The US Men’s national team faced off against Brazil in the Allstate Continental Clasico as its final international friendly before Copa America.
How the game unfolded
USA only had one win coming into the match in its history against Brazil losing 18 of 19 contests. It’s no secret there are questions surrounding Gregg Berhalter’s leadership and his seat only got hotter after conceding five goals to Colombia last time out. With Brazil starting most of its stars, a strong performance was needed to rebuild confidence heading into Copa America.
The game started with a brilliant level of intensity with both teams going for it. Brazil capitalized on a poor pass from goalkeeper Matt Turner to open the scoring through Rodrygo 17 minutes in. USA came close a couple times with Yunus Musah rattling the crossbar. The team equalized in the 26th minute thanks to a Christian Pulisic free kick right on the edge of the box.
Gio Reyna and Musah were workhorses up and down the pitch helping create chances, but the score stayed 1-1 heading into halftime. Berhalter highlighted his team’s ability to shut down open spaces in the first half.
The second half saw USA come out in a low block to try and absorb pressure. Both USA and Brazil came close to taking the lead through the first 25 minutes with Pulisic and Endrick nearly scoring. The last 30 minutes of the game were end-to-end. USA can come away happy with their overall performance as confidence is built for Copa America.
The game ended 1-1 marking the first time USA has drawn against the Selecao. USA can hold their heads high after the overall performance, but this team had chances to win on the night.
Brazil v United States – Continental Clasico 2024 / John Dorton/ISI Photos/USSF/GettyImages
GK: Matt Turner – 8/10 – Turner is USA’s number one, that’s not going to change. He made some great saves, and had an outrageous throw to put Folarin Balogun on his way.
LB: Antonee Robinson – 7/10 – Robinson lined up against Barcelona’s Raphinha for most of the game keeping him relatively quiet. Jedi was arguably the best left-back in the Premier League last season, providing solidity in defense and options in attack.
CB: Tim Ream – 6/10 – The other half of Fulham’s duo partnered Chris Richards in defense. He nearly got caught sleeping by Endrick in the second half.
CB: Chris Richards – 6/10 – Richards was part of a strange decision to overturn a yellow card offense in the second half. Both him and Ream had their hands full all night, but he did well enough to limit the damage.
RB: Joe Scally – 6/10 – Scally had his work cut out for him going up against Ballon d’Or favorite Vinicius Juinor. USA is looking for a defender to step up this summer with Sergino Dest out injured. Scally has gotten the starting nod in both friendlies, and it looks like he’ll be the starter come USA’s first group stage match against Bolivia.
CM: Yunus Musah – 7/10 – Musah was a workhorse in the middle providing pace up and down the pitch. He came ever so close to a goal hitting the crossbar before it rebounded off the back of Alisson. Musah will be a key piece for Berhalter during Copa America.
CM: Gio Reyna – 7/10 – Reyna was right alongside Musah and showed his creative ability trying to get USA up the pitch. Reyna is a lock to start most of, if not all of USA’s games for the duration of Copa America.
CM: Weston McKennie – 6/10 – McKennie was the only midfielder on the night to play the full 90 against Brazil.
LW: Christian Pulisic – 7/10 – There’s no question who USA’s talisman is for this generation. Pulisic leveled the score with a brilliantly slotted free kick past Alisson. He’s going to be the catalyst offensively for this team after a great season at AC Milan. Two near-misses prevent him from marking higher.
ST: Ricardo Pepi – 5/10 – Pepi didn’t offer much up top compared to Balogun’s start against Colombia. Berhalter has to figure out who is best up top because a striker-by-committee isn’t going to cut it for going deep in the tournament.
RW: Tim Weah – 6/10 – Weah offers great pace going up and down the right flank and has a goal in him. He was tracking back to help out Scally against Vini Jr., but Weah should be the starting RW this summer.
Substitutes
ST: Folarin Balogun – 5/10 – Fans have high hopes for the AS Monaco and former Arsenal striker, but he didn’t necessarily offer anything different to Pepi tonight.
CM: Johnny Cardoso – 6/10 – Cardoso replaced Gio Reyna, but didn’t do much.
RW: Brenden Aaronson – 5/10 – A standard five for Aaronson who replaced Tim Weah in the 75th minute. He should’ve scored in the 83rd minute.
CM: Tyler Adams – 5/10 – It was great to see Tyler Adams back on the pitch for USA fans. He only played the final 15 minutes of regulation as he continues to build back his fitness levels.
RB: Shaquell Moore – 5/10 – Standard five for Shaq Moore who replaced Joe Scally in the 85th minute.
Manager
Gregg Berhalter – 7/10 – Overall, a much better showing for USA against even tougher competition. Outside of overall tactics, Berhalter needs to figure out who is going to lead the line. If he can get that right, USA can go far in this tournament. If not, USMNT might start a coaching search before 2026.
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Publish date : 2024-06-12 21:06:23
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