USMNT drawn with Colombia, Costa Rica and Paraguay for Copa America Centenario

The United States will be in Group A with Colombia, Costa Rica and Paraguay at Copa America Centenario. The draw for the tournament was held on Sunday in New York City and it did not go well for the Americans as they drew arguably the toughest teams from Pot 2, 3 and 4.

Paraguay is unquestionably the toughest team from Pot 4, and Costa Rica is the toughest from Pot 3. Those two pots were drawn first so the U.S. knew that they hadn't gotten an easy draw from the start. Then Colombia came from Pot 2 - if they aren't the best team from there, Chile is, and it's close - and it was confirmed that the Americans got about as tough a group as they could have.

Despite an unfavorable draw, the U.S. is in fine shape. Because they were seeded, on account of being the tournament's host, they couldn't get a truly great team in their group like Argentina and meant they would have a good shot of advancing to the knockout stages no matter what.

Colombia is a very talented team and everyone remembers the great run they had at the 2014 World Cup, but they haven't been as good since that tournament. They finished third in their group at Copa America last year, behind Peru, and were eliminated in the quarterfinals.

Costa Rica also had a great World Cup, but they managed only three points in the group stage at last year's Gold Cup and have an oddly assembled squad.

Finally, Paraguay impressed by eliminating Brazil at last year's Copa America, but were thrashed by Argentina, 6-1, in the semifinals and aren't an especially talented side.

The group's strength is in there not being a single bad team, but there's not a great team either. There's no powerhouse and, it could be argued, that Colombia is the only good team, with the remaining three being merely average.

The U.S. is going to be challenged at Copa America, but they will be on home soil and only have to be better than Costa Rica and Paraguay. That's a reasonable expectation for Jurgen Klinsmann's side in a major tournament.

Copa America Centenario opens with the U.S. and Colombia squaring off in Santa Clara, CA on June 3. It will be a match with plenty of hype, but the key will be getting a result. If the U.S. can do that, they're in good shape. Then the Americans will go to Chicago to take on Costa Rica four days later before closing the group stage against Paraguay on June 11 in Philadelphia.