As Copa América approaches, the pressure is building on USMNT’s Gregg Berhalter

The US bounced back significantly

Shame is still a powerful emotion in American football. It’s hard to believe that the USMNT could have called a performance so furious and focused on Wednesday if they hadn’t been humiliated in their previous match a few days earlier and decided to make amends.

So this was a fascinating 1-1 draw against Brazil, made possible thanks to last Saturday’s 5-1 defeat against Colombia. The imprint of Maryland’s collapse was stamped on the spirit of this performance in Orlando.

Intensity at a level rarely seen in a friendly match on the eve of a tournament, where avoiding injuries is a priority, was evident from the start. Yunus Musah punched the crossbar from a great distance after just four minutes, after which Christian Pulisic drove to the defense and forced Alisson to make a save.

It forced a strong Brazilian team, who looked as if they would have preferred a quieter Copa América performance, to up their game in the Florida heat. Just like against Colombia, the US conceded an early goal, to Rodrygo; this time they did not give in by committing glaring errors under pressure from some of the world’s most exciting attackers. Yet there were only two changes to the starting line-up from last weekend, with Ricardo Pepi Folarin replacing Balogun up front and Musah replacing Johnny Cardoso in midfield. And once again the US’s main playmaker, Gio Reyna, was relatively quiet.

“It’s obviously a huge rebound performance for us,” goalkeeper Matt Turner told reportersa few days after he apologized to the fans for the loss of Colombia. “We really faced the setbacks and were able to bounce back a few days later. And in tournaments that is so important, because not every result and not every call will go your way.”

Set up a template

This wasn’t far from a realistic best-case scenario for the US in any match against one of the best teams in the world: absorb enough attacks and benefit from some luck (Vinicius Junior was lively but wasteful for Brazil), but take a set -piece goal and even create enough chances to sneak in a winner.

Brazil had 61% of possession and 25 shots, but the US could still have won, with Christian Pulisic missing a great chance to finish off a second-half move and substitute Brenden Aaronson also going close. It was the kind of inspired night where you imagine the US could upset one of the favorites at a major tournament, be it the upcoming Copa América or the 2026 World Cup.

After falling well below expectations against Colombia, the US recovered impressively to end an 11-match losing streak against Brazil that stretched back 26 years and secure a first-ever draw between the countries.

Ambition pays off

The US didn’t try to play safe, easy passes, and they weren’t afraid to give up possession, even against such talented opponents. With its direct, aggressive approach, the US wanted to send a message, both to itself and to Brazil. The explanation? The last match was an aberration. We can compete against opponents of this caliber.

That attitude secured the equalizer, with Pulisic making a mistake on the edge of the penalty area after bravely driving towards goal. Then, in a coup that looked as if it had been concocted on the training pitch, Musah and Tim Weah shot across Alisson’s line of sight just before Pulisic struck the ball, perhaps fleetingly distracting the goalkeeper and delaying his dive for a low drilled shot that the Milan striker excellently drilled into the corner.

That mentality was also present on the other side of the field, where the US calmly played the ball at the back. Nothing unusual for good teams of course, but a brave approach against a team as powerful and ready to strike as Brazil. Especially considering how sloppy the passing was against Colombia in the worst defeat of the Berhalter era and the first by a margin of more than two goals since 2019.

No one was calmer in the maelstrom than Tim Ream, the 36-year-old center back who played the entire match and was up against Endrick, the 17-year-old prodigy who came off the bench in the second half.

Turner returns to top form

Subverting the conventional wisdom about playing time and rust, Turner was in better form for his country when he was a back-up at club level than when he played a run of first-team football. A star for the US in Qatar, after moving from Arsenal to Nottingham Forest for some sustained action in 2023, his performances declined. Not to the extent that American head coach Gregg Berhalter had to drop him, but to the extent that observers often wondered after a goal: could he have done that better? Perhaps it was more a matter of confidence than a need for consistent starts.

The fact that only one of Brazil’s 12 goals (twice as many as Colombia, by the way) found the net was down to some sub-par shooting, but also to Turner, who had an excellent night. Admittedly, Brazil’s goal came after his risky kick towards Musah was intercepted. Then Turner, who turns 30 later this month, made a series of nice stops. Against Colombia he had fallen to his knees in despair. His quick distribution in the second half also created opportunities.

Not only were his eleven saves the most of his international career, they were also the most for a USMNT goalkeeper since Tim Howard’s legendary 16 stops performance in a losing cause against Belgium at the 2014 World Cup, which earned the Minister of Defense praise from the actual president. With Joe Biden unavailable late Wednesday, Turner had to settle for being named Michelob Ultra Man of the Match.

It has been educational

The outcome and display eased some of the scrutiny on Berhalter… at least until he named his Copa squad later this week. If the coach has to take some of the blame for the defensive debacle late in the Colombian struggle, then he deserves some of the credit for one of the best nights of his 71-match reign.

“We feel like we’ve taken a small step,” a typically cautious Berhalter told reporters. “It’s not a big step, but it’s a small step to be able to play against an incredibly talented team from Brazil and bend but not break and I think they’re going to have problems as well.”

As the US tiptoes into a tournament that will act as a referendum on its managerial skills, it would be unwise to obsess too deeply about the meaning of friendlies, but it would also be wrong to dismiss these two games as mere rehearsals: they might prove more revealing. on the team’s direction and prospects for 2026 than their opening Copa match on June 23 against Bolivia, ranked 85th by FIFA – in the same neighborhood as Gabon, Zambia and Luxembourg.

The US’s previous match, in March, was a 2-0 victory over Mexico in the Concacaf Nations League final. But wins over one of the worst Mexican teams in generations are devalued currency. The El Tri yardstick is not as accurate a measuring tool as it once was.

That makes the lack of a signature victory over European or South American opposition more striking, and any opportunity to claim another major trophy, trophy or no trophy. There has not been such a victory since 2015, four years before Berhalter took control, when the US defeated the Netherlands and Germany in friendlies. This match, like the goalless draw against England at Qatar 2022, was another creditable close call in that quest for a signature win.

Panama, against whom the US will play their second group match in Atlanta on June 27, are known Concacaf foes. But the final group match in Kansas City on July 1 against Uruguay – which defeated Brazil and Argentina in last year’s World Cup qualifying – will be instructive. And after the deflation and elation of recent days, no one on the US roster can be in any doubt about what it will take to get a result against one of the best teams in South America.