0': Brazil has looked so good recently. Aside from one two-minute lapse, they were in great form against Egypt, so this is going to be very difficult for the U.S. to shut them down while creating enough chances for a goal. I have yet to see any American show a defensive display that can stop Kaka, and that might be the key to the game. We can do it, but it's going to take a breakthrough performance.
0': I like the choice of Kljestan in the middle to account for Ricardo Clark's absence. He's creative enough to keep pressure on the offense, but there will be few sacrifices defensively. Great choice.
5': Where's the foul there? If this creates any problems, the U.S. has legitimate complaint.
7' (U.S. 0-1 Brazil, Felipe Melo 7'): And of course, a poor officiating decision makes us pay. Unbelievable that we're already behind, but aside from the initial decision, I'm not blaming the refs. No way somebody of Spector's caliber should ever let Felipe Melo get position on him, even if the delivery was absolutely beautiful.
11': Well, this free kick looks familiar, it's basically the exact same spot. If we keep giving these away in dangerous positions like this, we're in for a long night. Good low cross by Brazil, they're still threatening.
20' (U.S. 0-2 Brazil, Robinho 20'): Woah, what a goal. Terrible missed touch off our corner, but let's give Brazil credit: that counterattack is why they're Brazil, and we're not. Brazil has been rampant the entire game, and the U.S. is playing no part. This game, and the tournament, looks to be already past us.
24': These couple of lost TV signals worry me. One of the biggest pre-tournament worries was that there wouldn't be sufficient power to service all of the television crews, lights, and everything else. Dunno if that's the reason here, but if this keeps happening here with 8 teams, I worry for the 32-team version. We can't have a repeat of Germany-Turkey from Euro 2008, I'm still pissed I didn't see those goals.
25': Alexi Lalas: "DaMarcus Beasley is having a bad game thus far." I could've told you that 30 minutes ago, he doesn't have the stones for big games.
35': Onyewu picks up a yellow card. They just showed the Brazil bench, and I can't see a single player there who wouldn't be starting for us. Brazil is still bossing the game.
42': We're finally seeing some decent offensive play by the U.S., but the final touch is just not threatening on every cross and ball through. And we're still playing way too loose defensively, Beasley is atrocious right now, even JP Dellacamera says so. The U.S. is fortunate that Gilberto Silva and Felipe Melo missed their chances.
Halftime: U.S. 0-2 Brazil. The announcers discussed a great point at the end of the half. In the tournament, the U.S. ranks 1st by a long shot in long balls played, but well behind the leaders in passes completed. It's really showing here, it seems like the U.S. plays it forward in the air every time they have the ball, and as fast as Donovan and Dempsey are, it's so easy for the Brazil back four to clean that up. Take a little more time on the ball, keep possession, and be patient. It might be the only way to keep players like Kaka off the ball, because they're the ones tearing us apart right now.
46': Conor Casey in for DaMarcus Beasley, thank God. Back underway.
51': The U.S. is already looking better. No more long balls to be found, and the build-up is creating chances on the ground. Conor Casey is still giving the ball away 50% of the time as always (1-for-2, with a poor chest trap), but it's his great ball back that gives Jozy the best chance of the game. Reasons to be optimistic.
56': Dellacamera discussing the Vuvuzela, and... hold on.
56': Kljestan gets a red for that tackle? I have two problems with this. A) Worse tackles have received only a yellow, even within this tournament. It's a dumb challenge, and I understand that it's the referee's discretion, but the U.S. is getting the shaft from officials on every single marginal decision. You can see it from the Onyewu foul that led to the first goal, right down to this red card. It might be the U.S.' reputation for physical play or what, I don't honestly know. Yes, I definitely have some leftover bitterness from the Italy game when saying this, but it was evident in that game, too. Part B of this thought in a little bit.
61': Feilhaber for Altidore? What are you trying to do, stem the bleeding? If you lose, it doesn't matter how much you lose by, you're still out! Just go for the win, bring Feilhaber on for somebody else! Bob Bradley continues to make poor substitutions, and it is positively killing the U.S.' chances. So frustrating.
62' (U.S. 0-3 Brazil, Maicon 62'): Great play in the box by Brazil to create that chance for Maicon, and an excellent finish. Obviously, the red card basically led to this point, but the tactical shift by Bradley to sink back is letting Brazil take back the entire run of play. Nothing but pride left to play for now.
68': OK, part B from that thought on Kljestan in the 56th: I don't know if the official was just attending to Ramires first, but it was such a late red card, he seemed to give it just because Ramires went off injured. Shame that this influenced the decision. Thinking it over, I'm starting to understand that the referee's position is absolutely defensible, but I still think it's harsh on a player who is clearly going for ball, and who hasn't had a bad tackle to that point. This goes for the Clark tackle too: soccer's a quick and rough game, players sometimes mistime their tackles, so you shouldn't send somebody off for an unintentional bad tackle at the first offense.
75': Dempsey plays around with fancy turns way too much. It's pretty to watch, but he nearly always loses the ball when he starts down that road. This is coming from one of his biggest fans: for the sake of possession, he needs to stop.
83': Great rip by Feilhaber off the bottom of the crossbar, this is exactly why he needs to be in the game from the beginning. Still should have come on for someone other than Jozy though.
89': And another one off the crossbar, this one a header from a corner by Casey. At least the U.S. is still going forward, even if nothing's at stake anymore.
90': Meant to say this back in the 56th before the red card, JP Dellacamera was talking about the vuvuzela horns that are omnipresent in the background. Apparently they're giving these away for free in the stadiums? I'll keep saying it, those things drown out all typical chants and noise that you typically associate with great soccer atmospheres. Good to hear that communications companies are getting upset, and they're trying to have them banned from the World Cup.
90'+3: Final whistle, U.S. 0-3 Brazil. The U.S. gets totally outclassed from the opening whistle, and key lapses on defense and in possession lead to goals for the Samba Boys in the first half. Much better play in the second half from the Americans, but the red card to Kljestan leaves them playing a man down for the second consecutive game, ending any hopes.
As I said after the Italy game, it's a matter of discipline. We absolutely must stop making the dumb mistakes we continue to make, which in this case were poor man-marking and missed touches off our own corners. Our tackling decisions are included in that. As much as I will always say that these two red cards in this tournament were harsh, if that's the way the World Cup will be called, we have to stop whining and adjust, myself included. Neither was necessary to prevent a goal, they were simply attempts to make up for lost possession, and that is the biggest indictment on our decision-making.
Right now, the biggest obstacle to our development isn't our physical skill, it's our mental awareness. This tournament is past us, but we need to start correcting this weakness as soon as possible, against a tricky Egypt side.
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