USA will face off against Bosnia and Herzegovina at 8:00 pm at Levy Stadium in San Francisco. The US come in as big favorites in this matchup and deservedly so after their impressive group stage. That being said, this will be a tricky test against a big, defensively solid team.
Bosnia & Herzegovina
Bosnia have lined up in a traditional 4-4-2 throughout the tournament, and I expect no different for this game. They are defensively solid and extremely organized. They are going to let the Americans have most of the possession and look to hit them on a counter or a set piece, given the height advantage they will have. They didn’t have the most impressive group-stage showing, getting smacked by Switzerland, but the US must remember this team did knock off Italy to even be in this tournament.
What is most intriguing to me is what the plan is for Bosnian icon Edin Dzeko. He is the most prolific scorer in their history and certainly has something to give in this game, but he is 40 years old. Does the manager start him and hook him at 60 minutes? Or does he leave him as a substitute and bring him on late against a tired defense?
No one would call this Bosnian team flashy, but they play a style that can frustrate a young, inexperienced team. If they get an early goal and give themselves something to defend for, they will be a very tough out.
United State of America
USA come into this round-of-32 matchup off a fantastic group stage and are playing the best soccer I have ever seen them play. I have to admit I was suspicious when I saw how Mauricio Pochettino lined up in a 4-2-3-1/5-3-2 hybrid formation, but I was proven wrong in a big way.
Christian Pulisic being able to get 30 minutes against Turkey was huge. He brings a whole different dimension to this attack. At times against Australia and in the second half of the Paraguay match you could really see how big his absence was. In a match where we are going to have a majority of possession, his creativity will be needed in a big way to unlock this 4-4-2 low-block Bosnian team. Florian Balogun’s movement and ability to find space for runs in behind is an underrated part of his game, and it will be needed to cause confusion in the back line and make space for Weston McKennie to make late runs.
Defensively, the addition of rising star Alex Freeman allows the USA to match up really well against a 4-4-2 deploying two bigger strikers. Even though he is deployed as a right back, his size allows him to slot in at center back if needed and not get manhandled. Bosnia will have a tough time testing Tim Ream’s lack of speed, which I think is the biggest weakness of this defense. The US will have to be locked in for every set piece, and Matt Freese will need to command his box at a high level.
It’s not very often, if ever, the USA are such heavy favorites against a European opponent. Truthfully, they should win comfortably, but as we are seeing already in these knockout matches, nothing comes easy at this stage of the World Cup. As long as the USA doesn’t look past Bosnia and continues to play the way they have, I expect them to advance to the round of 16.
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