Real work starts now for USA as Gold Cup group stage concludes

KANSAS CITY, Kan. --

Every last shred of relevance in this exacting 90 minutes melted away at the final whistle for the United States national team. This final Group A game against Panama felt like an obligation carried out in the middle of a steam cooker and played out that way. There were no instant stakes, but there was a need to close out this three-game engagement professionally. This tale of two halves led to a 1-1 draw and satisfied that brief well enough.

Demarcation is an important concept for the U.S. in the wake of this night. The perfunctory portion of this tournament -- the grind and the slog through a group stage where the Americans once again did everything required to finish in top spot -- is done and dusted. This whirlwind week offers context and information without holding any deeper meaning. The real work starts in Baltimore on Saturday.

"I think we're just getting our feet into the tournament," U.S. coach Jurgen Klinsmann said. "The tournament pretty much starts now at the knockout stage. But to go through this group and have seven points at the end of the day, it's a lot of work."

The final product carries the most weight. As Klinsmann pointed out toward the end of his press conference, teams rarely start and finish a tournament in the same way. There is a need for evolution and improvement. It is accepted by everyone on board and underscored by the treatment of these three matches.

Instead of rolling out the same players game after game, Klinsmann sacrificed rhythm for experimentation. He needed to evaluate the players at his disposal and rifle through his options for the knockout stage. The process continued here -- the return of Alejandro Bedoya for an hour or so provided a welcome sight as Klinsmann contemplated his best path toward more possession in future matches -- and stripped away some of the cadence expected by this stage.

"It's a little difficult to say because 21 guys played," U.S. midfielder Kyle Beckerman said. "In that, I think it's great that everyone got experience in the tournament and got their feet wet. I think you can see it a little bit more when you play the same lineup every time. I think this was great in the fact that we got a lot of people minutes and we should be fresh coming in on Saturday. I think the main thing the guys are thinking: We got the results, we got the goal that we wanted, but we need to improve. And that's a good thing."

At this stage of the tournament, the focus falls on the evidence at hand instead of the projections more likely to influence the future. It is a peculiar balance to strike, particularly given the alterations ahead and the possibility of summoned players joining the ranks in the next few hours. The rotation dwindles. The familiar faces show up game after game. The state of the team is normalized somewhat.

The past three games inform how those patterns might develop and what issues might arise. There is a need to cut out some of the uncertainty at the back, hone some of the possession in the middle, slice through defenses more readily going forward and stop those sluggish starts. But, at this juncture, it is difficult to grasp how the introduction of stability might smooth some of those edges naturally and where the improvement must really take place.

If there is one underlying issue to address immediately, then it is the need to find more dominant passages in the game. It is perhaps easier to find those moments when the expected first-choice XI takes the field -- whether it has or will at any point in this tournament remains up for debate, particularly with Bedoya sidelined until the third match and with John Brooks now suspended for the quarterfinal against the third place team in Group B or C -- and turns up the intensity. What is clear is that those sequences must arrive more regularly in the next couple of games to chart a clearer path through the gauntlet ahead.

"In the knockout rounds, where it really matters, we need to be able to put more of our game into the game," Bedoya said. "Our style of play. Dictate the game more. Be more physical. Be more aggressive. Because everybody is going to come out flying against us."

It is a truth well and truly reinforced after three arduous group stage matches. There are no reprieves ahead for a team Panama coach Hernan Dario Gomez labeled the best in the tournament after this affair. There are only expectations to fulfill. And the key now is to ensure this group figures out a way to satisfy them over the next two weeks.

"At the end of the day, to win this tournament, to be the team that is lifting the trophy, you have to be able to win on all types of days," U.S. midfielder Michael Bradley said. "You have to be able to battle the elements, deal with all of the crap that gets thrown at you. That has always been a quality of this team."

"We're not naïve," Bradley continued. "We understand that there will be the need to continue to raise our game as the tournament goes on and the games become more important, but we welcome that challenge. If in the big moments, we're able to do that, then we'll have a very good chance of lifting that trophy. If we're not able to, then that likelihood goes down."