Last night, the United States Men’s National Team played their final friendly match before the Copa América tournament starts group play. After losing 5-1 in an embarrassing performance against Colombia, the team needed a good performance to have better hopes when going into the tournament. They absolutely delivered that and then some, and USMNT fans saw the level they know their team can play at.
The USMNT drew against the daunted Brazil Men’s National team on Wednesday night in a 1-1 final with goals coming from Rodrygo in the 17th minute and Christian Pulisic in the 26th minute.
Rodrygo scored from right outside the six-yard box and his goal was assisted by Vinicius Junior.
Pulisic scored on a freekick coming from a foul that he won right outside the 18-yard box. There were many other close chances for both teams throughout the game, but the main takeaway is that the USMNT can compete with these top teams in the world when they are on their day.
This was proven last night and also when they drew against England 0-0 in the 2022 World Cup group stage in Qatar.
Who stood out for the USMNT?
There were many standout performances from the USMNT. Antonee Robinson, who had one of his worst-ever performances as a member of the first team in the 5-1 loss to Colombia, was back to his usual self and was absolutely fantastic. He earned a 7.8 rating on Fotmob, which was the third highest on the team behind the goalscorer Pulisic, and the Man of the Match.
That man was Matt Turner who was absolutely fantastic on Wednesday night. He had 11 saves which was the highest tally for any USMNT goalkeeper since that historic performance by Tim Howard in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil against Belgium. Turner, who drew many criticisms after his subpar performance against Colombia, backed himself up in this match and solidified himself as the No. 1 goalkeeper with no doubts about it for the foreseeable future.
There have been talks about Chelsea goalkeeper Gabriel Slonina, but he was loaned out last season and is not even a top-three keeper at the club and is not ready for first-team international football at the moment.
- Projecting the best USMNT midfield for Copa America
- Projecting the best USMNT starting attack for Copa America
- USMNT look sharp vs Brazil in final friendly before Copa América
Key lineup changes led to the solid performance
There were two changes from the starting XI that USMNT manager Gregg Berhalter put out in the first friendly versus last night. Yunus Musah and Ricardo Pepi saw their way into the side at the expense of Folarin Balogun and Johnny Cardoso. It was a surprise to some fans because Balogun and Cardoso were seen as the very few bright spots against Colombia.
Credit to Berhalter, as the changes resulted in the valiant draw against an excellent Brazil side. Balogun came on as a sub and was very good again whilst Pepi was mediocre at best though, so it will be one to watch to see who starts up top for the Stars and Stripes.
