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USMNT top Sao Paulo in second scrimmage of Brazil tour

USMNT Training Sao Paulo, Brazil

Photo by Celso Bayo/ISIPhotos.com

By DAN KARELL

For the second time on their 12-day Brazilian tour, the U.S. Men’s National Team squared off against their hosts Sao Paulo FC, with a positive result the second time around.

U.S. Soccer reported on Monday morning that the USMNT had defeated Sao Paulo by a score of 2-1. Just as with the previous scrimmage, neither U.S. Soccer nor Sao Paulo released details of the goal scorers. According to Brazilian publication Globo Esporte, veteran midfielder Jadson scored the only goal for the hosts. No information was provided about the USMNT.

Sao Paulo has a photo gallery with pictures from the scrimmage on their website. The USMNT remain in Sao Paulo until Friday before heading back to Los Angeles to prepare for their friendly match against South Korea on Feb. 1 at StubHub Center.

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What do you think of this result?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Good.

    I am happy to hear it.

    Good job boys. Can’t let the Brazilians get the better of you.

    You guys should have seen how much flak I got from my Brazilian friends.

    Imagine if their national team, B team or not, lost to the Sounders (just for example)? They wouldn’t be happy either.

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  2. Training with SPFC was an excellent choice. Maybe the obvious choice. The X factor for the World Cup will be how well teams are able to maintain their resources, organization and time tables. Working with SPFC gives the USMT a level of assurance that is not easy to come by in Brazil. As long as they have helicopters for everyone, Sao Paulo is the city to be in, and Tricolor is the team to work with.

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  3. This just proves that the USMNT has what it takes to beat Brazil even with MLS based players, and that the MLS is a whole step above the Brazilian league. This is a great day for Americans everywhere. May Uncle Sam look down on you with grace.

    And I’m sure the first game was just a fluke.

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  4. “What do you think of this result?”

    Well, given the facts that (1) it was practice, (2) we don’t know who played, (3) nobody really saw the match, and (4) nobody connected with either team has said anything, it’s something of a pointless question.

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    • After watching Sherlock Holmes last night I can say that it is elementary that we can draw only one firm conclusion. That is that the US had a better result than they did in the first scrimmage. We don’t even know if they played better, only that they had a better result. Any other conclusion is just pure speculation.

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  5. The USNT just regain their fitness, see understanding and chemistry between players, and get the feeling Sao Paulo’s traffic (yes, it’s worst than Los Angeles’ traffic).

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  6. If this isn’t proof of how above-average the MLS, then I don’t know what is.

    I know the MLS haters aren’t going to like it, but the reality is Sao Paulo is a magnificent team. They can beat the best teams in the Brazilian leagues. I know. I read things.

    These boys are essentially the best of the MLS. And it’s the off season. And Sao Paulo benefited from being a club and not a bunch of players thrown together. Yet, the USMNT was able to end the game on top.

    Face reality boys: the MLS is greatly superior to most of the world’s leagues despite your personal feelings.

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    • Right on bro. Haters gonna hate.
      People used to say no American players would ever be worth more than 1.2 million a year and look at me now!!
      I bet none of this haters could name 5 Sao Pablo players you know why? Because they’re not world famous like our boys. That’s why we make way more money than them.

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    • The MLS is a top 10 league. Mind you, the level drops off very fast after about the top 4-5. Its a matter of time now. It’s like growing up. When you are 20, you don’t know half the things you will by the time you finish college.
      Its just time. Oh and tons of money soooo ya a lot like going to a University.

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  7. Great result. This is the kind of news that travel around the world and helps the US gain respect from other countries.
    If we can beat SP with our B-C team just imagine what we can do to them with our full squad.

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    • This kind of news won’t even travel around Brazil, let alone the world. The Brazilian news agency, Globo Esporte, reporting the story has it buried in it’s site where few will see it (because few will care). Even the comments on the article don’t care about the US (only one even mentions “os Estados Unidos”).

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      • Seems to be a lot of local media coverage but this news wont travel because sao paulo lost..

        When sao paulo won, there was 4 separate articles on their website.

        Go look now, Since Sao Paulo lost, they wrote one article and it’s not featured in the main news box.

      • Uncle: how the Sao Paulo football club reports on their own team is very different than how unaffiliated media outlets report. Of course SPFC will report on their own team’s activities, even something as inconsequential as these scrimmages. The point I was making is that no one else is reporting on it.

  8. Way to go US! It’s a very positive sign. Making a big deal of it is not really necessary. In my book good club teams can win over national teams when the national team does not have a good pool of soccer players to draw from. The reason why, let’s say, Denmark and the Netherland have shown true greatness at times is because they are small countries and they don’t have far to travel to get to practice; so they are more like individual club teams. At that point it’s probably more important to have a good coach. But the best example comparing club teams to national teams is again Club America playing as the Mexican national team. They were far superior to the national team in the recent pay-offs,

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    • If nothing else, this will give the squad a morale boost headed into the South Korea match that actually counts against our international record!

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    • “The reason why, let’s say, Denmark and the Netherland have shown true greatness at times is because they are small countries and they don’t have far to travel to get to practice; so they are more like individual club teams”

      Curious.

      So why have Luxembourg and San Marino not displayed true greatness? Aren’t most Central American CONCACAF countries, like Honduras and El Salvador small?

      The top Dutch and Danish players work in other countries so that increases their travel time to practice in their homes countries.

      Brazil Is humungous and Argentina is big but not as big and both countries have their top players spread all over the world.

      And the last I checked those two countries are not bad.

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      • Because those two countries are truly tiny and they don’t have enough quality player to draw from. Liechtenstein has only one town. Same with Luxemburg. They participate in the World Cup play-offs because all countries are competing in the World Cup as long as they can field a team. Usually countries like Monaco, Andorra, Liechtenstein Luxemburg etc. are eliminated right away because they don’t have sufficiently talented players.

  9. There are only 3 things that matter about this camp and the subsequent scrimmages against Sao Paulo:
    1. Is Klinsi and his staff getting good insight about the logistics for the WC? (I think the answer is probably yes).
    2. Are we suffering any injuries that could take people out of contention for roster spots (so far it sounds like the answer is no)?
    3. Are some players on the cusp earning performance with their spots?

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    • Yes, injuries are a great concern. I have watched Korea play and they have in the past played very aggressively. I don’t know if that also happens in friendlies. But Klinsmann is going to be aware.

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  10. I’d imagine this thread is going to be a little shorter than the one following the defeat. Harder to make hyperbolic, preconceived arguments about the quality of MLS and the USMNT now.

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  11. These results show that MLS isn’t that far below the Brazilian league from a competitive standpoint.

    The US players don’t play together everyday like SPFC so this is impressive for a result against one of the best teams in South America.

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      • Probably someone on the Mexican coaching staff who kept telling their players that Kooiman “no sabe a jugar” while they were being beat by the US in the Gold Cup final…

      • No this was from one of the Gold Cup from the early 90s. Camera was panning the dejected Mexican bench and the mic picked up some staff member trying to raise the players morale by saying “Kooiman no sabe a juagar, no sabe a jugar.” Funny because we rarely beat them before that game.

    • Let’s not get too carried away.

      Remember…this can be thought of as an MLS All-Star team of sorts, an it’s not like they crushed SPFC.

      Still, I bet the gap is closer that most people think, for a few reasons:

      1. Most of the best Brazilian players leave Brazil to make more money elsewhere; still, there are a TON of them in country.

      2. The US puts more of a focus on sheer athleticism, which at times can be an advantage over the unquestionably better technique & flair of the Brazilians.

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      • Yes this was a MLS based team so people should be informed that US didn’t get beat 3-0 or 4-0; it means the gap is not that big. Of course it doesn’t mean the next Neymar or Robinho is coming out of MLS but from a competitive standpoint, MLS teams could compete in Copa Libertadores and nobody should underestimate them or else they will get beat.

        Did you ever watch Norway – Brazil match in World Cup 2002 ? How did Norway beat Brazil? Technique and flair? LOL

      • “The US puts more of a focus on sheer athleticism, which at times can be an advantage over the This has been true since about the early unquestionably better technique & flair of the Brazilians.”

        The Brazilians are not exactly a clumsy bunch of smurfs. There are more than a few top Brazilian players with lots of athleticism, size, speed and power. This has been true since at least the early 90’s.

        Fabiano the Brazilian who scored in these scrimmages for example is about Jozy’s size and just as physical and athletic though he’s a bit older now.

        It’s just that the media tend not to dwell on that.

    • São Paulo finished 9th last year. The didn’t use Luis Fabiano, and three players in the second half were making their first appearance with the senior side. So let’s read nothing into this please other than some of our guys got to run around for a while.

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    • I get tired of the hyperbole just like you, but this result isn’t something to turn your nose up at. Just because it’s a scrimmage, the Brazilian players don’t want to lose to the upstart Yanks…especially without the A-team players that they may have heard of.

      Plus, names like Luis Fabiano and Jadson aren’t exactly scrubs.

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    • It was silly to be worried about the last match.

      1. The US players had 2 weeks to integrate. The Sao Paolo players work together day in and day out.

      2. 24 US players played in that match which means every player that started was likely subbed at some point. That’s not going to contribute much to cohesion.

      I’d say it’s a pretty encouraging sign that, as they have more time to coalesce, an MLS-based squad took down a storied Brazilian side.

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      • Also, let’s not make a big deal about the fact that Sao Paolo didn’t finish 1st last year.

        Look at last years champions, Fluminense. They lucked out of relegation on a technicality this year (the club right above them was docked points for an ineligible player).

    • Of course i would watch and enjoy! If the USMNT played every week i would watch but Jürgen has a plan here and i think he wants to play closed door low intensity games right now in prep for the rest of the year.

      Certainly better than playing inter squad games in LA all month long.

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      • yeah i understand that what his plan is and these closed door matches are for prep….but my interfan in me like to watch USMNT

  12. Just like many of us sane people didn’t get too emotional about the USMNT losing last week to this same SPFC, we should also not get too carried away with a W!!!! Just saying!

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