Daily Times

Christian Pulisic says the United States will need to deliver the “game of our lives” against Uruguay on Monday to avoid a disastrous early exit from the Copa America. US hopes of launching a deep run into the tournament are hanging by the slenderest of threads after an ill-disciplined 2-1 loss to Panama on Thursday.

That shock defeat — which followed a confident 2-0 opening win over Bolivia — means coach Gregg Berhalter’s side will almost certainly have to obtain a positive result against Uruguay to have any chance of progressing from Group C.

Pulisic is under no illusions about the size of the task facing the tournament hosts, with early form suggesting Uruguay are one of the favourites for the title. “We have to represent our country with passion and pride,” Pulisic said. “We have to go and play the best game of our lives, and that’s it. We want to go, we want to win, and we want to continue in this competition.” US defender Antonee Robinson, meanwhile, said Saturday that the squad knows Monday’s game could be the team’s last. “If we’re looking at it realistically, there’s a chance that this is our last game in the tournament,” the Fulham fullback said. “It’s definitely going to come down to a massive effort from the team. We’re going to definitely have to be on our ‘A’ game. “So there’s no reason to hold anything back.”