Match Report: USA/Brazil, Soldier Field 9/9/07

Thank God for Mexican TV. What could have been a quiet afternoon at home with NFL opening day was transformed by a revenue squabble into a glorious late summer's afternoon spent at Soldier Field with some of international soccer's greatest stars, as well as Josh Wolff. Much has been written in the press and on this site about what happened on the field but I'd like to add some color as we were lucky enough to take in the action from the seventh row.

The Brazil fans were out in force all over town on the day before the game and the walkways to the stadium were a sea of yellow. The US fans certainly represented as well. Sam's Army was loud throughout the game, there weren't too many USA chants and everyone was in a jovial mood, certainly more so than could have been expected if the scheduled USA/Mexico match had gone off at the Azteca. Brazil brought what could be called a B+ team; they certainly brought a variety of attacking firepower, though they didn't call up any A-list #9 players as well as leaving a number of first choice defenders at home. The US squad situation is considerably murkier but Bob brought a team that could reasonably be called first choice with a few notable exceptions.

Early on the pacing of the game was somewhat choppy, which certainly suited the US just fine. Michael Bradley had the game of his life playing midfield destroyer but Gilberto Silva easily prevented him from developing much of a rapport with Benny Fielhaber. The US played Donovan and Beasley in the wide positions and Dempsey in the hole behind Josh Wolff. The back line featured a central pairing of Bocanegra (reveling in the captain's role before his former home fans) and Oneywu with Cherundolo and Heath Pierce patrolling the flanks. In the early going Dempsey and Beasley looked confidant against the Brazilian midfield and backline while Lando pulled his typical disappearing act and Josh Wolff saw little of the ball. I'm not sure if his start was a gift from Bob for his service with the Fire or if Bob still sees some ability there, but I certainly don't. Wolff looked slow and his first touch has never been his greatest asset. DaMarcus' aggressive and assured play made me wonder why there has ever been a debate about who between he and Lando are the better player and whose contribution is more fundamental to performance of the team.

At any rate the US team received a huge boost in confidence from Bocanegra's goal, which was in reality a bit of a fluke. After a number of corner opportunities he was able to take advantage of some sloppy defending to help a lose ball into the net. The US fans went beserk and the Brazil players seemed annoyed enough by it to set siege to the US goal for the remainder of the half. They finally broke through with an amazing end to end play climaxing with Ronaldinho's perfect ball to slip Kaka through on goal. Tim Howard was able to parry the shot and he was unlucky to deflect into the path of the onrushing Oneywu, who knocked it into his own net. While the goal itself was a bit comical the buildup was sublime and the Brazil fans rightly reveled in the result.

The second half was a bit less exciting for us as the US was held inside its own half for long stretches, but this did give us ample opportunity to speculate about what Dunga was wearing (hard to see but certainly disappointing) and whether the fragile old man on the Brazil bench was actually Mario Zagallo (unconfirmed). Brazil defender Lucio took advantage of slack defending on a corner to give Brazil a lead shortly after the half. The US clawed back into the match following an amazing run by Steve Cherundolo who sent a ball from the endline back for Dempsey to one-time it into the far corner. Sam's Army was situated directly behind the Brazil goal and there was a huge roar- while the first goal had been somewhat fluky there was no arguing that the US had just proved that they could score beautifully as well.

The lead was short lived as the crowd was finally given what it waited for all day- Ronaldinho standing over a dead ball 30 yards from goal. Not one to disappoint on the big occasion, he waited for the wall to jump and then placed the ball exactly where sub Bobby Convey had been standing and into the bottom corner of the net. Tim Howard, playing with a dislocated finger, was unable to get a glove on it. By time this the Brazilian bench was deeply involved- Julio Baptista proved that he's just as wide in person as on TV and his first touch is just as crap, and Dani Alves took ownership of the right flank. Josh Wolff had a legitimate claim for a penalty ignored shortly before coming off for Eddie Johnson, who looked a bit more lively but ultimately just as ineffective as Wolff against the Brazilian rear guard. The game ended in a whimper for the US, with Elano finishing a penalty won by Baptista.

So in the end, unsuprisingly, the US team came away losers. The positives we took away were solid- we got a look at what may be our best midfield and especially Michael Bradley's fighting qualities, we saw Carlos Bocanegra play a solid game against some of the best attacking talent in the world while wearing the captain's armband, we saw a fearless DaMarcus Beasley battling in midfield with the likes of Robinho, Kaka and Gilberto Silva, and hopefully we saw Josh Wolff's last cap. That in itself would have made the price of admission worth it. The US has a lot of questions left to answer- who do we pair with Dempsey up front? Why is Oneywu playing worse than he did last year? Who is our first choice left back? Still it's nice to see Bob is taking his time to sort through his available options and we can hope that by the time we have to play meaningful matches the team will be picking itself.