Klinsmann tells players to change travel plans

United States coach Jurgen Klinsmann has told his players to reschedule their return flights from Brazil for after the FIFA World Cup final.

The Americans booked their place in the second round of the tournament despite a 1-0 defeat to Germany in their last Group G fixture, and will meet Belgium for a quarter-final berth on Tuesday.

And Klinsmann has so much confidence in his players that he has asked them to make plans to remain in Brazil until the end of the competition.

“Jurgen has been nothing but positive,” said defender Omar Gonzalez. “He’s telling us, he’s telling our families to change our flights to July 14th, 15th, because we’re going to be here until the very end.

“So that just speaks volumes to how positive he is, how much he believes in this team, and obviously it trickles down to all of us.

“That means that we’re all as confident as he is, and that we all believe in this team. We plan on being here a few more weeks.”

A number of players in the US squad – LA Galaxy’s Gonzalez included – will not have much time to hang around should they exit the tournament before the final, with the Major League Soccer season continuing during the World Cup.