Brazil/USA Quick Recap

I'm tired, it's late, but here are my starting 11 thoughts after the 2-0 win for Brazil.

1. I wasn't going in expecting the US to win so I won't say I'm disappointed in the result, it would've been nice to get a goal back somewhere though. Landon staying up in the box in the 3rd minute shows the kind of classy player he is, but I should would've loved to have seen him let the ref know he got run over and earn the penalty he deserved.

2. Michael Bradley had another solid game although he had some very uncharacteristic mental errors late in the game. Glad he got to wear the captain's armband too.

3. I would rank the performances of the 4 young guys:
Gonzalez >>>> Feilhaber = Jozy > Bedoya

4. Omar Gonzalez is a beast with a future. I'm saying he's as good, but it didn't look like we lost a whole lot with him out there instead of Gooch or DeMerit and the kid's only 21. On the flip side, we've seen young American defenders look really good against elite South American squads during friendly games in NYC before and we know how Heath Pearce hasn't quite turned out as hoped.

5. With Gonzalez (6'5") and Goodson (6'4") in the middle, that's a combined 12 feet 9 inches of defender you have to get a ball over. A scary thought for teams who want to play down the wings and cross it in.

6. Feilhaber and Jozy looked to be playing to avoid injury more than anything else. Considering all the transfer talk that's going on around those two right now I can't say I blame them.

7. Jozy's year with Hull did one thing for sure. That kid can draw fouls like no one else on the USA roster. He drew 4 fouls in his first 20 minutes of play that all lead to dangerous set pieces. Those are the things that really help the team. Not as much as if he was scoring again, but still plenty helpful.

8. Bedoya looks a step slow at all times out there and his lack of defensive ability really exposed Spector, who we already knew wasn't the greatest RB in the world. Unless the US can develop some better fullbacks any outside mid we play will have to be able to stop the attack.

9. Starting Landon in that second striker position made for a weird lineup at the end of the game when the US had 3 strikers and 3 central midfielders trying to play their part in a 4-4-2.

10. Brazil is soooooooooooo pretty to watch. They clearly had a flair that wasn't there with Dunga. Whether it was because of a friendly game they didn't have to worry about, or the infusion of young studs like Pato and Neymar, it was a joy to watch their skill even if it hurt to see the US lose.

11. If this was the last game on the sidelines for Bob Bradley, then thank you sir for all you've done these past four years. Good luck in Europe.