The USMT will play their second game of the Confederations Cup on Thursday. The Americans will have to find a way to contain the always potent, fluid attack of the Brazilians and take advantage of lax defending they displayed during their opening 4-3 win over Egypt.
In order to have a chance for a successful result the United States will need to absorb the Brazilian pressure, while continually looking for space to exploit when the Brazilians get pushed-up in the attack.
In the defense, the big question mark is whether captain Carlos Bocanegra will return from injury. Bocanegra was back in training yesterday. If not, Jay Demerit did a fine job stepping in against Italy and presumably would get the call to line up with Oguchi Onyewu again. Jonathan Spector will line-up at right back and share in the responsibilities of defending Kaka and Robinho. Jonathan Bornstein, who many thought struggled against Italy, should start at left back. This is game that will suit him better.
The midfield is a trickier situation and will see at least see one change from the Italy game. Michael Bradley will need to play the role of destroyer. Benny Feilhaber will need to distribute the ball quickly and accurately. He has the ability to pick apart the defense with his passing.
Landon Donovan will need to play box to box, splitting his time between absorbing the attack and getting out quickly to spark a counter. The left wing is a question mark, but DeMarcus Beasley would be a logical choice. He is in terrible form, but he has the speed and pace to counter-attack and can be trusted to get back and defend.
Jozy Altidore played the target role very well against Italy, and the tactics are going to call for long balls over the top. The problem with Altidore is he does not have the passing skills to line up with a quick striker next him. Charlie Davies, while fast, would not partner well with Altidore. Freddy Adu would be a better choice. He would be able to use his technical ability to quickly break-down parts of the defense and free up Altidore to run off the ball.
The US has a great chance to get three points from this game. But they must be prepared to absorb the attack and take advantages of their chances.
Prediction: Brazil 2 USA 2
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