What will Klinsmann do to replace suspended starters?

Jurgen Klinsmann targeted the Copa América Centenario semifinals. He said his team was ready for that kind of run. And the U.S. got there thanks to Thursday’s gripping quarterfinal win over Ecuador.

The manager also issued this warning prior to the tournament opener: “The team that starts this Copa América probably won't be the team that finishes it.”

Credit to Klinsmann for his foresight. He put the Americans in position to advance by stressing chemistry and consistency, becoming the first U.S. coach in 85 years to start the same 11 in three straight games. Klinsmann picked the right center back pairing. He pulled Michael Bradley deeper into midfield, gave Jermaine Jones license to maraud and moved Bobby Wood up front halfway through the second game. All of it made a difference.

Now, as the U.S. prepares for that semifinal against either Argentina or Venezuela on Tuesday evening in Houston, Klinsmann must confront the upheaval he anticipated. Tournaments don’t just test consistency. They demand depth. Grueling schedules and travel, not to mention the high stakes, fray muscles and nerves. Injuries and suspensions result, and the teams most equipped to handle them tend to be the ones that survive.

Look no further then the current world champions. Germany’s clinching goal two summers ago in Rio de Janeiro was scored by a substitute and set up by the guy who came in for the injured teammate who was replacing the usual starter. To be the best, you’ve got to be able to replace your best.

That’s the challenge facing Klinsmann in Houston. Jones, Wood and Alejandro Bedoya are suspended. Each has started all four Copa games, and each has been integral to the Americans’ advancement. None has an obvious, like-for-like replacement. With a potential showdown against Lionel Messi and Argentina looming, this isn’t the ideal time to mess with what’s working. But Klinsmann has no choice.

Jones was ejected following a second-half scrum on Thursday after putting his hand to the face of Ecuador’s Michael Arroyo. It wasn’t clear that Jones made contact and Klinsmann called the red card “an absolute joke.” But the midfielder still would have missed the semifinal if he’d been shown only a yellow card, which would have been his second of the competition.

A frustrated Wood was cautioned for the second time in the Copa just seconds later -- Jones still hadn’t left the pitch -- for an unnecessary foul along the touchline. Finally, a fatigued Bedoya saw his second yellow of the competition for pulling down Juan Carlos Paredes.

"It's an emotional game. It's a big game. That stuff happens,” Wood told reporters afterward.

Added Bedoya: "It's tough. It sucks. We knew going into game some of us were on yellow cards. Who cares [if we] miss the semis? We won the game.”

At the time and in the heat of the moment, none of them could think ahead to the possibility of missing a semifinal that wasn’t guaranteed. But it matters now regarding the cards issues to Jones and Wood, but the judgement of referees isn’t often reversed.

“Unfortunately we lost Jermaine for the incident,” Klinsmann said Thursday. “[And] we’re obviously going to be missing Ale Bedoya and Bobby in the semifinals, so it’s not easy. But I think there’s a team that has so much desire to grind it out.”

Assuming the opponent is Argentina, the U.S. certainly has a grind in store. In Messi, Sergio Agüero and Gonzalo Higuaín, La Albiceleste boast three of soccer’s top snipers. Inter Milan’s Éver Banega pulls the strings and coach Gerardo Martino can choose from among Nicolás Gaitán, Ezequiel Lavezzi and Érik Lamela to provide attacking punch from midfield. And then there’s the elusive but unlucky Ángel Di María, who’s nursing a groin injury.

If Argentina gets by Venezuela and the Paris Saint-Germain star is ready for the semi, the Americans’ job will get even tougher. Meanwhile, Argentina has been stout defensively. It yielded one goal in the Copa’s group stage and just two in six matches this year.