Colorado Rapids midfieler Jermaine Jones played the part of playmaker Tuesday night against Costa Rica, scoring the United States Men’s National Team’s second goal in a 4-0 win that kept them alive in Copa America.

“He worked extremely hard throughout the game,” former USMNT forward Brian McBride said the following morning on SportsCenter. “He made things happen on his goal, he won the ball defensively, popped up at the right spot, and that’s what we need from players like [Clint] Dempsey, [Michael] Bradley, and Jones.”

Dempsey, Bradley and Jones are all known veteran playmakers for head coach Jurgen Klinsmann, but Tuesday night belonged to Jones. His goal was the payoff after a series of near-misses, several by Gyasi Zardes and one by Jones just a minute before. The goal was a product of two of McBride’s observations: Making things happen and popping up at the right spot. He made space for himself, positioned himself to score, and delivered.

In addition to his goal, Jones completed 91 percent of his passes with five takeaways to earn him Man of the Match. He won tackles on the left side while helping to cover Fabian Johnson. In the 73rd minute, he threaded a ball through two Costa Rica defenders to Alejandro Bedoya, only for Bedoya to miss Zardes in the box for what would have been then-goal number four.

With Colombia already through to the quarterfinals, the USMNT is atop the remaining teams in Group A with three points. They’ll face Paraguay on Saturday to round out the group stage, and thanks to the win over Costa Rica, have bolstered their chances of advancing from 38 percent to 72.