Filed under: US Soccer, U.S. Men’s National Team
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — There’s one area where the U.S. national team did show improvement during Tuesday evening’s 2-0 loss to Brazil — it held the opponent off the scoreboard for 28 minutes. Normally, that’s nothing to brag about, but for an American side that played during the World Cup almost as if it preferred to fall behind really early, 28 minutes of scoreless soccer was a noteworthy accomplishment.
In fact, the first few minutes against Brazil were the best of the night. Landon Donovan nearly scored in the third, and the U.S. held its own in midfield and enjoyed some solid possession. That wouldn’t last long, of course, as a fresher, more enthusiastic and far more skillful opponent eventually ripped the Americans apart. Nevertheless, it represented an interesting contrast to the four matches in South Africa, where the national team’s insistence on sleeping through those critical moments after kickoff proved to be its greatest flaw.
“Obviously we hurt ourselves just at times going down goals and having to fight so hard to come from behind,” midfielder Michael Bradley told FanHouse at the New Meadowlands Stadium. “You look over the course of four games, we put so much into games trying to get ourselves back into it, that takes a lot out of you. We’re certainly very proud of the way we played and the way we fought. You get to the big moments in big games, it’s a little play here or there that can decide it.”
Three times, the U.S. found a way to recover from an early goal. It conceded to England in the fourth minute of the opener and to Slovenia in the 13th the following game. The Americans shut out Algeria in the first round finale but played as if behind because they needed a goal to advance (Donovan snatched it in stoppage time). In the second round, Ghana scored in the fifth. The U.S. equalized, but then the Black Stars won the game with a goal just three minutes into overtime.
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