Neymar’s return to the Seleção for a pair of September friendlies against the USMNT and El Salvador brought forth the requisite questions concerning his World Cup antics, and the Paris Saint-Germain star was measured in his response to being labelled a diver before meeting the U.S. in New Jersey on Friday.
As I watched the U.S. friendly against Brazil, a fly kept buzzing around my living room. It would fly in circles, occasionally getting near enough to me so I could try to swat it out of the sky, but it always fluttered away out of my reach. That’s pretty much how most of the USMNT vs Brazil highlights looked, with the Brazilians dancing around their hosts for a 2-0 win on Friday night in New Jersey.
Brazil racked up well over 60 percent of possession and at times dazzled with tricks and flicks. It didn’t look great for a lot of the young USMNT players in defense and midfield.
The U.S. and Brazil men’s national teams have clashed 18 times dating back to their first meeting in 1930. Brazil has won 17 of those. The USMNT vs Brazil 1998 match was the lone outlier, a wild win in a fairly major competition.
The USMNT vs. Brazil matchup on Friday will be the 19th time the two titans clash. Although the U.S. has only won one match and lost 17 against the Sambas so far, New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium is moments away from witnessing one of the most historic New World soccer spectacles — and I’m not referring to Neymar flopping about like a fish.
When 18-year-old phenom Timothy Weah takes the pitch on Friday for the USMNT’s headline friendly against Brazil at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, it’s likely that he’ll see three of his Paris Saint-Germain club teammates opposing him. With 90 caps to his name, Neymar is the most experienced of Brazil’s PSG bunch, but Thiago Silva (who’ll captain the side) isn’t far behind on 76, and defender Marquinhos has already represented the Seleção 27 times at the tender age of 24.
PSG defeated Nimes 4-2 in an action-packed Ligue 1 encounter Saturday that saw Neymar open the scoring and celebrate in front of a sign at Stade des Costières that called him a crybaby. The Brazilian, who’ll be representing the Seleção in friendlies on U.S. soil next week, was substituted off in the 91st minute having taken his total to four goals in four league games following the World Cup.
Interim USMNT manager Dave Sarachan has named his 24-man roster for upcoming friendlies against Brazil (Sept. 7) and Mexico (Sept. 11), including 14 players age 23 and under. Christian Pulisic is the big name absentee after the winger suffered an injury while training with Borussia Dortmund, while 25-year-old New York Red Bulls defender Aaron Long is the only uncapped player in the squad.
18-year-old Brazilian wunderkind Vinícius Júnior appeared in his second match for Real Madrid Castilla (Real’s reserve team) against Atletico Madrid B today. The Madrid Derby in Segunda División B (Spain’s third division) ended in a 2-2 draw with Vinícius Jr at the center of everything for Real, scoring a brace while also getting his head munched on by Atletico captain Alberto Rodriguez.
Brazil is coming to America for a couple friendlies in September, including an anticipated matchup against the United States in New Jersey. The Brazil vs USMNT roster is stacked and includes PSG’s Neymar.
Brazil’s first match since falling to Belgium in the quarterfinals of the 2018 World Cup will take place on Sept. 7 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. Four days later, Brazil plays El Salvador at FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland.
Beijing Guoan continues to set the pace in the Chinese Super League following Tuesday's 5-2 win over Dalian Yifang, and it’s pretty easy to understand why. The five-star performance was spearheaded by a brace from former Villarreal star Cedric Bakambu, a goal from Spanish international Jonathan Viera and another by the man capped 31 times by Brazil, Renato Augusto.
The 30-year-old Augusto — who scored Brazil’s lone goal in the 2-1 defeat to Belgium during the quarterfinals of this summer’s World Cup — is a class apart when it comes to midfielders in the CSL.