Job one done, then. The USMNT won their first two games, and made it through to the Gold Cup last eight without breaking much of a sweat. They brushed aside a very bad Trinidad & Tobago, 5-0, before making it a little bit trickier on themselves with a dicey 1-0 win over Saudi Arabia.
Still, it's the results that count here, and that already-not-very-scary Haiti fixture on Sunday night now looks even less concerning.
Addages about "you can only play who's in front of you" aside, there's quite a bit to take from the opening two games. This, remember, is still largely a USMNT B team - one missing the likes of Christian Pulisic, Antonee Robinson and Weston McKennie - with opportunities for players to break into the World Cup side.
Good performances count for both now and the future. It's a fine time to impress Mauricio Pochettino and the USMNT coaching staff. And a fair few have. Diego Luna looks good. Chris Richards is excellent at the back. Malik Tillman is making his case.
And with the steadying presence of veterans such as Tyler Adams and Tim Ream, mixed with a number of relatively inexperienced players getting more and more minutes, the USMNT will be hoping to continue a run in this Gold Cup. They have now advanced past the group in all 18 editions of the tournament, and only once failed to reach the semifinals - in 2000 when they lost to Colombia in a penalty shootout.
Two up, two down, on to the knockouts. Do the USMNT look more or less likely to win the tournament?
GOAL US writers break it all down in another edition of... The Rondo.
