The U.S. men’s national team delivered one of their worst performances under Gregg Berhalter against Colombia on Saturday. They responded with one of their best against No. 5 ranked Brazil on Wednesday night.
Rodrygo and Christian Pulisic traded first half goals as the USMNT and Brazil played out a thrilling 1-1 draw at Camping World Stadium. It marked the first-ever draw between the two countries in the 20th all-time meeting.
Yunus Musah came close to opening the scoring in the fourth minute, ripping a shot from long-range which rattled the crossbar. The ball almost crossed the goal-line after deflecting back off of Alisson’s back, but the Liverpool goalkeeper was able to scramble back and gather possession.
Despite continued pressure from the USMNT, Brazil struck first after Matt Turner’s poor goal kick. Raphinha raced upfield before sliding a through ball pass to Rodrygo, who drilled a low shot into the bottom-right corner for a 1-0 lead.
The USMNT battled back though to tie the match through Pulisic’s free-kick equalizer. Pulisic was fouled outside of the Brazilian box by Joao Gomes and proceeded to drill a right-footed shot into the bottom-left corner in the 26th minute.
It marked Pulisic’s 29th all-time goal for the USMNT, moving him one tally behind Brian McBride for fifth all-time.
Both teams traded offensive efforts in the second half as the action rolled on.
Alisson dove down to deny Pulisic a second goal of the night in the 68th minute after Weston McKennie’s cut-back pass.
Turner denied Rodrygo in the 74th minute from point-blank range as the Real Madrid attacker tried to poke an effort past the veteran goalkeeper. Rodrygo’s flicked effort took a slight deflection off of Chris Richards, but Turner palmed away the shot.
Substitute Brenden Aaronson came close to propelling the USMNT in front but Alisson again made himself big to make a key save with minutes to play.
Turner’s final save of the night denied Vinicius Junior a winning goal in the 87th minute as the 29-year-old punched away the Brazilian star’s shot.
Tyler Adams, Brenden Aaronson, and Moore all earned their first minutes of the window, while Joe Scally, Antonee Robinson, and Pulisic were among the standout performers of the match.
The USMNT will now open their Copa America group stage schedule on June 23 against Bolivia.
