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The United States were bombarded by Brazil on Tuesday. A friendly that was supposed to serve as a springboard for the Americans going into their October 10 Confederations Cup playoff against Mexico instead turned into a thumping, as the U.S. were trounced, 4-1.
The Americans were never in the match. Brazil dominated from the get-go and the U.S. were lucky not to concede six or seven goals.
Hulk opened the scoring before the match was even 10 minutes old. Willian shook off Alejandro Bedoya with surprising ease then raced toward the endline before hitting a cross that hit the post. The ball bounced right to Hulk, who scored with little problem.
Somehow, the U.S. kept the scoreline at 1-0 for the remainder of the half. The Brazilians were so much better and had several chances, while a weak rolling shot from Michael Bradley was as close as the U.S. came, but the Americans did get the match to halftime with a decent scoreline.
Unfortunately, the second half wouldn't be as kind to them. Neymar drew a penalty just six minutes into the period and converted the spot kick. Rafinha then added another goal in the 64th minute, but Neymar got his second three minutes later.
All match long, the U.S. were on the back foot. Brazil held possession and even when the Americans did have possession, it wasn't anywhere that bothered the visitors. The temporary grass field was slow and bumpy, but it didn't seem to affect the Brazilians much as they bosses the game from beginning to end.
The U.S. got something out of the match when Danny Williams' long range bomb found the back of the net in the final minutes, but the match hadn't been in doubt for a while at that point.
In all, it was a massively disappointing showing for the U.S. Their unconventional lineup was a disaster, especially in the midfield, where Klinsmann opted to put Jermaine Jones and Alejandro Bedoya in the middle. Bedoya didn't even make it out of the first half before being subbed off for being played out of position. Things didn't get any better with him out as the back line was exposed and attacking players spent more time trying to retrieve the ball than run with it.
This was just a friendly and can be easily dismissed, but next up is the Confederations Cup playoff. These friendlies don't mean a thing if the team can impress in the matches that matter. The Americans didn't do it at the Gold Cup and next month will be their chance to make up for it, but they won't do that if they don't look a lot better than they did against Brazil.