These were not normal circumstances.
Going up against five-time
World Cup champ Brazil on Wednesday, just four days after a shameful 5-1 defeat by Colombia in its first of two pre-Copa América warmup games, the U.S. men national team's backs were against the wall.
The U.S. men’s national team were under major pressure to deliver a bounce-back performance against Brazil on Wednesday night and Gregg Berhalter’s squad rose to the occasion against the No. 5-ranked side in the world.
A first-ever draw between the two countries ended 1-1 at Camping World Stadium with the Americans delivering one of their better overall performances during the Berhalter-era. Defensively, the USMNT held their own against some of the top international attackers while offensively they asked plenty of questions out of the Brazilian backline.
Although the match ended as a draw, it certainly felt like a victory for the USMNT only four days after losing 5-1 to Colombia.
“We asked for teamwork and intensity,” Berhalter said postmatch to reporters.
“The way we framed it is two things that are totally in their control. It doesn’t matter about the opponent, it doesn’t matter about the field, the fans or anything. That’s the type of effort that we saw today. The boys certainly did really well on that and that was good. We feel like we made a little step.”
The USMNT overcame a rough start by battling back to earn a share of the spoils on home soil. Matt Turner’s poor clearance off a goal kick led to Rodrygo’s opening goal of the night, but Christian Pulisic’s clinical free kick finish would tie the match before halftime.
Yunus Musah rattled the crossbar earlier in the match while both Pulisic and Brenden Aaronson were denied potential game-winning tallies by Liverpool veteran Alisson.
Turner rallied from a frustrating opening 20 minutes by finishing the match with 11 total saves. He denied both Real Madrid duo Rodrygo and Vinicius Junior in the second half, helping keep the score level for the remainder of the match.
The USMNT could’ve very well have lost Wednesday’s match by a few goals, but knew defensive unity was needed to keep the Brazilians at bay.
“We obviously wanted to put a lot right we did wrong the other night and we knew that it was going to take a lot of hard work, a lot of intensity, and just sticking together,” veteran defender Tim Ream told TNT’s postgame show.
“That was the big message, stick together and come with intensity; for the majority of that game, I think we did that,” he added.
Tyler Adams, Aaronson, and Shaq Moore all earned their first minutes of the June window, featuring as second-half substitutes in the match. Yunus Musah and Ricardo Pepi, who featured off the bench against Colombia, both started the match and earned vital playing time of their own.
Berhalter purposedly wanted to get several players minutes from the match, knowing that he will need everyone ready to go for the start of the Copa America group stage in 10 days’ time.
“We wanted to purposely get minutes for some guys,” Berhalter said. “You know, you just with all the guys want to get a shift because we’re going to be in the couple of Americans. So, it was designed for that. And Rico’s [Pepi] had. A tough year. You know, he hasn’t gotten it not too often.”
The USMNT will now prepare for their group stage opener against Bolivia on June 23 before additional matches against Panama and Uruguay. A June window which originally started with worry now looks a lot more confident heading into a major competition.
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