By Tim Stannard

1) Costa Rica rout puts Klinsmann’s future in doubt  

After five years in charge it seems on Wednesday morning that the last person in the solar system who thinks Jurgen Klinsmann should be in the charge of the US national team is…Jurgen Klinsmann. But even the normally self-assured German is probably having an uncomfortable feeling today that he may eventually diagnose as self-doubt.

Losing to Costa Rica is not unusual. Most teams tend to do in on home soil for Los Ticos. But betting belted 4-0 after crashing out to Mexico is not what is expected from furious fans and even more irate columnists in the press. "It's a bitter moment for us. There's no doubt about it,” admitted Klinsmann after the loss that leaves the USA on zero points, rock bottom of the Hex and our Thomas Rongen close to apoplexy on a legendarily irate beIN SPORTS call.

Wednesday could see the end of the days of Klinsmann with the president of US Soccer, Sunil Gulati, saying that a sit down with the manager is on the agenda, just days after noting that the US has never sacked a coach in the middle of a World Cup qualifying session. However, on social media the coincidence of the rise of Donald Trump and a double defeat of the US did not go unnoticed.

Tune into the XTRA at 7PM ET / 4PM PT and followed by the Locker Room on all the latest action and reaction on the day after the night before.

2) Messi leads media rebellion over ‘high’ jinks

At least Leo Messi finally had something to smile about whilst playing for Argentina. At least temporarily. The Barca man grabbed the team by the scruff of the neck with a goal and two assists in a much-needed 3-1 win over Colombia, who themselves are now sitting on the naughty step of crisis and out of the qualification places.

But rather than head back to Barcelona, Messi lead a media mutiny from the players unhappy over a radio report alleging that Ezequiel Lavezzi smoked marijuana after training. Standing before the press and backed by the rest of the squad, the Argentina forward said that there would be no more contact with the media until further notice. “We’re very sorry it has to be like this but we have no option.”

3) Brazil remain at summit after Peru perfection

Elsewhere in the CONMEBOL matches, a truly imperious Brazil stayed at the top of the table with a 2-0 victory over Peru to make is six victories on the bounce in the group.

Chile grabbed a morale-boosting victory over Uruguay in a 3-1 humdinger. Ecuador kept up a fine campaign by beating Venezuela and Bolivia defeated Paraguay. Tune into the Locker Room from 7:30PM ET / 4:30PM PT for a full breakdown of the winners and losers from the midweek action.

4) Barça announce big buck deal with Rakuten

The cost of keeping Leo Messi in vet food and bills along with the rest of the very expensive Barcelona team is very much on the minds of the club’s big cheeses. So, that’s why there was quite the unveiling at the Catalan club on Wednesday with Barca announcing that the next shirt sponsors for the team will be Japanese commerce website Rakuten.

The deal is expected to be worth in the region of $60m a season with Rakuten beating off rivals such as Amazon and Alibaba, thought to be in the running to be emblazoned across Paco Alcacer’s chest.

Over in Spain’s capital city and Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid will be assessing who’s crocked and who’s not after the international break ahead of a huge city derby live on beIN SPORTS on Saturday. Tune into the XTRA at 7PM ET / 4PM PT for all the latest news from both camps.

5) Murray battles to join Novak in ATP final four

Over in London and the ATP World Tour finals and Novak Djokovic had quite the tussle on Tuesday against the power of Milos Raonic. But the former world number one prevailed with a tight win 7-6 (8-6) 7-6 (7-5) to put the Serbian in the semi-finals.  

Djokovic will be joined by Andy Murray if the Scotsman can win over Kei Nishikori. Stan Wawrinka takes on Marin Cilic in Wednesday’s second game.

WHAT IS SPORTS BURST?

The life philosophy of Sports Burst is that if you are not upsetting someone, then you are not trying hard enough. SB is a daily trawl and troll through the morning's sports news to bring you fact-nuggets to make you both smile and swear. Hopefully at the same time.