Canada vs USA: Expect USA to Shake off Brazil Loss to Upend Feisty Canadians

The US national team needs the Men in Black memory loss pen to ensure their brutal beating at the hands of Brazil is quickly forgotten.

The 4-1 final doesn’t justify how hard they played, but now it’s all ancient history. Next up is a date with America’s neighbors from the north.

While it may only be a friendly match with Canada on Sunday, it is a must-win game from a confidence perspective for the US.

In the final match before the 2014 World Cup Qualifiers begin next week, America needs to produce a strong showing to ensure they begin this vital stretch feeling good about themselves.

It shouldn’t be a problem as long as they get tougher, according to head coach Jurgen Klinsmann (via Goal.com):

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"We need to get an edge, more nastier. Maybe we're a little bit still too naive. Maybe we don't want to hurt people. But that's what we've got to do. You've got to do that at the end of the day. So we've got to step on their toes more and get them more frustrated and make a case with the referee maybe as well, for us, not only the opponent." 

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Despite the loss, the silver-lining for the US team is that their best player, Clint Dempsey, only played the last 35 minutes off the bench as a sub vs. Brazil. He looks to be progressing well from his injury and should play the entire match on Sunday.

One of the big positives of the Brazil match was the emergence of Herculez Gomez, who had the only goal. Despite being 30-years-old, he displayed outstanding aggressiveness, something you can only say of a few players on the team against Brazil.

Fabian Johnson, Michael Bradley and Tim Howard are the only players that can walk away from the Brazil match feeling confident about their performances.

With Jozy Altidore expected to be available for the entire match, and a healthy Landon Donovan, it’s hard to see the US falling to a Canadian team that is short on talent.

Aside from Dwayne De Rosario, who is tied for the all-time lead in goals scored for Canada with 19, the team does not match up well against the US.

Simeon Jackson may have scored three times in 22 appearances for Premier League club Morwich City, but is going to get out-muscled by the stronger US defenders. He does have dangerous speed, which is something Bradley and Jermaine Jones will have to keep in mind.

The Canadians lack any real threats on the wings and will have to focus on pounding the middle of the field. Donovan, Johnson and Steve Cherundolo should take care of that.

This match has all of the makings of a comfortable win for the Americans, and I predict the same final score as when these two played each other a year ago in the Gold Cup.

Prediction: US 2, Canada 0

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