SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — The U.S. team spent Monday like millions of other interested followers of the World Cup, watching thrilling games from other venues that included a major upset with Germany falling to Paraguay, three games that went down to the wire and two nervy shootouts.Then the reality quickly set in that they would soon be back in the spotlight themselves, with a round of 32 match against Bosnia-Herzegovina on Wednesday that will go a long way to determining how successful this World Cup will be.“In the moment you’re a fan, and then afterward you realize that this is also the same tournament that we’re playing. I think it’s a weird dynamic,” U.S. defender Chris Richards said Tuesday before the team’s final practice ahead of the knockout round. “But we saw an upset yesterday, so it’s making sure that we don’t allow that to happen to us.”
After starting the tournament with convincing wins over Paraguay and Australia that clinched the top spot in the group before a meaningless loss to Turkey last week, the Americans enter this knockout round as the favorites to advance for a change against a Bosnian team that has never made it past the group stage before this year.
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