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USMNT hoping to draw confidence from summer friendlies heading into Brazil game

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The last time the U.S. Men’s National Team took the field, it was against France, the eventual World Cup champions, in a hostile environment in Lyon. The team played a strong defensive game and ended up battling Les Bleus to a 1-1 draw.

There are only so many things that can be taken away from a friendly where one team is tuning up for the biggest event in the sport and the other is just happy to be there, as was the case when the U.S. played their final summer match back in June. However, there is one think that the team learned from that game that can help them Friday night against Brazil.

“What we took away from France is that we can actually play against high level teams like that,” said midfielder Weston McKennie. “You know France won the World Cup. Going into this game we’re just really going to stick to our game plan and the confidence that we drew from those summer matches that we had will show in this match here.”

That match wasn’t the first time the USMNT did well against a high level opponent on the road in recent years. They famously scored back-to-back wins against the Netherlands and Germany across the Atlantic Ocean in the summer of 2015. They followed those wins up with a loss in the Gold Cup semifinals and a World Cup qualifying campaign that ended in disaster.

The France result also came after a rather disappointing showing a week earlier against a much weaker Republic of Ireland team, which couldn’t have installed any confidence in a side still trying to figure itself out.

However, the current USMNT squad certainly feels like this summer was different. They hope their strong performance against France in a hostile environment will have them ready to go against another global superpower in Brazil.

“Everyone’s up for it,” defender Eric Lichaj said. “After the last game against France, it was uplifting to show to a lot of those guys that they could handle the best and we’ll be trying to handle the best tomorrow as well. I think the guys are up for it and ready for it.”

“Everyone knows France won the World Cup and the guys have shown that they can play with them.”

One other difference from that match in France should be the USMNT’s mentality. Back in June, they focussed mostly on defending and keeping the French from blowing them away on the road. With the Brazil match being on home soil, the players are expecting to show a bit more of an attacking posture.

“It’s always nice to have a home crowd,” said McKennie. “I think going out and seeing that we have home support I think it will make a tremendous difference.”

The USMNT will certainly find out if their confidence is justified fairly quickly. Brazil is bringing much of their starpower with them to New Jersey on Friday night. Neymar, Willian, Roberto Firmino, and a large portion of the squad that experienced another World Cup disappointment will be there hoping to get their new cycle off to a hot start.

Comments

  1. So close to kickoff and where are the US fans? Still in traffic? There sure are a lot of empty seats, and a lot of yellow shirts.
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    It’s great, if a bit overwhelming, that Brazil really brought all their world-class players, which I didn’t really think they would. But the young US guys are going to need a lot of people cheering for them too.
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    It would be sad if all the carping and criticizing had led to a loss of support for the team, whoever plays on it and whoever coaches it. I wish Earnie Stewart, whatever else he drags his heels about doing, could show some energy and charisma and encourage people to come out to the games.
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  2. i’m really excited about this moment! dave sarachan and ernie stewart have made this moment possible, thanks to them. now let’s see what the kids can do!

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  3. Brazil Roster ?? (and players that played Mexico in the world cup)

    GK Alisson Liverpool
    GK Hugo Flamengo
    GK Neto Valencia (SUB)
    D Dede Cruzeiro
    D Fabinho Liverpool ⚽
    D Felipe Porto
    D Filipe Luis Atletico Madrid ⚽
    D Marquinhos Paris Saint-Germain (SUB)
    D Eder Militao Porto
    D Alex Sandro Juventus
    D Thiago Silva Paris Saint-Germain (SUB)
    M Arthur Barcelona
    M Casemiro Real Madrid ⚽
    M Philippe Coutinho Barcelona
    M Fred Manchester United ⚽
    M Lucas Paqueta Flamengo
    M Andreas Pereira Manchester United
    F Douglas Costa Juventus ⚽
    F Éverton Soares Gremio
    F Roberto Firmino Liverpool ⚽
    F Neymar Paris Saint-Germain ⚽
    F Richarlison Everton
    F Willian Chelsea ⚽

    A lot of these players were part of the world cup team and Mexico did really really well against them. I really think the USMNT are going to surprise us…..again

    Reply
      • Gary do you still have your panties in a bunch over the fact I shit all over a guy who constantly speaks poorly about your country, it’s players and your home league? SBI lost its luster, the days of good conversation for the most part are gone. Lighten up a little bit, life is much more enjoyable when you aren’t so uptight. It’s fun shitting all over robs dumb ass, give it a whirl.

      • whamm: here’s the deal though, I used to post on another site that had a troll far worse than Rob, and people got fed up with him and started attacking him and the whole message board just devolved into people attacking each other. The site dropped their message board entirely because they got tired of dealing with it.

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