The US national team is in New Zealand for their opening Under-20 World Cup game, and the objective for their first Group A match, against Myanmar, is clear: three points.
"This is a must-win for us," US U-20 head coach Tab Ramos told MLSsoccer.com on Thursday. "And then the second game (vs. New Zealand) will be a must-win, and then we'll go from there. But no question, this is a must-win."
The upcoming tournament, which kicks off for the US on Saturday local time (Friday evening in the USA), gives reason for optimism that the US will improve on their last finish in the U-20 World Cup, when they earned just a point against Spain, Ghana and France in the so-called Group of Death.
This year, their group is made up of Myanmar, New Zealand, and Ukraine. On paper, it is not a particularly strong group, particularly with the inclusion of Myanmar, a relative unknown on the international stage. But Ramos is not taking therm lightly.
"Obviously at the youth level, it's hard to tell sometimes who's going to have good teams and who's not...at the youth level it's a little bit different because all it requires is to have two or three very good players, to put your team over the top.
"In this case, Myanmar's a bit different, because we do know they have very good fitness, we know they cover a lot of ground. And then technically they're very good. They're a good possession team."
Ramos said the conditions for the game against Myanmar, to be held in the World Cup's northernmost venue, in Whangarei, are not much of a concern, with only the chance of continued rain possibly affecting the "perfect" field conditions.
The match will give Americans fans the first opportunity to see highly regarded attacker Gedion Zelalem in a competitive setting, and Ramos praised the Arsenal midfielder's adaptation to the squad in a very short amount of time.
"He has been adapting very well to the team. Obviously it's not easy for him, because he didn't have any time with this group at all, but he's had a good attitude about it, he's working hard. Technically, he's excellent. There's a lot of things he brings to the team that can make us better. So we're excited to have him here."
Ramos also explained that Zelalem's ability to play the ball quickly and his familiarity of "playing at a high level with very good players" gave him an element that was unique among the players on the team in New Zealand.
As for the broader expectations heading into the tournament, Ramos took a longer view about the impact of participating in a U-20 World Cup.
"There's a lot of things I'm curious about and excited about. We have very good players that I have a lot of high hopes for, and I really hope in the end we have a good showing because it could be the beginning of some great careers here and I'm excited about that."
Regarding projections that this US team could be the best ever at a U-20 World Cup, Ramos chuckled as he answered the question.
"We will see about that," he said. "I think the team will have to show it on the field."
