U.S. World Cup Team Training Base (IRVINE, Calif.) \u2014 <\/strong>As a strictly practical matter, it\u2019s no secret that the Stars and Stripes don\u2019t need to win \u2014 or even tie \u2014 Thursday\u2019s first round finale against already eliminated T\u00fcrkiye.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a right Mauricio Pochettino\u2019s squad has earned. By winning their first two games at a World Cup for the first time in 96 years, the Americans not only advanced to the knockout stage of the tournament with a game to spare, but also clinched Group D.<\/p>\n You wouldn\u2019t know it when talking to the U.S. players here this week.<\/p>\n While Pochettino confirmed on the eve of the contest that he\u2019ll make several\u00a0lineup changes from those victories over Australia \u2014 at least the four starters who picked up yellow cards; another against the Turks for any of them would trigger a suspension for the round of 32, which isn’t worth the risk \u2014 the replacements will approach the match as if it means everything.<\/p>\n For many of them, it will.<\/p>\n “Everybody’s going to be called on at a different point, in a different capacity,” center back Mark McKenzie \u2014 one of eight members of the USA\u2019s 26-man World Cup roster who have yet to see a single minute at the tournament \u2014 told me and other reporters here before the USA\u2019s final pre-T\u00fcrkiye training session. “Being ready I think is the biggest thing for each and every guy.”<\/p>\n (Photo by Jamie Squire\/Getty Images)<\/span> <\/p>\n “I\u2019ve been training hard, waiting for the opportunity, but I’m sure it’ll come,” said Alex Zendejas \u2014 who also has yet to play \u2014 before quickly qualifying his reward. “That’s obviously a coach’s decision.”<\/p>\n So is whether to play top attacker Christian Pulisic, who sat out last week against the Aussies because of a calf injury but said on Wednesday that he\u2019ll be able to start if Pochettino selects him, if not play the entire game.<\/p>\n The smart money is on the former Paris Saint-Germain boss taking a conservative approach. As much as he wants to finish the first round with three wins, the game that matters most comes on July 1 in Santa Clara, Calif., probably against a Bosnia and Bosnia and Herzegovina side that eliminated four-time World Cup champion Italy in March in Europe\u2019s qualifying playoffs. Lose that contest, and all the good vibes the Americans have created so far instantly turn toxic.<\/p>\n (Photo by Jamie Squire\/Getty Images)<\/span> <\/p>\n Whoever he picks must go take the field at Los Angeles Stadium with the mindset that “it’s the final of the World Cup,” the 54-year-old Argentine said.<\/p>\n Why wouldn’t they? After all, it could be the culmination of a childhood dream for some of them, and possibly the only World Cup game they ever play in their entire careers.<\/p>\n Seeing their teammates accomplish that could have a feel-good knock-on effect down the rest of the roster. Those who haven\u2019t yet played have been training just as hard, have been away from their young children just as long as those who\u2019ve been in the spotlight so far.<\/p>\n “I think these guys deserve it if they get the chance,” said star defender Chris Richards, another of the Americans carrying a yellow.<\/p>\n ” I think everyone on this team is ready to step up,” Pulisic added. “We’re going to support and push everyone the same way, whoever gets the opportunity [on Thursday] to play, whatever the decisions may be. Everyone’s going to be ready, and it just shows how much depth and what a strong team we have.”<\/p>\n (Photo by Jamie Squire\/Getty Images)<\/span> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" POPULAR SEARCHES BROWSE BY U.S. World Cup Team Training Base (IRVINE, Calif.) \u2014 As a strictly practical matter, it\u2019s no secret that the Stars and Stripes don\u2019t need to win \u2014 or even tie \u2014 Thursday\u2019s first round finale against already eliminated T\u00fcrkiye. It\u2019s a right Mauricio Pochettino\u2019s squad has earned. By winning their first […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":5474,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5475","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-soccer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5475","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5475"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5475\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5474"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5475"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5475"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5475"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}