Kasey Keller lays out how Bosnia and Herzegovina can ‘frustrate’ USMNT in World Cup playoff

Wednesday marks the US national team’s first FIFA World Cup playoff game of the year as they take on Bosnia and Herzegovina at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, in the Round of 32.

Heading into the knockout stage having beaten their team well, expectations are high surrounding Mauricio Pochettino’s USMNT. This was only boosted given that their opponents had to get past Wales and Italy in the UEFA qualifiers to reach the competition, before progressing to the group stage as one of the eight best third-placed teams, collecting four points from three games.

Advertisement

But longtime USMNT goalkeeper Kasey Keller is wary of the test the Bosnia-Herzegovina side could face against the World Cup hosts, despite the circuitous path they’ve taken to get to this point.

“I think the challenge is for the U.S. to make sure it’s overpowering Bosnia,” he told SportsCenter on Wednesday. “The last thing you want to do when you’re facing a team that knows how to grind, that knows how to defend, that knows how to frustrate your opponents, is to get caught so they can do that to you.

“That’s why I liked what I saw in the US against Paraguay in the opening game. They pressured Paraguay so much that they couldn’t even get out of their own half. So if you can do that with this Bosnian team and frustrate them because they have to defend deep and deep and hold back a little bit, it could go a long way for the US.

Advertisement

“But if they get frustrated, they start trying to fight against a big, strong team and they go into the Bosnia game, then it will go the way of Wales and the way of Italy.”

So far this tournament, Bosnia and Herzegovina have held Canada 1-1 before losing 4-1 to Switzerland, before rescuing their tournament with a 3-1 win over Qatar.

To listen to the latest episode of ‘All Out Soccer’ – CLICK HERE

While they may not have a star-studded squad, they do have their fair share of players familiar with top-level competitions, including 12 who play in England, Italy, Germany, Spain, Portugal, or the Netherlands.

Advertisement

Perhaps their best-known star is 40-year-old striker Edin Džeko, who, as well as being his country’s most capped player and top scorer, has also lifted two Premier Leagues, a Bundesliga, and two Coppa Italias among many other honors during his illustrious career. He is yet to score a goal in this tournament.

The club’s top scorer this summer going into Wednesday’s game is 21-year-old Ermin Mahmić, currently of Slovan Liberec, who has two goals from the bench so far.

As for the USMNT, they enter the game on the back of a 3-2 group stage loss to Türkiye. In what was almost a no-brainer for both sides, as the USMNT had already beaten the team while their opponents were eliminated, Pochettino opted to make nine changes to his starting line-up, resting key starters while also giving important minutes to backups ahead of the knockout stages.