Costa Rica hosts the USA on Friday in the CONCACAF World Cup Qualifiers. The match starts at 10 p.m. ET. Watch the live stream HERE.
The pressure is on Team USA. Close to securing a spot in the World Cup, the team must do something it's never done before: win in Costa Rica. On the back of a 12-game winning streak, the USA is primed to accomplish the feat, IB Times reports.
The game is made even bigger by the bitter feelings still lingering from USA's snowy 1-0 win five months ago in Colorado, according to MLSSoccer.com. The magnitude of the game hasn't escaped USA boss Jurgen Klinsmann.
"This is probably the biggest game in the year 2013 coming up in Costa Rica," Klinsmann said last week on a conference call, via USSoccer.com. "We want to win there for the first time ever in World Cup Qualifying, and we want to get as close as possible to Brazil. I think everybody's optimistic. Everybody is confident but also very anxious about getting down to San Jose and getting started, so we're looking forward to it."
The Americans will be helped by the return of Landon Donovan, who's playing in his first qualifier in over a year. He returned to the US Men's National Team in the summer for the CONCACAF Gold Cup, which the USA handedly won.
"I don't think I've ever felt as confident about getting a result on one of these trips," Donovan told USSoccer.com. "... We need to go in with the mindset that we absolutely can win this game, and that has to be the mentality. If we carry that energy and that belief onto the field Friday night, everyone is going to sense it on both teams and we have a real chance to do something special."
Costa Rica and Team USA last met during the group stage of the Gold Cup, where the Americans prevailed in a 1-0 win.
