After Saturday's painful defeat to Mexico in the CONCACAF Cup, the United States Nation team will start the rebuilding process of restoring its progression in preparation for the 2018 World Cup Qualifiers and the Finals in Russia.
USMNT coach Jurgen Klinsmann may well be facing the biggest crisis of his management tenure, but may get the opportunity to see his side bounce back against Costa Rica in a match that the US would normally be favorites to win.
Klinsmann, however, has come into tonight's game under another cloud after he revealed that he will be sending one of his best players home and out of the squad after an incident during the match against Mexico on Saturday.
Klinsmann then took the unusual step of publicizing the removal of Johnson by addressing a media conference yesterday and saying: "I had a very severe word with Fabian Johnson, and I sent him home today."
"He said he couldn't go anymore and I reacted to it and obviously made the substitution. But he just feared to get possibly an injury, but he was not injured in that moment. He got all stiffened up. It's a muscle issue. That's normal. In a situation like that, little things often make a difference."
Along with Johnson, Klinsmann also sent home another seven players from the squad that featured against Mexico and called up five new players in order to ensure that he gets a fresh look at several untested players against Costa Rica.
The match against Costa Rica will be seen as a blessing for many inside the USMNT camp as they have the opportunity to get back to winning ways and forget all about the loss to Mexico and the fact that they won't be competing in next year's Confederations Cup.
Klinsmann summed this feeling up saying: "You have to move on right away. You also have to work yourself thought-wise through what happened Saturday night because those games are very rare. They are special. When do you play the next time in front of 93,000 in a one-off game like that? It's also good to have that type of pill in your stomach for a while and not just move on. We want to see a good reaction tomorrow night."
For players like Brek Shea, Lee Nguyen and Mix Diskerud, the game is an opportunity to stake a claim for a more permanent role in the US team of the future and a chance to edge out some of the older players that were seen on Saturday night.
Costa Rica will be a tough opponent, however, their run during the 2014 World Cup showed what they are capable of and the US will still need to perform at a high level in order to avoid a humiliating defeat in front of their already disgruntled fans.
When: Tuesday, October 13th
Where: Red Bull Arena, Harrison, NJ
Kick Off: 1830 ET
TV Schedule: ESPN, UniMas
Live Stream: WatchESPN
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