Last-32 opponents Bosnia-Herzegovina did not reach the World Cup by "fluke", warned United States captain Tim Ream on Monday, as American expectations soar for a first knockout victory in nearly a quarter-century.
Widely perceived as a beatable foe by many US pundits and fans, Bosnia are the third-lowest ranked side left in the tournament, and have never played a World Cup knockout game previously.
But Bosnia have already caused one seismic upset by beating four-time winners Italy to qualify for the tournament via Europe's playoffs, and Ream warned that his side can take nothing for granted.
"We know they're a strong team, a physical team. They've obviously qualified and made it through the group stages for a reason," he told reporters, as the US team prepared to leave its base camp near Los Angeles for Wednesday's game in the San Francisco Bay Area.
"It's not a fluke that they've gone through the playoffs, and knocked Italy out and made it through to the World Cup. So we'll have to pay attention in all aspects and all moments of the game."
Optimism has soared in the US since the co-hosts opened their World Cup campaign with one-sided wins over Paraguay and Australia.
Though a narrow dead-rubber loss to Turkey on Thursday slightly tempered sky-rocketing expectations, the US still topped their group.
They remain heavy favorites to progress against Bosnia. It would be only the second US World Cup knockout win ever, after a 2-0 victory over Mexico in 2002.
The Bosnians progressed from Group B by finishing third, thanks to a draw with co-hosts Canada and victory over Qatar, but were thrashed 4-1 by Switzerland.
A largely defensive side, Bosnia rank 33rd among the World Cup's 48 teams by possession, 38th by shots attempted, and 41st by shots in the opposing team's penalty area.
Arguably the greatest moment in Bosnian football history came in March with victory over Italy in a penalty shootout at the end of a tense playoff.
While Ream said he expects set pieces to play a major role on Wednesday, he does not expect Bosnia "to just be defensive."
"They're in the tournament for a reason -- went through a little bit of a gauntlet to get there, and just a really tough team at the end of the day."
