The United States men’s national team is heading to the Copa America semifinals after a 2-1 win over Ecuador. It was a wild quarterfinal, featuring red cards for both sides.
USMNT vs. Ecuador lineups
Jurgen Klinsmann doesn’t have his starting right back available for Thursday night’s Copa America quarterfinal due to suspension, but he’s gone with a different solution than expected. Instead of playing Michael Orozco Fiscal, who entered the game against Paraguay when DeAndre Yedlin was sent off, Klinsmann has turned to Matt Besler to start in the United States back line.
Besler is not a fullback, however, so this move means Klinsmann has to do some shuffling. Klinsmann has said in the past that he doesn’t like playing two left or right center backs together, instead having defined players for each side. Besler also played 45 minutes at left back in a friendly before Copa America. This suggests that the central defense pairing will stay together, Besler will play left back and Fabian Johnson will switch to right back.
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