Adams says knockout wins must be USA targets
Tyler Adams believes winning a knockout match is the real measure of success for United States at the Copa America.
The host nation of the 2024 tournament kick-starts its campaign against Bolivia on Monday (AEST).
Gregg Berhalter's team will also face Panama and Uruguay in Group C, which it is predicted to progress from in second place, according to Opta's supercomputer.
While taking nothing for granted ahead of facing the tournament's worst-ranked team, Adams believes a true litmus test for United States would be progressing beyond the quarter-finals.
"For me, it's getting past the quarter-final," the Bournemouth midfielder said.
"We need to, in a pressure situation, win in a knockout. That's going to measure a lot of our success."
Defender Mark McKenzie added: "When you talk about some of the most watched games, I think aside from the [FIFA] World Cup, you look at the Copa America.
"You talk about countries that have won multiple World Cups, in Uruguay and Argentina and Brazil.
"You have the opportunity now to step into this tournament and go head-to-head with them. Ultimately, it's usually a South American tournament and now we have the opportunity to play against them."
Carlos Zago won the Copa America with Brazil in 1999, and the Bolivia head coach is out to cause an upset at AT&T Stadium.
"The most important thing is for us to compete," Zago said.
"We have to try to play on an equal footing with the big teams in terms of intensity and physicality."
Adams also made a bullish statement in regards to his own ability.
"When I'm healthy and playing consistently, I'm one of the best midfielders at what I do in the world," he said.
"I'm not a politician, I don't need to persuade anyone."
United States and Bolivia have faced each other only once in the Copa America, and it was a victory for the South American team, 1-0 at Estadio Parque Artigas in Uruguay during the group stage of the 1995 edition, thanks to a goal by Marco Etcheverry.
However, United States is backed to win this time, even though CONMEBOL teams have won eight of the past 10 matches against the Stars and Stripes in the Copa America, including the two most recent: Argentina 4-0 United States (semi-finals in 2016) and Colombia 1-0 United States (third-place match in 2016).
Bolivia will seek a win against a CONCACAF opponent in the competition for the first time since the 1997 edition when it defeated Mexico 3-1 in the semi-finals of the tournament it hosted.
Expect Bolivia to go long more often than not. So far in the South American qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Bolivia, along with Paraguay, has the highest average passing distance of 20.5 metres.