RANCAGUA, Chile --
Checkpoints line the main southbound thoroughfare from Santiago to Rancagua. They mostly collect tolls in a nation seemingly intent on collecting them every few kilometers in certain areas, but they also serve as a way to measure progress. They fulfill their purpose for a few brief moments and then usher the cars through toward the intended destination.
United States men's national team coach Jurgen Klinsmann and his players can identify with those measures as they approach their own stopping point against Chile on Wednesday night (live, 5:30p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1, FOX Sports Go).
They started their own journey through 2015 in Carson, Calif. a couple of weeks ago. This is the first competitive stop in a busy year filled with them. It is the first evaluation along the way toward the CONCACAF Gold Cup and the FIFA World Cup qualifiers ahead.
Klinsmann and his players spent much of the past two and a half weeks focusing intently on fitness and tactics to lay the necessary foundation for this engagement and the fixtures on tap later in the year. This excursion gives this blended group of established figures, Olympic stalwarts and promising prospects to reap the potential benefits.
USMNT coach Jurgen Klinsmann speaks with his players before a training session at Estadio El Teniente on Tuesday afternoon.
“You want to see the team stretch it as far as they can,” Klinsmann said during a press conference before the Americans trained at Estadio El Teniente on Tuesday afternoon. “Obviously, they are not all the way there yet. We don’t know yet how many minutes at highest level, the highest tempo is there. We want them to give everything they have.”
They will certainly need to embrace the task at hand against a host eager to impress in this city just an hour outside the capital. Chile coach Jorge Sampaoli named a domestic-based side for this friendly and used this opportunity to evaluate potential fringe players. They do not boast the individual talents of Alexis Sanchez and Arturo Vidal or many familiar names before former Liverpool winger Mark Gonzalez, but they present a credible threat with their ambitious, expansive and flexible setup nevertheless.
“We’ve seen them,” Klinsmann said. “We’ve scouted them. We know those are all very ambitious players. They want to prove to Sampaoli that they belong in the first group. They want to impress the players that are right now in Europe. We expect a very aggressive, a very energetic Chilean team. We’ve prepared our team for that. Hopefully, we can hold our ground and go in the other direction as well.”
There are enough pieces in place to emerge from the Chilean pressure and implement some of the tactical tweaks installed over the past couple of weeks. Klinsmann and his technical staff continue to preach the need to operate at a high tempo and rely the width of the field to stretch the play.
Most of those tenets -- particularly if Klinsmann opts to play three at the back and send his wingbacks into advanced areas -- will heap pressure on the Americans to build out of the back and retain possession deftly. They did not always accomplish the feat during the post-World Cup fixtures, but the importance of mustering more sharpness here is stark.
“It really helps [to keep the ball], but we know that’s going to be tough, especially against Chile,” USA defender Matt Besler said. “When you think of Chile, one of the first things you think about is high pressure and how they’re able to run after the ball and usually win the ball back very quickly. We understand that. We have to be smart about that, but we’re going to come out and try to play. We have to. That’s the only way we can find success.”
It is exactly the sort of mentality Klinsmann espoused during the fall friendlies and reinforced during these past two weeks. It is why he included Jozy Altidore, Michael Bradley, Clint Dempsey and Jermaine Jones in this camp and relied on them to pave the way for his younger and more inexperienced prospects. He wants his players to push themselves and the team onwards in every possible respect. Only then can they place themselves in a position to meet their highest objectives.
This trip to Chile does not fall into that category, but it fulfills an important purpose nevertheless. It is the initial assessment in a year packed with them. It is a chance to see how this group reacts to the toll extracted in Rancagua before proceeding toward the next marker along the route.
“We’re excited about testing ourselves against a good opponent,” Dempsey said. “It’s going to be hot. We’re going to have to dig deep from a fitness level. It’ll be a good way to gauge where we are at this point in the season.”
