"We know they're a strong team, a physical team. They've obviously qualified and made it through the group stages for a reason," he said, as the US team prepared to leave its base camp near Los Angeles for Wednesday's game in the San Francisco Bay Area.

"It's not a fluke that they've gone through the playoffs, and knocked Italy out and made it through to the World Cup. So we'll have to pay attention in all aspects and all moments of the game."

Optimism has soared in the US since the co-hosts opened their FIFA World Cup campaign with one-sided wins over Paraguay and Australia.

Though a narrow dead-rubber loss to Turkey on Thursday slightly tempered sky-rocketing expectations, the US still topped their group.

They remain heavy favourites to progress against Bosnia. It would be only the second US FIFA World Cup knockout win ever, after a 2-0 victory over Mexico in 2002.

The Bosnians progressed from Group B by finishing third, thanks to a draw with co-hosts Canada and victory over Qatar, but were defeated 4-1 by Switzerland.

A largely defensive side, Bosnia rank 33rd among the World Cup's 48 teams by possession, 38th FIFA by shots attempted, and 41st by shots in the opposing team's penalty area.

Arguably the greatest moment in Bosnian football history came in March with victory over Italy in a penalty shootout at the end of a tense playoff.

While Ream said he expects set-pieces to play a major role on Wednesday, he does not expect Bosnia "to just be defensive."

They're in the tournament for a reason - went through a little bit of a gauntlet to get there, and just a really tough team at the end of the day."

Source: AFP