RECIFE, Brazil – Getting out of the Group of Death was always a matter of survival for the United States. Survive and get to the second round. Now that the U.S. is moving on, the focus changes.

“It’s very different because there’s a very clear picture in front of you,” coach Jurgen Klinsmann said. “You have to win the game.”

The U.S. can’t sit back and defend in a shell in the knockout round. For nearly the entire 90 minutes against Germany, the U.S. was on defense. Part of that conservative mentality can be attributed to the fact it didn’t really need to attack, knowing a 0-0 draw or a 1-0 loss would likely be enough to advance. The U.S. also was coming off a short week and a difficult game in Manaus. No team outside of Portugal has managed to win its next game after playing in the Amazon this World Cup.

Now, the U.S. will get four days of rest before Tuesday’s match in Salvador. That’s a day more recovery than Germany and will prove to be a precious 24 hours for an American side that was pushed to the limit in the group stage.

Get healthy.

Regeneration and recovery are going to be the keys to any hope the U.S. has of getting through to the quarterfinals. Coming off two matches in the span of four days is difficult, but it’s the teams capable of rebounding quickly that go deep into this tournament.

“We are going to try and get as much rest as we can. Everybody comes in to this last game tired,” goalkeeper Tim Howard said.

We saw Germany get rest for key players on Thursday. Mario Gotze played 15 minutes, Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski played a half each, and Bastian Schweinsteiger was taken off after 75 minutes. The U.S. wasn’t afforded the same opportunity to rest, and as a result, will have to make the difference up between now and Tuesday.

Keep using the Jurgen Dust.

A few players have have used the same phrase when talking with the media about the team’s ability to rise to the occasion during this World Cup.

“Jurgen Dust” is probably not a real thing (it’s not, right?), but it speaks to the swagger and confidence the U.S. coach has instilled in his players.

When John Brooks came on as a second half sub and headed home the game-winning goal against Ghana, he had a little Jurgen Dust. Kyle Beckerman and Jermaine Jones are rolling in Jurgen Dust at this point after standing up Cristiano Ronaldo and Bastian Schweinsteiger. The seldom used Omar Gonzalez made his World Cup debut as a starter against Germany and managed to keep the wily attacking three of Germany at bay for much of the game. The Jurgen Dust was shining in the post-game mixed zone.

The U.S. has embraced the intangibles and found confidence in a place no other U.S. team has before. Call it Jurgen Dust, call it swagger, or simply call it growing up, this team has it.

“It’s huge for us getting out of this group that everybody said, ‘You have no chance,’” Klinsmann said. “We took that chance and now we move on. We really want to prove a point.”

Just attack.

No one wants to see the U.S. go out in the second round of the tournament. But more importantly, no one wants to see the U.S. go out in the second round huddled in a defensive shell. In past World Cups, packing it in and trying to counter once or twice a match was the only way the U.S. could find success.

Not only is that not the case now, this team is bad at it.

On paper, Fabian Johnson plays right back for the U.S. but when things are going well, Johnson bombs forward more than the outside midfielders on this team. Fans should want to see Johnson, along with the rest of the U.S. attacking in the knockout stages. The team that put Portugal on the ropes was an attack-minded team. It defended when it had to but not because it wanted to.

“We have to be more on the front foot and play our game,” Clint Dempsey said. “Play the way we did against Portugal, be more confident in possession and have more quality in the attacking third.”

The U.S. was resigned to the idea of defending Germany. It went into Thursday’s match planning to defend, it did, and it was ugly to watch. There are few teams of Germany’s caliber in this tournament and while Belgium is talented, it isn’t Germany.

Surviving the Group of Death was the first goal of Klinsmann’s side. The knockout stage isn’t about survival, it’s about will.

“In the knockout stage, anybody can go through if you bring it on that day,” Dempsey said. “We’ll do everything that we can and make sure that we put in the work that we need to and hopefully play to the best of our ability, and if we do that, I think we’ll get a result.”