Sloppy Defending Dooms USA to 1-4 Loss Against Brazil

Landon Donovan heads over Brazil's Thiago Silva (AP Photo)

If this international friendly against Brazil was going to be the true test of the USA Men's National Team after their drubbing of Scotland, it was one they failed fairly miserably.  It turns out that kicking the tails of a Scotland team that's hardly played together is a lot easier than going up against Brazil.  Honestly, there were a few bright spots the USA can take out of this, but there were also some pretty big failings exposed too.

After an initial period of trading possession by both sides, Brazil got down to business and got on the board first.  In the 10th minute Leandro sent in a shot that was blocked by USA defender Oguchi Onyewu.  Unfortunately, his arm was slightly out from his side, and the ball struck it, so the referee awarded a penalty kick.  Neymar easily tucked the kick past Tim Howard to make it 0-1 to Brazil.

After the goal, the USA found it tough to get any traction with the ball as the Brazilians started to play their possession game.  More bad news for the USA came in the 26th minute when Neymar sent in a gorgeous corner kick.  It was so gorgeous in fact, that the USA defenders stood around and watched it.  Thiago Silva sprang fee and headed the ball into the net to make it 0-2.

At that point, it looked pretty bleak for the bewildered USA side.  However, they did manage to create some hope right before halftime.  In the 45th minute Michael Bradley slipped a nice entry ball to Fabian Johnson, who drifted an easy cross over to Herculez Gomez.  The Santos Laguna striker headed in the goal to make it 1-2 going into the break.

It didn't take long for the Brazilians to reestablish their 2 goal advantage in the second half though.  In the 52nd minute Neymar torched the USA defense as Onyewu looked on cluelessly.  He easily passed to Real Madrid's Marcelo, who who promptly slotted the ball into the bottom corner of the goal to make it 1-3.  It was like shooting the proverbial fish in the barrel.

The USA did create multiple chances in the second half, despite the deficit.  In the 63rd minute Gomez headed a ball toward goal.  Clint Dempsey tried to touch it in but barely missed it.  Then in the 77th minute both Gomez and Terrance Boyd forced two great saves out of the Brazilain 'keeper.  Finally in the 85th Onyewu almost atoned for his earlier mistakes, getting his head on a corner, but his shot deflected off the crossbar and away from danger.

Brazil would get one more goal and rub it into the US a little bit.  In the 87th minute Onyewu kept a streaking Marcelo run onside, and he promptly dished to AC Milan's Pato, who slotted home the final tally of the match to make it 1-4 at full time.

So about those bright spots?  Herculez Gomez was certainly one.  He scored a goal and certainly could have had at least one more.  He'll need to string a couple of games like this to be really convincing, but I think he can do it.  Michael Bradley had another great game for the USA as well, and it was nice to see Clint Dempsey get some minutes after his groin injury.

The central defense was atrocious though, particularly Onyewu.  It was a total nightmare for him.  To be fair, both he and Bocanegra seemed way too slow on the night and the Brazilians picked them apart rather easily.  The backline used to be a strength of the USA, but the abysmal play tonight showed a lot of cracks.  At this rate, we're obviously going to have trouble against any team with an average ability to create and finish.  Obviously Brazil is above average in both departments.  It was all too easy for them.