From watching them, they certainly have a little bit of that Cinderella on their side, but in saying that you can’t underestimate them. They’ve found ways to generate chances, they have athleticism, good players on the break and they’ve scored a couple goals now that maybe came from teams underestimating them. It’s good for them, and it’s a good opponent for us.”
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USA-Curaçao Previous Matches |
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|
Date |
Result |
USA Goal Scorers |
Location |
Competition |
|
Sept. 29, 1984 |
0-0 D |
-- |
Curaçao |
1986 WCQ |
|
Oct. 6, 1984 |
Kapp, DiBernardo (2), Coker |
St. Louis, Mo. |
1986 WCQ |
|
