Lalas, Maurice Edu and Landon Donovan outline what it will take for USMNT to advance in the Gold Cup

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USMNT legend Lalas calls on team to be aggressiveDonovan believes Pochettino is gaining clarity on best fitsEdu believes young squad is 'maturing'WHAT HAPPENED?

With the U.S. men's national team set to face Costa Rica Sunday night in the quarterfinals of the Gold Cup, former national team star Alexi Lalas called upon Mauricio Pochettino's side to be "ruthless" against their CONCACAF rivals. The USMNT topped their group with wins over Trinidad and Tobago, Saudi Arabia and Haiti.

"There weren't a lot of problems in the group stage, but this is going to be an interesting game because I think the U.S. is going to have a lot of possession against this Costa Rica team," Lalas said on FOX Sports, "and they're going to have to find a way to break them down. Not always easy… But again, I go back to being ruthless, and this team is growing together. You go out, you make no doubt from that first whistle. There's only one team on that field, you're winning, you're taking your spoils, and you're going on to the next game."

Overall, the U.S. have a close rivalry against Costa Rica, going 19-17-6 against

AdvertisementGetty ImagesTHE BIGGER PICTURE

Even with a depleted squad, the U.S. are off to a strong start in the Gold Cup. But there have been challenges at times with scoring and defensive lapses.

After a 5-0 win over Trinidad and Tobago, the team scored a combined three goals against Saudi Arabia and Haiti and conceded a goal off of a goalkeeping mistake from Matt Freese.

"Growing, growing and maturing. Maturing for this group of players, and also for Pochettino," former U.S. midfielder Maurice Edu said. "I want to see this team, ultimately, just win the game. I know we're gonna judge them based on how they play, the style of play, who stars, who doesn’t. Survive. Survive. Give yourself a chance."

Another U.S. legend, Landon Donovan, shared similar sentiments.

"In the beginning of the tournament, if you asked what does Mauricio Pochettino need to see? What does he want to get out of this? And my opinion is, clarity," Donovan said. "He needs more clarity around this group of players. He had no idea coming into this tournament who his best 11 are, even in this group, big picture, who his best 11 are. Now he's getting clarity."

Getty Images SportWHAT DONOVAN SAID

Considering the success in the group stage, Donovan expects Pochettino won't be doing much tinkering to his starting XI.

"We expect the lineup will be very similar to what you've seen already in the tournament… Now he's kept continuity," he said. "He's seeing a bunch of guys over and over and over. The biggest thing now, win the game, and you get an opportunity. So play another game and then potentially another game. And that adds more clarity for Pochettino, so it's a big opportunity."

Getty Images SportWHAT LALAS SAID

Lalas believes the U.S. can send a message to their critics with a win in their match against Costa Rica, saying Pochettino "has a job to do. It’s a wonderful opportunity here. There's a group stage of any tournament, and then there is the knockout stage..

"And yes, you take the lessons that you've learned – and I think that they will have learned some lessons, including growing together as you do in a tournament… you've got to make sure that you do the job and all the good things that you did, you amplify those, get rid of the problems that you have."