Really simple: a. It was Brazil; b. it was Brazil's first team; c. it was an even better Brazil team than that which held Argentina scoreless at Copa America; and d. Brazil played to win All in all, the US had a lot to be proud of. Humble yourselves. The US is a solid team but if you came in to that match expecting a win, well, again that's your fault. A win would have been a nice surpise. 2-4 with questionable calls is something to be happy about.
Thats just a load of barnacles. How Brazil with some of the best talent in the world can half-ass a friendly while playing the US has to be all make-believe. It's ridiculous to believe that. These are professionals at the highest level. Why would a player don a National Team Jersey to half-ass-it in ANY game, ever? And isn't it a common occurrence to "turn it up a notch" when you need a goal back. This happens in many games, in many leagues all over the world. Brazil didnt suddenly decide to start playing the A game against the US. They were another team(a damn good one) on another day seeking a goal with more passion and urgency because they needed one. It had nothing to do with making a sudden decision to start playing better against the US; per se. Kaka was Kaka start to finish is just one obvious example. Way too many people hold onto romantic notions about Brazil soccer, please stop it. Although I "somewhat" agree we aren't any better when comparing the first eleven an important fact is that we are much Younger. Take that as you will. The game was with much pace end to end, start to finish by both teams. And was confirmation the US game is evolving. What US fan wouldnt be happy about that?
i agree...we suck at crosses. And to me, that sadly just shows a lack of discipline of our players. I know if i was gettting PAID to play soccer, i would practice in my off time (not just when i get called into USMNT camp) to make sure that i could throw in a cross without it A) going WAY out of bounds or B) right in to the defender right in front of me. Seriously, things that players should be working on in their off time is (the coach should NOT have to work at these hardly at all): 1) Fitness (they were good this game...but normally, the US is one of the worst teams about running out of gas right around the 75th minute) 2) Strength (quit getting knocked off the ball...muscle development doesn't slow you down) 3) Crossing & Passing (go out to the field. find a cone or a buddy and just hit balls to it until you get good at it) 4) Touch (get your buddies together and play some pickup ball & also, hit the ball against the wall until you're good at it) 5) Ball Skills (this is the easiest. just go out in your backyard and just go to town.) 6) Heading (find a buddy that needs to work on his crossing OR just bang the ball of the wall and head it in a corner over & over again) 7) Ability to use your opposite foot...BOBBY CONVEY!!!! this is just inexecusable. (for every time you hit the ball with your primary foot...hit it twice as much with your weak foot) 8) Shooting. (practice hitting some dead balls in your backyard, but also throw the ball up, bounce it, roll it to the side, but practice your shooting!...Josh Wolff) geez, guys...these are the fundamentals. If they're satisfied with only practicing 2 hours a day then we better get use to not winning big games. Our boys need to get that eye of the tiger.
So teams don't half ass games that have no implications on what the players deem to be important? Tell that to people involved in USA basketball over the last 10 years. I don't see the outcome as poor for the USA. They didn't bunker, and played an open game against the best in the world. A fair result would have been 3-2 in my mind, and that's not too bad considering we were at least open to taking some chances. I don't think the match was that up and down or fast. Not in that heat. At times, Kaka and Robinho made a couple of clever runs to the corners, but I don't think they were forcing the action the way I would expect them to in a meaningful game. They could have tested our backline a lot more had they wanted to. One thing that I noticed watching from the 300s at midfield Sunday was the general spacing of the field. Our individual skill level and our inability to cross/switch the field really hinder our ability buy our players time to attack. When Brazil had the ball in their defensive half between the penalty area and midfield, the field was stretched 60 yards from goal to goal and players used the entire field touch to touch. A guy receiving a pass on a touchline had one man to worry about and no one else within 15-20 yards as a result. All a Brazilian needed to do was beat one player to open up his options, because it took a while for someone else to help. In the middle, it obviously was more crowded. When we had the ball in the same position, the field wasn't as wide, because we can't cross well. The field was also compressed to about 40 yards deep. We were trying to advance the ball in half the space. A help defender was always about three steps closer for them. So now we're under more pressure and are forced to play little 3v3 games of 10 yard passes in a confined space. There's nothing wrong with that if you can keep the defense honest and they believe you have the ability to move the ball away from one touch to the center or the other touch. We couldn't do that, so we're making pass after pass on the same little patch of grass while the defense collapses around us.
I hate to make excuses, but three of them were gifts. Two by the ref (Mexican), and one by us. With a good ref, the game scoring would of went like this. Goal USA. Goal Brazil. Goal Brazil. Goal USA. Goal USA. Final Score 3-2 USA. Desperate circumstances caused Bradley to foul in the box, but let's count that pk, it's still 3-3. So you could say 1 gift by the ref and two by USA. Bottom line is, we done the bunker thing for years against Brazil, and always lose 1-0. Usually we lossed by a free kick or corner kick. This game we tried to play more aggressively and it didn't work out, but it was a lot more fun to watch (except the final score). When we lossed to Germany 4-2 & 4-1, that was different. They destroyed us, and we were actually lucky on the scoreline. But in this game we were unlucky. But hey, that's soccer.
u have never watched a Brazil friendly then... they half ass it often... not saying they did on Sunday... but they usually do
a shot taht sailed 40 sections into the crowd does not equal a wide open shot off the side post... and? Brazil had much more quality chances, and the strikers they have their now are not even their best guys... if Adriano is in shape or if Ronaldo was in good favor, they prolly beat us by more... Brazil was offside on a few chances and Alves/Love messed up others... the Boca goal may have been a handball and it was not deliberately put into the net... Robinho may have deserved a penalty against Gooch, the same way Josh Wolff may have deserved it... and the foul on Dinho was a foul... maybe not a yellow... but a foul nonetheless... this is what people are talking about... we are delusional fans
This was the first time I was able to see Brazil in person and while they weren't at their best, they were vastly better than the US and deserved the win. Their individual skill is always highlighted, but watching the way teh whole team moved as a unit out there was perhaps even more impressive. Yeah, we should have got a penalty, but they had a legit argument for one too. The ref wasn't great, but he didn't so much screw us as make some bad calls both ways. The biggest differences in the teams were in first touch and team movement. Even when our touch didn't let us down, we moved poorly as a team and the guy with the ball seldom had more than one, maybe two options, and often these limited options were less than ideal. Whenever a Brazilian got the ball, the rest of the team opened up to him so he had multiple options. And, this was Brazil playing less than their best with little urgency. They spent lots of their time on the ball just knocking it around. That said, the US did well to hang in there so late in the game. We did well to capitalize on what offense was generated and we hustled to get numbers behind the ball and clog things up. But, we in no way were Brazil's equal on the day and we deserved to lose.
Brazil are a really simple team... they move well into space... on that own goal... u saw Robinho attack the space ahead of him after he passed the ball to Maicon... a misspass fell right to him and he skirted it off to Dinho who was in space... its impressive to watch them
I don’t think it’s that people are ecstatic with the result as much as being partially satisfied that it was a pretty close game until stoppage time. I myself would’ve been thrilled with a tie, satisfied with a one goal loss, and yes, I admit I turned off the game in an unbelievable fit of frustration after Brazil got the fourth goal. That’s pretty much been the norm for a while, though.
We were equal, for the most part, to Brazil that day. We deserved a tie but the ref made sure we had no shot at that. I don't want to put all the blame on the ref but he was a major factor in this game. The 4-2 scoreline will seem typical to the rest of the world as we were beaten by Brazil, but it does not indicate the way it was done. I am not happy about any of the losses the US has had recently as we are facing top quality competition. I am also starting to lost patience with our coach if this is how things are to be done from now on. We are an improving side sure but we must demand the best.
That’s the biggest difference between Brazil and everybody else. And that’s what Brazil does, they spend time knocking the ball about almost at will. So what? Nothing in the game was proof of Brazils desire or competitiveness. It was the A team for them and on that day, for that game they were at their best. I totally agree. We can only speculate otherwise, and to think we know for sure how serious they took the game against the US would be to dismiss any true analysis about how the US game has evolved. Too many folks make have romantic notions about Brazil soccer well deserved nonetheless, but it doesn’t mean they are unattainable and we cant play with them or beat them on any given day with the direction and progress the US team has made. If Mexico can, then why cant we?
So what? Well, ball control and team movement are about the most important elements in the game. So, when a team clearly outclasses you in these areas, you can't go around acting like you played them almost even, especially when its a two goal loss and you give up four. Yes, Brazil does these things better than anyone else in the world. That's why they have five world cups and why they have the best players in the world. But, the gap between them and us in these very important areas was obvious and gaping during the game. Teams that compete better with them are much closer to their level in these areas than we are. Sure, we may take a game off them in a rare moment, but it will be because they make some bad mistakes, we get some lucky bounces, we get a career type of performance from someone, or a combination of the three. Why? Because they are better than us in the fundamental ways of controlling the ball as individuals and controlling play as a team. And, nothing in the game this weekend did anything to show otherwise.
I don't think anyone is happy about the loss. What I'm happy about is the fact that we didn't just sit back and bunker like we used to. We attacked fairly well and didn't get schooled by the Brasilians. It took a fantastic play and ultimately unlucky bounce for their first goal, a well executed corner kick (which also should have been defended) for their second, a phantom free-kick leading up to their third, and a PK for their fourth. Sure, they flashed some style often throughout the game but, with the quality of our play, we showed a little swagger ourselves. We showed confidence with the ball and some good movement. We didn't slow the game down to snail's pace and had some good combinations and relieved pressure well. The entire game was entertaining. All these things add up to the progress that we have made in the last 4 to 8 years -- and it is impressive. We played Brasil straight up and only lost in the score ... we didn't get outclassed at all. THAT is progress. And a far cry from the Arena days when everyone said it didn't matter how we played as long as we got a result. Indeed ... it DOES matter how you play...
This thread is exactly the sort of support group I've been looking for. So, here goes: Hello. My name is FC Tallavana and I am not happy about losing 2-4 at home. It has been two years since I was last happy.
Welcome FC Tallavana. The first step is to admit YOU have a problem. That helps break the denial and starts the path to a full recovery..... I can identify, you are not alone. I am also unhappy about the lost. Especially because the US look good doing it, and thats OK to admit even if people make fun of YOU. Just keep asking for help and support!
Well Mr Tallavana we need to do something about Mr. Sunil Gulati do not blame Bradley he is doing the best he can but as we know that is not enough...If you really love our national soccer team we need to push for the development of a mechanism for our soccer team that prep,drill and fit our team on a individual basis and 3 coaches is not enough .....
Your very naive if you think these players don't practice in their spare time. These guys have been practicing & playing soccer all their lives. They didn't just roll out of bed and make it on the USMNT. Everything you said they've done since their mama was wiping their nose. They had to work hard to make it at that level. Do you really think you can make these players better by your training philosophy. That you know something that Bob Bradley & Bruce Arena don't know. Please! Do everybody a favor, and take you soccer philosophy, and tell it to some 9 yr. old.
Are you people all delusional? We should all be ecstatic we played brazil as close as we did. on another day we would have easily tied them. in a FRIENDLY match the final score isn't as important as how you play, and we played very good against the best team in the world. sometimes i really think most people on this site are soccer retarded
the only real positive is that we did not bunker... but how can giving up 4 goals be a positive... our defense and midfield were opened up constantly... some of our attacks were disrupted with poor touches and decisions in the final 3rd... their are a lot of positives, but also a lot of negatives
Dude, get a clue! We were playing Brazil. How many goals did Brazil have during the run of play? Our big negative was both offensively & defensively (crosses) on set plays.
Get a clue. Ten of the 11 US starters played in Europe (only Donovan from MLS), as well as most of other US players that were there. They were released from their teams the same time as the Brazilians were. We didn't have much training time neither. As for the pessimists who live in dream land, just remember that Argentina A team lost 3-0 to Brazil's B team in Copa America.
yet u did not refute me at all... and made no point... crossing was one of our flaws, as was defending, positioning on the defense... our final 3rd attack, and many others
That doesn't mean you can't play a disciplined game. Brazil is Brazil and their movement will kill you but you must be discipline.
I don't get it with you guys, I seriously don't You guys lose 4-2 in your own soil to a Brazil team that were not even trying 100% or taking it as serious of a match. The ref could have easily called a pk in the first half against US when Robinho was clearly knocked down inside the box and the ref did not call it amazingly. If Mexico looses like that even in foreign soil there will be an uproar and we will call for peoples heads instead of saying Oh Well it was Brazil. I can just see it now, everyone calling for Hugo's head haha I guess the mediocre are satisfied with mediocrity.