Hosts United States expect big things at Copa América, says midfielder Yunus Musah

The US team put on a convincing performance to hold one of the hot favourites, Brazil, 1-1 in a pre-tournament friendly earlier this month, and Musah told reporters it offered a glimpse into how his group could succeed.

"The intensity and being really solid defensively and being really organised - we saw it was difficult for Brazil to beat us," he said.

"So we see that as a strength of ours and we want to carry that on because that's what's going to help us."

Musah and his AC Milan teammate Christian Pulisic are part of a tight-knit US team eager to make an impact in South America's most important national team tournament, which features six CONCACAF (North and Central America and the Caribbean) invitees.

The US men's squad reached the knockout stages at the most recent World Cup, an encouraging sign for fans as the United States prepare to co-host the quadrennial tournament in 2026.

The 11th-ranked US will not take their opener against 84th-ranked Bolivia lightly, with Panama and Uruguay awaiting them in Group C.

"We know that we're capable of doing good things and, yea, we need to show that on the field and that's what we're going to try to do," said Musah.

"We expect big things from ourselves. As players, we want to do the best. We want to get very far in the competition."