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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
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| USA v Brazil: international friendly – live! | USA v Brazil: international friendly – live! |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| 1.17am BST01:17 | |
| Kick off coming soon | |
| In the meantime why not check in with Bryan Graham, who’s in Flushing, New York to watch the Williams sisters play each other in the US Open. | |
| And then come back. Because I’m optimistic too. | |
| Updated at 1.18am BST | |
| 1.14am BST01:14 | |
| Some optimism | |
| @KidWeil I'm optimistic - I predict a 2-1 victory for the #USMNT. Altidore's performance will be key | |
| John has also detailed a complex drinking game involving Aron Johannsson coming off the bench and scoring three. He’s optimistic, you see. | |
| 1.12am BST01:12 | |
| Twitter drinks | |
| Daniel Stauss emails in, while gesturing elaborately and grabbing the collar of anyone who’ll listen: | |
| “Line-up consistency and team chemistry are for suckers. Here’s hoping Jurgen plays Tim Howard as a lone striker, with Bradley in goal and Dempsey at left back.” | |
| I believe he did that against Ireland last year, Daniel, but given Howard’s recent sabbatical, he’ll have to earn back the starting striker spot... | |
| 1.08am BST01:08 | |
| Team news | |
| USA: Guzan; Cameron, Orozco, Alvarado, Ream; Jones, Bedoya; Yedlin, Bradley ©, Zardes; Altidore | |
| Brazil: Grohe; Marcelo, Luiz, Miranda, Fabinho; Elias, Luis Gustavo, Douglas Costa, Lucas Lima, Willian; Hulk | |
| Some late worries for Brazil about Kaka’s fitness seem to have passed, though he doesn’t start tonight — sitting on the bench along with Neymar, with Hulk again starting up front in a 4-2-3-1. | |
| The USA go with yet another center back pairing in Alvarado and Orozco, while in front of them it looks like Bedoya is being asked to play the role alongside Jones at the base of midfield, while the speedsters of Yedlin and Zardes get another start out side, and Bradley slots in as playmaker underneath Altidore. Altidore got two goals the other night as captain, but gives the armband back to his Toronto team mate tonight. | |
| 1.05am BST01:05 | |
| Twitter speculates | |
| @KidWeil what'll the game-narrative be? Late collapse, like post-WC, or furious fightback after looking crap, like recently? | |
| I think the late collapses seem to be mercifully subsiding now Chris, but the pattern of the team making it difficult for themselves seems to be taking its place. As to your second point... | |
| @KidWeil more seriously, I'd like to see a lineup that keeps a BIT of consistency regarding positions so players can get used to each other. | |
| ...yep. Klinsmann does like to tinker with individual spots on the field, which rather makes a nonsense of some of the “benchmark” discussions — what version of the US team are we supposed to be comparing? | |
| 1.03am BST01:03 | |
| Twitter stirs | |
| @KidWeil how many CBs can Jurgen start? | |
| Ben has pointed out the rather salient fact that this is one big center back heavy roster from Klinsmann, with most of his defenders natural center backs who may have experience as full backs at their clubs (Tim Ream and Geoff Cameron stand out) but who are generally much more used to the middle. Ream had a solid game against Peru, but it’ll be interesting to see not just how the wide play works out in this game, but how the back four in general manage to gel. | |
| In that regard too, watch for how well Jermaine Jones protects the back four — he’s been played as a central defender at times by Klinsmann in the post-World Cup experimental period, but the holy grail would appear to be finding a way for him and Bradley to play together at the base of the midfield and work out how to complement each other’s different types of attacking instincts while remembering defensive duties. On that note, Jones began to shed his reputation as a yellow card machine in the lead up to the World Cup, but it wasn’t until Kyle Beckerman was inserted as an anchor in midfield alongside him that Jones truly began to find his best form in the team. Can he sustain a more disciplined brief in the next couple of games? | |
| 12.58am BST00:58 | |
| Brazil | |
| Brazil enter the second game of their brief US tour on the back of that 1-0 win over Costa Rica at the weekend. Hulk got the only goal after ten minutes and Brazil generally worked the Costa Rican goalkeeper Patrick Pemberton all night. | |
| It’s a solid roster for the series too - though star power was in slightly short supply until late in the evening against Costa Rica, with Neymar not making an appearance until the 82nd minute, though there was a longer run out for Kaká — who came on to a big ovation from the crowd. | |
| The Orlando City player may want to prove a point on what’s now home soil tonight — certainly that was the case when he put in an MVP performance in the MLS All-Star game against Tottenham last month. Still it’s pretty clear that there’s one man most of the crowd in Boston really want to see — | |
| David Luiz | |
| Neymar. | |
| And it’s still a sticking point for Dunga’s Brazil — the reliance on the brilliance of Neymar has still not been eclipsed by the coach’s emphasis on discipline and collective responsibility. Still, he seemed happy enough with how the last game went: | |
| “Lot of things we practiced in training came out well and we can do them even better. I liked how this team performed. We created a lot of chances. We would have liked to score more goals, but a lot of times in soccer, one is enough.” | |
| At this point it’s tempting to point out that there are time in soccer when “one is not enough”, such as the moments when your opponents score seven — though perhaps that is a point better made to Phil Scolari... | |
| GOALKEEPERS (3): Jefferson (Botafogo), Marcelo Grohe (Gremio), Alisson (Internacional)DEFENDERS (8): David Luiz (PSG), Marquinhos (PSG), Miranda (Inter Milan), Gabriel Paulista (Arsenal), Daniel Alves (Barcelona), Filipe Luiz (Atletico Madrid), Danilo (Real Madrid), Douglas Santos (Atlético Mineiro) | |
| MIDFIELDERS (9): Luis Gustavo (Wolfsburg), Fernandinho (Manchester City), Elias (Corinthians), Ramirez (Chelsea), Oscar (Chelsea), Firmino (Liverpool), Willian (Chelsea), Kaká (Orlando City SC), Lucas Lima (Santos) | |
| FORWARDS (4): Neymar (Barcelona), Lucas (PSG), Hulk (Zenit St. Petersburg), Douglas Costa (Bayern Munich) | |
| Updated at 1.18am BST | |
| 12.52am BST00:52 | |
| USA | |
| Jürgen Klinsmann has found himself under a little pressure this last month or so, since the Gold Cup disappointment, and hardly helped himself with some remarks that sounded a little condescending (because they were a little condescending) about some USA fans not understanding the nuances of what they were seeing when the USA lost 2-1 to Jamaica in the Gold Cup semis. | |
| What said fans were expected to make of “50 Shades of 2-1 defeat” I’m not sure, but it seemed to fit in with the rather tricky pattern of Klinsmann’s reign, where the “benchmarking” of his own performance is constantly deferred because of the bigger picture. Now he faces an elimination game against Mexico for the Confederations Cup spot in Russia in 2017, which in the context of Klinsmann’s preferred preparations for the World Cup (giving his side competitive experience in the host nation), along with the regional bragging rights, and general sense of failure about the Gold Cup campaign, has suddenly become a much bigger game than he’d like to be focused on right now. | |
| Certainly Klinsmann would rather be wearing his technical director’s hat right now and turning his attention to the Olympic qualifying campaign that forms another branch of his ideal preparations for 2018, instead of thinking about banana skins for the first team, but it’s the nature of his dual job description that he’s going to sometimes find himself fighting on multiple fronts. | |
| Speaking of which, there’s been an interesting set of selections on the immediate home front as Klinsmann juggles his MLS players through this international window. Clint Dempsey has been left with Seattle to fully recover from injury in time to face Mexico; Bradley of course has come into the squad after playing for Toronto at the weekend, while his team mate Jozy Altidore played for the national team as captain; and Matt Besler, whose personal stock had fallen in the wake of the World Cup, did his reputation no harm with a cameo against Peru, but now returns to Sporting Kansas City to play a midweek game for them. | |
| There may be some scrutiny on Besler’s erstwhile defensive partner Omar Gonzalez — another defender whose personal stick took a tumble after the World Cup, and who had a patchy half of football against Peru — bearing a lot of the blame for failing to step up on the Peruvian goal. He can expect an even tougher time if he sees the field tonight. | |
| GOALKEEPERS (3) : Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Tim Howard (Everton), Sean Johnson (Chicago Fire) | |
| DEFENDERS (8) : Ventura Alvarado (Club America), John Brooks (Hertha Berlin), Geoff Cameron (Stoke City), Greg Garza (Atlas), Omar Gonzalez (LA Galaxy), Michael Orozco (Club Tijuana), Tim Ream (Fulham), Jonathan Spector (Birmingham City) | |
| MIDFIELDERS (8) : Alejandro Bedoya (Nantes), Michael Bradley (Toronto FC), Joe Corona (Veracruz), Mix Diskerud (New York City FC), Jermaine Jones (New England Revolution), Alfredo Morales (FC Ingolstadt), Danny Williams (Reading), DeAndre Yedlin (Sunderland) | |
| FORWARDS (6) : Jozy Altidore (Toronto FC), Aron Johannsson (Werder Bremen), Bobby Wood (Union Berlin), Jordan Morris (Stanford), Andrew Wooten (SV Sandhausen), Gyasi Zardes (LA Galaxy) | |
| 12.44am BST00:44 | 12.44am BST00:44 |
| PreambleGood evening and welcome to USA vs Brazil — aka “a wonderful benchmark” (© Jürgen Klinsmann). | PreambleGood evening and welcome to USA vs Brazil — aka “a wonderful benchmark” (© Jürgen Klinsmann). |
| Klinsmann’s USA team made a start on repairing its reputation after the Gold Cup with a 2-1 win over Peru on Friday night, and now, with the Mexico playoff for the Confederations Cup spot looming next month, the US take on a Brazil team on something of a reconstruction mission of their own. | Klinsmann’s USA team made a start on repairing its reputation after the Gold Cup with a 2-1 win over Peru on Friday night, and now, with the Mexico playoff for the Confederations Cup spot looming next month, the US take on a Brazil team on something of a reconstruction mission of their own. |
| Brazil may be the only team with a more embarrassing fourth place tournament finish than the USA in recent memory, and they have not exactly set the world on fire in trying to recover from the World Cup debacle. They did beat Costa Rica 1-0 at Red Bull Arena at the weekend though, and while that scoreline might suggest it wasn’t scintillating fare, Brazil did outshoot the Ticos 16-1 on the night, to slightly alter the reputation for dour pragmatism under head coach Dunga. | Brazil may be the only team with a more embarrassing fourth place tournament finish than the USA in recent memory, and they have not exactly set the world on fire in trying to recover from the World Cup debacle. They did beat Costa Rica 1-0 at Red Bull Arena at the weekend though, and while that scoreline might suggest it wasn’t scintillating fare, Brazil did outshoot the Ticos 16-1 on the night, to slightly alter the reputation for dour pragmatism under head coach Dunga. |
| Brazil do look a little more solid defensively these days, though if they fancy “benchmarking” themselves against the USA team in that regard they might feel positively upbeat — Klinsmann is still tinkering with a backline that currently lacks experience and favored personnel, and the Peru game showed some mixed results in that regard. Both sides may feel attack is the best form of defense tonight — let’s hope so. I like typing things in bold, such as GOAL!, PENALTY! and LUIZPERM! | Brazil do look a little more solid defensively these days, though if they fancy “benchmarking” themselves against the USA team in that regard they might feel positively upbeat — Klinsmann is still tinkering with a backline that currently lacks experience and favored personnel, and the Peru game showed some mixed results in that regard. Both sides may feel attack is the best form of defense tonight — let’s hope so. I like typing things in bold, such as GOAL!, PENALTY! and LUIZPERM! |
| The US have a few personnel changes even since Friday night — with perhaps the most noteworthy being the return of Michael Bradley from club duty. How he slots in alongside Jermaine Jones, probably at the base of the midfield, should set a lot of the tone for the USA’s performance this evening. Jones grew into Friday’s game while still showing some signs of ring-rustiness after his injury layoff, but this will be a much sterner test. | The US have a few personnel changes even since Friday night — with perhaps the most noteworthy being the return of Michael Bradley from club duty. How he slots in alongside Jermaine Jones, probably at the base of the midfield, should set a lot of the tone for the USA’s performance this evening. Jones grew into Friday’s game while still showing some signs of ring-rustiness after his injury layoff, but this will be a much sterner test. |
| Anyway, I’ll be back with a little more build up and team news shortly. In the meantime send your tweets to @KidWeil, your emails to graham.parker@theguardian.com, and your air conditioners c/o The Guardian, with predictions, musings, and appropriate benchmarks for overheated liveblogs. | Anyway, I’ll be back with a little more build up and team news shortly. In the meantime send your tweets to @KidWeil, your emails to graham.parker@theguardian.com, and your air conditioners c/o The Guardian, with predictions, musings, and appropriate benchmarks for overheated liveblogs. |
| 5.21pm BST17:21 | 5.21pm BST17:21 |
| Graham will be here shortly, in the meantime here’s news of a worthy cause in football: | Graham will be here shortly, in the meantime here’s news of a worthy cause in football: |
| The Roma president, Jim Pallotta, first saw the photo that moved the world on the front of his newspaper last week and his heart dropped. | The Roma president, Jim Pallotta, first saw the photo that moved the world on the front of his newspaper last week and his heart dropped. |
| “To see a three-year-old boy lying [dead] on the beach you just say ‘enough is enough,’” Pallotta said on Tuesday morning from his office in Boston. “If you can’t get affected by that then you can’t get affected by anything.” | “To see a three-year-old boy lying [dead] on the beach you just say ‘enough is enough,’” Pallotta said on Tuesday morning from his office in Boston. “If you can’t get affected by that then you can’t get affected by anything.” |
| Instantly he knew Roma needed to do something to help as refugees fled war in the Middle East, seeking safety in Europe. Discussions with team officials led to an idea: What if football could unite to bring money and support to people arriving in Europe with nothing? They put together a global fundraising effort called “Football Cares” which they hope can bring football teams and leagues into a single organization to collect money for charities working directly with refugees. | Instantly he knew Roma needed to do something to help as refugees fled war in the Middle East, seeking safety in Europe. Discussions with team officials led to an idea: What if football could unite to bring money and support to people arriving in Europe with nothing? They put together a global fundraising effort called “Football Cares” which they hope can bring football teams and leagues into a single organization to collect money for charities working directly with refugees. |
| Click here for the full story. | Click here for the full story. |