Colombia and United States will face each other to decide the third place of the 2016 Centennial Copa America on Saturday.
The third-place match on Saturday will give the U.S. the opportunity to confirm what has been their best performance in Copa America. In 1995, the U.S. ended in fourth place after losing 4-1 to Colombia.
“I think we didn’t recognize the importance of that moment and our game showed that,” said former U.S. defender Alexi Lalas in a report released by ussocer.com.
“If one of us could have done something, we would have played in a different way. Third and fourth place are not the same,” added Lalas.
The U.S. was the best CONCACAF (Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football) team in the tournament after reaching the semifinals and defeating Paraguay and Ecuador.
The U.S. team’s goal is to keep the competition level during the last match.
“It is a great achievement in my career and the tournament has not finished yet,” said U.S. player Gyasi Zardes.
The game will be the second time both teams face each other in this tournament. In the opening match Colombia defeated the host team 2-0 with a goals from Christian Zapata and James Rodriguez.
The U.S. team coach Jurgen Klinsmann hopes to play the third-place match as good as they can.
“I think people should be proud of them, it has been an honor to play in this tournament,” said Klinsmann, adding that “we should learn the lessons and prepare for the match. It is a great honor to play this match, we dedicate it to our fans who have been incredible during the whole competition.