USMNT challenged to ‘change mentality’ after Colombia mauling as Chris Richards looks to find positives ahead of 2024 Copa America

The United States are preparing to fill the role of hosts at a major continental competition. Hopes were high heading into that tournament that Gregg Berhalter’s side could put on a good show, with the likes of Christian Pulisic and Gio Reyna ready to strut their stuff on the grandest of stages.

A 5-1 mauling by Colombia has, however, brought everybody crashing back down to earth. Crystal Palace defender Chris Richards has said of the need to learn quickly from a humbling reversal on home soil: “I think a few things will need to change, not just structurally but also I think mentality. When you play these types of teams, even if it’s a friendly, you can tell the spirit, the fight that they have. And so I think for me, the one thing that we really need to change is our mentality.”

While confidence in the USMNT camp has taken a hit, Richards added on the need to find positives in a performance that must act as a wake-up call: “Some of the positives that we can take from the game is that we did play with one of the Copa favourites for 65, 70 minutes. We watched the tape back, I think almost all of their goals were goals that we gave to them rather than completely being broken down.”

The U.S. were only 2-1 down with an hour on the clock, after seeing Tim Weah find a route back into the game, but a late collapse has generated plenty of uncomfortable questions. Berhalter’s side will be in friendly action against Brazil on Wednesday before opening their Copa campaign in a clash with Bolivia on June 23.