Jurgen Klinsmann is widely recognized as one of soccer’s masters of the goalscoring art. Now over a decade into his managerial career, Klinsmann has more authority than most when it comes to recognizing true greatness in the game of soccer and, ahead of the U.S. Men’s National Team’s clash with Argentina, the German-born head coach fully appreciates the once-in-a-lifetime talent possessed by one man that will line up on the other side on Tuesday night.

Far less accomplished men than Klinsmann have identified the talent of Lionel Messi throughout the forward’s legendary career. Universally accepted as one of the best to ever play the game, Messi’s accolades speak volumes. The Argentinian star is as good as they come, and will certainly provide the USMNT with its toughest test to date in Tuesday’s Copa America semifinal.

Having seen greats like Diego Maradona roam the field during his era, Klinsmann is quick to state just how good Messi is. However, Klinsmann is also confident in his team’s ability to stand in his way, even if it’s just for one night.

“Obviously you’re talking about two wonderful players,” Klinsmann said of Messi and Maradona, a man the Barcelona star is all too frequently compared to. “The best in the world at their time. It’s now Messi’s time, and when I had the opportunity to play many games against Maradona, it was Maradona’s time. We all admire these types of players, but you know, there’s also ways to stop them. I’m not the type of person that pulls out old stories and tells players how we did it. That’s just not me. But there are ways obviously to play against these wonderful players and at the end of the day its two teams playing against each other.

“Defensively we’re playing a tremendous tournament,” Klinsmann said. “Our entire team is working together as a unit and making the space very tight. Being very aggressive. Double up, triple up, like we talked about after the Ecuador game. It takes another 10-15 percent from everyone to raise the bar and really give them a real fight.”

Messi himself has raised the bar throughout Argentina’s Copa America run. With four goals and two assists to his name in less than three games of action, Messi has proved dominant. He’s lived up to his billing of the world’s best while continuing his pursuit of an ever-elusive international trophy.

For the U.S., it’s much more complicated than merely containing Messi to stop Argentina. Argentina is a team that isn’t driven by just one man. Messi leads the way, but is far from the only capable foot around the attacking third. Players like Gonzalo Higuain, Sergio Aguero and Nicholas Gaitan loom large for any team that looks at Argentina as a solo act.

However, keying in on Messi will be vital. The U.S. will have to double and, at times, triple team him when necessary, preventing him from influencing the game.

“Obviously, we know the caliber of player he is and how world class he is,” said Geoff Cameron “Obviously, you don’t want to allow him to have time on the ball where he can influence or pick the passes that exploit the team’s defense. It’s going to be a tough task for everybody. Defensively, collectively, everybody, midfield, forwards and defense, but if you put pressure on the ball and limit his touches and keep him out of the game, hopefully, you can limit his creativity and take away his influence on the game.”

Even facing a player of Messi’s caliber, the USMNT remains confident. Throughout the build-up to Tuesday’s match, the U.S. has embraced the underdog status while insisting that there is an air of confidence that Tuesday’s match is winnable.

As captain, Michael Bradley is one of the first players to display that confidence. On paper, Messi and Argentina have the advantage, and it will take a group effort to stop them. However, Bradley knows that a team can overcome individual greatness if the stars align.

“I think you guys are probably worrying more about Messi than we are,” Bradley said. “He’s a very good player, again, that’s probably understating it, but it’s still a soccer game. It’s still 11 of their guys against 11 of our guys. Our mentality has to be that we’re going to make the game as hard as possible and have the mentality and the commitment to do it over and over and over again for 90 minutes.

“For us, again, it’s a game. It’s a semifinal, against Argentina, 11 of them against 11 of us. There’s a bunch of very good players on their team. We have a few good players as well. Our mentality, again, is sure, on paper they’re the team that everybody thinks is going to win. No problem. But ultimately when that whistle blows, it’s still 90 minutes of competition.”