The United States kicked off their Copa América Centenario in decidedly less than stellar fashion (they fell 2-0 to Colombia in case you're behind), but a favorable result elsewhere in Group A (0-0 between Costa Rica and Paraguay) means that hey, things maybe aren't so bad for the USMNT.
Or maybe they are—we'll find out after this game. You will have seen the phrase "must-win" thrown around this one. If the USMNT wish to proceed in this tournament, they best get themselves three points tonight or condemn us all to a lot hand-wringing thinkpieces about the state of this team and Jurgen Klinsmann's tenure as coach. Well. More thinkpieces than we already have, anyway.
U.S. starting lineup:
— U.S. Soccer (@ussoccer) June 7, 2016
Costa Rica starting lineup:
— FEDEFUTBOL (@FEDEFUTBOL_CR) June 7, 2016
Match previews: Plenty to choose from, but here are Stars and Stripes FC, Sports Illustrated, The Washington Post, American Soccer Now, ESPN FC, and Fox Soccer. You can also, of course, check out our how to watch to find out, you know, how to watch.
What are you drinking? Thinking about picking up some Port City Monumental IPA for this one.
Prediction: Sadly, there is no chance of snow for this game, which means that, for now anyway, SnowClásico will remain an unrepeated phenomenon.
It is easy, and a little tempting, to predict that the USMNT don't get the result they need out of this game. But Costa Rica are not Colombia, and the USMNT are the USMNT. They will scrape on by, such is their way. We'll watch them stumble out of this tournament, just not quite yet. But the game won't be without its difficulties, and Costa Rica will still get a goal to keep things interesting. I'll predict 2-1, with the edge and the win to the U.S.
This is your place for pre-game, in-game, and post-game discussion.