Brazil Destroys US Men's National Team 4-1

It had been a mostly positive 2015 for the U.S. men's national team with signature wins over Germany and the Netherlands counterbalancing a tough loss to Jamaica in the Gold Cup semifinals. This obvious progress came to a screeching halt at least for one night though as Brazil came into Gillette Stadium and embarrassed the Americans 4-1 in a friendly that wasn't nearly that competitive. Head coach Jurgen Klinsmann has to hope that the after-effects are short-lived since his team's next game is Oct. 10 vs. Mexico at the Rose Bowl to decide who gets the final spot in the 2017 Confederations Cup.

Tim Howard was on the bench all night, Clint Dempsey remained in Seattle to rest and Fabian Johnson continued to rehab from an injury and all of their collective absences added up. Granted, the U.S. could have fielded their best players of all-time and they still probably would have lost by a few goals. Brazil is no longer the powerhouse that they used to be (they haven't won a World Cup since 2002 which to them is a long slump) but they brought back the glory days for 90+ minutes in front of a partisan crowd that was mostly wearing yellow.

Hulk got the party started in the 9th minute after Willian's cross hit the post and the striker was able to crush the loose ball in the box past Brad Guzan. Still, after a rough start the U.S. started to gain some possession and find their way back into the game. Trailing only 1-0 at halftime gave the Americans some hope for a second half comeback. That is until early in the second half when their defense went down in flames. First, Neymar (who came on as a substitute to start the 2nd half) drew a clear penalty kick on hometown hero Geoff Cameron and converted it in the 51st minute for a 2-0 lead.

Two American players (Michael Orozco and Danny Williams) were issued yellow cards two minutes apart and then Rafinha scored a sweet goal (if you are a fan of Brazil) in the 64th minute (seconds after entering the game). Neymar topped it with his second goal three minutes later where he beat at least three U.S. defenders then poor Guzan. Williams salvaged the only shred of dignity for the U.S. with a golazo in garbage time-the 91st minute. He hit a shot from at least 25-30 yards out that cleanly went by Brazil's goalkeeper Marcelo Grohe. It's hard to believe that was only his second goal in a U.S. uniform because he clearly has a special ability to hit the ball.

A win against Mexico will erase most of it not all of the negativity stemming from this terrible performance. It's important to keep in mind that as ugly as this was, it really doesn't mean a whole lot (assuming of course that the U.S. shows up vs. El Tri). That is the weird world of international soccer for you where there are so many matches year-round with varying degrees of importance that are affected by a million different factors. It simply wasn't the U.S.' night while Brazil looked dominant, (checks calender) it's 2015 right? Oh well, see you in a month. PS beat Mexico!

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USMNT Gets The Job Done: Advances To the Knockout Round for the 2nd World Cup in a Row

It was not a memorable match by any means since the U.S. men's national team basically held on for dear life the entire time, but when the final whistle blew at Arena Pernambuco in Recife this afternoon that hardly mattered. The Americans had booked a spot in the knockout round of the 2014 World Cup via a 1-0 loss to Germany coupled with a 2-1 Portugal win over Ghana.

The Americans finished in second place in Group G (behind Germany) with four points and a goal-differential of zero. Portugal and Ghana both go home while the U.S. meets Group H winner Belgium on Tuesday (4, ESPN) in the round of 16. Germany plays Algeria on Monday with the elimination games beginning on Saturday while we all get a welcome day off tomorrow following two straight weeks of incredible soccer.

This is the first time ever that the U.S. has made the knockout round in back-to-back World Cups so there is plenty to celebrate, especially when you consider the supposedly great teams that are already gone: Spain, Italy and England to name a few.

Germany controlled the ball the entire way but at least had nothing to show for it in a scoreless first half. The one real good chance for the U.S. came on a curling shot from the top of the box by Graham Zusi that just went over the crossbar. Unlike fraudulent Portugal which was ranked No. 4 for no good reason, Germany is legitimately recognized as the No. 2 team in the world.

At some point, the talent of a team like that will eventually take over. Tim Howard had just made a diving stop when the rebound went out to Thomas Mueller. His one-timed rocket from distance went into the corner of the net. It was a breathtaking strike, his fourth of the tournament which ties him for the lead with Brazil's Neymar and Argentina's Lionel Messi.

From there, it didn't matter that much if Germany scored again. It was more about what happened in the other match (going on at the same time) which makes it even tougher to take. Ghana was the bigger threat to the U.S. since Portugal buried themselves with the opening 4-0 loss to Germany. Cristiano Ronaldo's late goal for Portugal basically sealed the U.S.' fate so I guess we have to take all the nasty stuff we said about him.

After defending the whole game against a superior opponent, in the pouring rain, credit to the U.S. for conjuring up a couple near goals in the dying minutes. Their best passing sequence of the group stage almost resulted in a beautiful goal by Alejandro Bedoya but it was stopped by the sliding German defense. Clint Dempsey had a header from feet away that somehow went over the net. Oh well, bring on Belgium.

I don't fear Belgium nearly as much as I did Germany. They are one of the top teams in the world these days but they are new to these lofty heights so as far as the national team goes, they really don't have much big game experience. We'll see if that plays a role on Tuesday but I feel like if the United States plays up to their capabilities, they could surprise Belgium since make no mistake, the U.S. will be the underdog.

The winner of U.S.-Belgium meets the winner of Argentina-Switzerland (12, ESPN) which precedes it on Tuesday. That quarterfinal match is on July 5. The U.S. lost in the round of 16 to Ghana in 2010 and they've only reached the quarterfinals once in the modern era (2002). Therefore the next few days' worth of hype is well deserved and it would really be something for the sport in this country if they can get past the Belgians to possibly have a shot at Messi (the best player in the world) and Argentina-another top team.

UPDATE 6/27: Jermaine Jones broke his nose yesterday in a collision with teammate Alejandro Bedoya but the good news is that it sounds like he'll still be able to play vs. Belgium. He is carrying a yellow card along with Kyle Beckerman and Omar Gonzalez into the Belgium match. Those only clear when you reach the semifinals.

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Brazil Beats U.S. Men 4-1 In Entertaining Friendly

The U.S. men's national team got an up close look tonight at what a true world power in soccer looks like. Namely one (Brazil) that is now 16-1 against them with a 35-11 goal differential.

For the first 45 minutes against Brazil, the Americans mostly chased the ball and their superior opponents. However, in the second half the U.S. had more chances but they still were on the wrong end of a humbling 4-1 defeat at FedEx Field in Landover, MD.

As always with friendlies, the final result is much less meaningful than what your team can get out of it. In that sense, I'd say this was a a worthwhile time for Jurgen Klinsmann's team since they learned that they can play with Brazil (when they want to). They also realized how many things they have to tighten up in order to consistently compete at that level.

The match was basically lost in the first 26 minutes as Brazil put up two quick goals for a 2-0 lead. Oguchi Onyweu's hand ball resulted in a successful penalty kick by Neymar in the 12th minute.

Neymar was at it again 14 minutes later as his corner kick found Thiago Silva's head.

Despite rarely possessing the ball (an important concept in soccer), the U.S. pulled one back in the 45th minute when Herculez Gomez scored in his first start for the U.S. in almost two years. Michael Bradley made a nice run and hit Fabian Johnson with a through ball down the left flank. Johnson crossed it to the goalline and Gomez was there to run through it.

Brazil's latest budding superstar Neymar picked up his second assist in the 52nd minute by finding an unmarked Marcelo in the box, 3-1 Brazil.

Gomez nearly scored again in the 64th minute but his header from Johnson's cross was cleared off the line, Clint Dempsey had a chance to get it but he went to the ball with his wrong foot.

Neymar and Pato missed out on a carbon copy of Marcelo's goal in the 67th minute, Pato's shot beat Tim Howard but went off the post.

The U.S. buzzed Brazil's goal for about a 10-minute stretch there as Gomez's shot (from Dempsey) was saved and Cabral (Brazil's goalkeeper) made a nice stop on the rebound shot by Terrence Boyd. Off a U.S. corner, Bradley's header was tipped over the crossbar and Onyewu hit the bar with his header on Donovan's free kick.

Gooch's rough night was capped off by keeping Pato onside as the Brazilian forward made the most of his second chance, in the 87th minute, putting it low and hard into the side netting.

My takeaway from this game is that Gomez is playing the best soccer of his life, ditto for Bradley and Johnson has already solved the U.S.' black hole at left back. Nobody in their right mind expected the U.S. to beat Brazil and the long odds of that were compromised by the terrible start. Still, the U.S. didn't fold and they kept fighting. They also played much better in the second half and created many opportunities; I worry that finishing will continue to be an issue against the top-level squads like Brazil.

Only one more exhibition before the U.S. men begin 2014 World Cup qualifying a week from Friday against Antigua and Barbuda in Tampa Bay, FL. The U.S. will meet Canada on Sunday night (7 p.m., NBC Sports) in Toronto. It should be a fun way to prepare for the truly meaningful games. Win or lose, I can't get too worked up about friendlies.

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Neymar breaks my heart, stays with Santos

Shimer said last week before he left that Chelsea was on the verge of signing Neymar. As you can imagine, I was pumped since the Blues need an infusion of young talent as my colleague pointed out and they don't get more tantalizing than the 18-year-old Brazilian.

Uh nevermind. Neymar signed a five-year deal to remain with Santos.

He has followed the advice of Pele and new national team coach Mano Menezes to stay in Brazil, at least for now.

Neymar, who scored on debut for Brazil against United States last month, said: "The final decision always rests with the player. My father always will want what is best for me. I talked to him and decided to stay. Money alone does not bring happiness. I'm happy here and I want to continue being so. It was a complicated decision, very difficult. But God gave us the wisdom and power to make the best decision. Now it's time to only think about Santos and winning more titles.''

Santos' president Luis Alvaro lauded Neymar for his "courageous decision'' to stay in Brazil and said he hoped the move would spark an end to the relentless talent drain to Europe.

"We've built a different possibility,'' Alvaro said. "We no longer accept the idea that we're an underdeveloped nation always at the mercy of the powerful European clubs.''

This is all well and good and I applaud Neymar for taking the road less traveled (ie. not following the money). However, I'd be shocked if he plays out the length of this contract with Santos. This guy is too good to not be playing in England, Spain, Italy or Germany.

Explain to me again why Pato and Neymar didn't go to South Africa?

I had heard about Neymar before but I had never seen him (besides YouTube highlights) until tonight.

In his debut for the Brazilian national team, 18-year-old Neymar scored a goal as the Selecao defeated the U.S. 2-0 at New Meadowlands Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.

This was Mano Manezes' first game as Brazil's coach and the team's first match since their quarterfinal loss in the 2010 World Cup to Netherlands.

It might have been because 14 of the 23 players that suited up for Brazil were making their first or second international appearance or because Dunga was sent packing with his ill-fated defensive style but for one night, Brazil looked like the fun-loving machine they always seem to be.

Neymar scored in the 28th minute with a header off a cross from Santos. I don't think Neymar could have done much more tonight, everything was perfect including his sweet mohawk.

In the 46th minute, Alexandre Pato, another guy that was left out of South Africa, showed why that was a terrible mistake. He scored after a defensive breakdown by the U.S.' central defense (sound familiar?) and a great through ball by Ramires.

Pato had an earlier goal waved off after he clearly ran over U.S. goalkeeper Tim Howard.

Brazil deserved to win by multiple goals but there were some near highlights and solid performances in the loss for the U.S.

Right off the bat, Landon Donovan sneaked through and should have scored in the second minute after a clever touch from Edison Buddle. Donovan was slowed up by a foul but there was no call for a PK.

The second half was even more wide open. Pato should have scored his second goal in the 46th minute after a sweet ball from Robinho. In the 53rd minute, Robinho hit a shot off the post and the U.S. looked to pull one back in the 57th minute when Michael Bradley headed in a cross from Sasha Kljestan.

Neymar got some time and space and nearly scored his second goal in the 61st minute. His stepovers froze the U.S. defender but his shot was stopped by Brad Guzan, who had a superb second half.

In the 70th minute, Neymar was sprung on a breakaway but Guzan came out to cut down the angle and stop it.

Brazil was unlucky, hitting the post once again in the 78th minute with Gonzo's long blast.

Guzan absolutely robbed Eduardo in the 83rd minute from a few feet away.

The U.S. almost snuck one in late when Jonathan Spector's cross was headed by Herculez Gomez. Brazil's goalkeeper Victor deflected it just wide.

Guzan had one more memorable save in the last minute of stoppage time and that was it.

Only time will tell if this was Bob Bradley's last game with the U.S.

For now, I will remember it for Neymar and Pato's brilliance. These guys are absolute studs that will be around for a long, long time.