USA vs. Brazil: Winners and Losers from International Friendly
Brazil put the United States to the sword at Gillette Stadium, running out comprehensive 4-1 winners in Tuesday's international friendly in Foxborough, Massachusetts.
An early goal from Hulk gave Brazil a narrow 1-0 at the break before they cut loose in the second half.
Neymar came off the bench to score a brace, including converting a penalty that he had won himself, while fellow substitute Rafinha was also on target.
USA's consolation came courtesy of a long-range thunderbolt from Danny Williams, but the heavy defeat was hardly ideal preparation for their 2017 Confederations Cup play-off against Mexico in October.
They have still only beaten Brazil once, back in 1998, per Caitlin Murray of the Guardian.
Bleacher Report has picked out the stars that dazzled at the home of the NFL's New England Patriots, as well as those who failed to flourish.
Winner: Willian
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Willian set up Brazil's first goal with an incisive burst down the right, though there was more than a slice of luck involved in his assist.
The Chelsea midfielder moved past two defenders before seeing his intended cross for a team-mate strike the bar and bounce out to Hulk, who dummied to shoot with his left foot before firing home with his right.
Still, Willian was superb during the opening 45 minutes, constantly causing problems for the USA defence.
Selecao Brasileira was certainly impressed, tweeting, "I swear Willian is playing like Neymar tonight."
Loser: Alejandro Bedoya
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Alejandro Bedoya was not the only United States player to find the going tough against Brazil.
The midfielder, however, was the one who carried the can for his side's failure to get a grip on the game early on, with manager Jurgen Klinsmann substituting him in the first half.
Bedoya—normally employed in an attacking role—was asked to play as a defensive midfielder, a position he admitted afterwards was relatively new to him, according to Steven Goff of Soccer Insider, "I haven’t really played there as a professional. Sometimes versatility is a good and bad thing, maybe."
He did at least get some sympathy from a former team-mate in Landon Donovan, who tweeted, "Bedoya played completely out of position and then gets subbed before halftime. Pretty harsh on him unless he's injured."
Winner: Neymar
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For the second successive game for his country, Neymar found himself starting among the substitutes.
However, while he was used for just 10 minutes in Brazil's friendly win over Cost Rica last time out, this time the Barcelona player got an entire half to show off his talents. He didn't disappoint.
Neymar won and converted a penalty soon after the break and then grabbed his second of the night to make it 4-0 after 67 minutes.
He had told ESPN Brasil after the Costa Rica game (h/t Mail Online's Adam Shergold), "Being benched is not something I'm used to, and I'm not willing to get used to it. I want to play, and I'm always working to be among the starting XI."
Loser: Miranda
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It should have been a night of celebration for Miranda—not only was he captaining his country, he was also celebrating his 31st birthday.
However, the defender's big night was cut short after just 23 minutes due to injury.
He was replaced by fellow centre-back Marquinhos, with ESPN FC describing the skipper's withdrawal as "the only real negative of the night for the visitors."
Inter Milan will have also been disappointed to see Miranda forced off the field—they will want their summer recruit from Atletico Madrid available for Sunday's Milan derby.
Winner: Dunga
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Brazil's failure to get beyond this summer's Copa America quarter-finals saw manager Dunga come under fire.
However, he actually has a wonderful record in his second spell in charge, as Selecao Brasileira pointed out on Twitter, "14 wins in 16 games for Dunga but apparently he's doing a "horrible" job cause he lost a penalty shootout with half his starting 11 injured."
The Samba Boys were excellent in attack but also impressive in defence—they were only denied a deserved clean sheet by USA sub Danny Williams' stunning long-range strike.
Loser: Jurgen Klinsmann
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Jurgen Klinsmann seemed to want to use the game against Brazil as a chance to assess his options ahead of the crunch clash with Mexico next month.
He certainly shuffled his pack, as Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated pointed out, "Of the 10 U.S. field-player starters, at least five, and maybe six, weren’t playing at their best spot on the field right now."
The substitution of Alejandro Bedoya suggested the former Germany international had made a mistake with his initial XI, though he refused to accept responsibility in his half-time interview.
Per World Soccer Talk on Twitter, he said, "Alejandro had problems getting into his rhythm, into his game. There's not much time you can give him...you gotta make a sub."
Klinsmann can dismiss the result, considering it is a friendly against an excellent opponent, but the United States will be expected to be far more competitive in the 2017 Confederations Cup playoff.
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