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Huge game for the Yanks as we take on Brazil tonight from FedEx Field, outside of DC. This game is the second-to-last tune-up before the World Cup qualifiers begin in earnest. After a demolition of Scotland on Saturday, the Americans appear to be comfortable in Klinsmann's system and are able to score, but the defense will truly be tested against superpower Brazil and their unmatched passing and individual technical skills.
Game is on ESPN2 and stream on ESPN3.
Pretty much as meaningful as a friendly can be, as it's a benchmark game before beginning WCQ.
Two things I'd like to see
-Gooch get the start and/or appear to be in pretty good form.
-Bradley and Jones playing the soccer style "deathbacker" we saw in the last game.
What is deathbacker?
GERG is disappointed in you.
When is the first WCQ game?
June 8th vs. Antigua & Barbuda. It should be on ESPN.
Any word on the starters?
Also is Dempsey still out?
I hope that they can be highly competive. Obviously it's only a friendly and I have no idea if Brazil is playing its top players, but a draw or win would be huge, especially for people's perceptions. Garner some support from some casual fans.
Sounds like Dempsey and Altidore are available but not fully fit, making it unlikely they'll start. Maybe they come on for the second half.
According to Grant Wahl's twitter page, Dempsey believes that he will in fact be getting minutes as a sub.
I'll be there tonight. Taking a party bus to and from the game...GBA.
Soccer......I wish I cared.
FYI - Brian disagrees with that opinion. USMNT soccer discussions are welcome here. Now get off the OT's lawn.
i still will never understand the need to garner attention by people posting about theirhatred of soccer....it is so much easier to just look on
So, by that same logic, this blog is useless because it's about Michigan sports AND written by Michigan fans. UNBIASED?
go a step further to say that I do not understand why people click on a post only to say how much they hate the topic within that post. It is like TV, you may not like every station, so don't watch those stations. If you do not like soccer, why come on here and say "why don't you move to Europe?" Ignorance is why...
Rager, don't watch the game tonight, it is that simple...
Rager, this is also why you have -653 points. I never thought you could have that many negative points. But, I realize it's possible when you act like an immature douchebag on here.
Exactly. I don't go on the countless Detroit Tigers threads or any baseball thread and flame how baseball is the worst sport.
I hope it is a good game so I can at least get some respect. My wife is from Fortaleza and I am in a wedding there next week. Please win USA! It is the one time I care about soccer.
Excited for the match. Hopefully we see a continuation from last weekend... however I expect we will have to play more defense in this game. Thus the attacking should not be quite as pronounced. That said, nothing prevents this team from Playing with Brazil.
What the ticket sales situation was like? I am obviously going, but curious as to whether it is even close to sold out.
Living Social had a deal a few weeks ago but that sold out in hours. I saw tickets on stubhub as recently as Memorial Day but they were all $100+ and I'm not paying that for a Wednesday night...
and from the ticket price ranges still available it probably wont get sold out but will be pretty full. Stub hub had like 500 tickets available as of last night as well.
I hope Bradley can get forward, though I'm a bit afraid that he will be forced to defend too much to become a threat.
Also I would love to see how Joe Carona plays alongside the 1st teamers.
That's why a really like the way that Klinnsmann's started to play with a midfield triange of a single dedicated defensive mid who sits in front of the central defenders and links them to the more advanced box-to-box mids. It really clarifies what everyone is supposed to be doing in the midfield, unlike Bob Bradley's system which had two deep lying midfielders. Having Edu sitting deep frees the other two mids to play a bit more advanced. When it works, you no longer see the huge spaces between defense and attack that we used to have.
It's entirely possible, of course, that Brazil is on their game and pushes Bradley and Jones back, so the three central mids end up playing flat rather than as a triangle. But at least Klinnsman's system doesn't start out with that problem the way Bradley's did.
Edu does great defensively, but he does have some lapses in his game when it comes to making the right pass. Ideally that guy would be like Edu defensively, but be able to find passes like Jose Torres.
Once Dempsey and Donovan are back I would like to see Dempsey play forward. That is the best way to get all of our best players on the field. We need the play making from Torres, there is nobody on the team that possess his vision and ability as a passer.
I'm fine if the guy playing Edu's position (a 6) isn't a great passer. If he's able to tackle the ball and convey it to the mids dropping back to receive it, that's fine IMO.
My all time favorite guy playing that position is Marcos Senna on the last Spanish Euro team. I'm not sure he hit a pass that traveled more than 5 yards that entire tournament, but he ran all game, stopped anything coming through the middle and just shuttled the ball to his mids, freeing them of most defensive duties (of course, it's easy to run an offense that way when the mids are Xavi and Iniesta).
I haven't seen Torres play enough recently to know if he's gotten better at shielding the ball under pressure. If he hasn't, I don't think he can play the roles Bradley and Jones played last game. Turnovers out of those positions are absolute killers, because they frequently mean the opposition gets the ball with only five guys in defensive position. I do like him a lot in the free role he seemed to have against Scotland, where he had few defensive responsibilities other than pressing high up the field.
He is in the team and it is assumed that he will be playing. Hopefully he spends more time showing his dribbling skill and less time rolling around on the floor.
Starting, according to Grant Wahl.
Any chance the US side looks competitive tonight? Or is Brazil going to stomp them into reality?
Depends on how well the back line holds up. For once, the weakest part of the US lineup seems to be central defense.
I just hope the US tries to play with them a bit, rather than going pure bunker and counter. Will be a good test of where Klinnsman's new system is.
US lineup:
Howard; Cherundolo, Onyewu, Bocanegra, Johnson; Bradley, Jones, Edu; Donovan, Gomez, Torres
Dempsey on the bench, Altidore not in uniform.
1-0 Brazil after about 12 minutes. Onyewu got called for a handball in the box -- tough call, but I think it was right because his arm was outside his frame (sort of like offensive holding :) )
That my friend was not a penalty or intentional. I would expect the ref to give one back to us after he gets a peek at halftime. Objectively speaking, wrong call 100%. You can't pull in your arm much more than that unless you are Mr.Fantastic. Just saw the replay too, this ref is a tool.
It's a call that could've gone either way. I'm not super-pissed about it, but I see where you are coming from.
Ref needs a reminder that this is a friendly. No need to hand out either of the cards he's given.
Loved Darke's comment how the ref is "trying to get involved in the drama."
Weird handling call. I still don't know if it was the right call. He certainly didn't intentionlly handle the ball, but he also "made himself bigger" with his elbow away from the body. Tough call either way.
Missed chance by Bocanegra (sp?). Clean header over the bar from a great setpiece by Donovan.
US has Edu playing higher than Jones and Bradley. They've flipped their midfield triangle. Not sure if they're trying to use Edu for high pressure, but it's not helping the attack, as the attack is narrow, running through Edu, and that's also not his strength.
Goal Brasil. Free header off a corner. Awful marking.
2-0 off a corner, gooch just lost him
Damn.
US still a work in progress.
And our central defense continues to be pretty awful
He's just not good enough. Breaks my heart actually.
The injury took a lot out of him.
the US uniforms look like ass.
Yea, but they make it really hard to find Waldo.
Bradley and Fabian Johnson are the only guys for the US who look like they belong on the same field, Donovan included.
IMO, Torres belongs
He's looked weak on the ball to me.
He is actually very technical and very good on the ball. He probably has the best vision on the team. Ideally he likes to sit further back than where he is playing tonight.
I agree about his vision and his technical ability. I just don't think he's dealt well with the high pressure that Brasil is bringing. He's not hurting the US, he just hasn't done much. Maybe "doesn't belong on the same field" was harsh.
Gooch getting some cat calls and boos. This is sad.
WOO!
Goal US. Bradley-Johnson-Gomez finishes. Very well and quickly worked.
Nice goal -- huge confidence builder. We have a lot of chances -- need to convert.
Great, great pass from Bradley on that goal.
Marcelo is an amazing player but such an asshole.
Very very true. He is the new bad boy of Brazilian soccer.
Gooch has been the culprit for each Brazilian goal.
I would be surprised to see him in WQ qualifying. I think JK really wants to see if he can play at a high level still for 90 min.
Jones really cleared Neymar out.
Donovan's been very poor by his standard tonight.
By the Brazilian GK
Does he slur more than your average guy on TV?
Brazilian GK is quite the stud.
