Copa America: 15 surprises so far

4. USA bounces back after opening loss

While the United States’ run to the semifinals is somewhat surprising, it doesn’t come as a major shock given the teams it has beaten on the way there. However, the form the team has been following a tough opening loss has been impressive.

With an electric crowd behind it, the United States had high hopes of springing an upset on Colombia to open the tournament, but went down early and lost 2-0. While the United States didn’t play particularly poorly, it had two key defensive lapses, including conceding a penalty.

The U.S. had a great response in its next game with a 4-0 demolition of longtime rival Costa Rica in a must-win match. Team USA was the favorite in the match, but such a domination of a team that was ranked higher by FIFA was one of the best results of the Jurgen Klinsmann era.

Next up was Paraguay, another difficult yet winnable game for the United States. It was able to defend well in a 1-0 win despite playing most of the second half with 10 men after DeAndre Yedlin was sent off.

The back line, particularly John Brooks, was again strong in a 2-1 quarterfinal win over Ecuador, as the United States held on for dear life in the last 15 minutes. Dempsey and Wood were also brilliant, as the quarterfinal was one of the best team efforts we’ve seen from the U.S. in quite a while.

A discouraging opening loss looked like it was going to send the hosts home early, but Klinsmann’s ability to adjust over the next three games has been one of the most surprising and impressive feats of the Centenario.

Next: 3. Brazil goes home early