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USA vs. Brazil, Tournament of Nations: Final Score 4-3 as Yanks Storm from Behind to Erase Two-Goal Deficit

Published

9 years ago

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The United States Women’s National Team improved to 17-0-2 at home against Brazil but it was far from easy. The Yanks squandered multiple golden opportunities, made critical mistakes at the back, and sometimes looked just plain lost in falling behind, 3-1 in the 78th minute in their second Tournament of Nations match. But the resilient U.S. side scored three goals in a nine-minute span to storm back and get its first win over a top-10-ranked FIFA team at home in the last four tries.

Sam Mewis, Christen Press, Megan Rapinoe and Julie Ertz scored for the USWNT, to offset a pair of Andressinha goals and a strike from Bruna Benites off a Marta assist on a corner kick. For Press and Rapinoe, it was the chance to break out of a slump. Press had scored only one goal in her previous eight matches and Rapinoe hadn’t scored in 18 international games.

Jill Ellis sent out a starting XI with Alyssa Naeher in goal; a back line of (L-R) Kelley O’Hara, Abby Dahlkemper, Casey Short, and Taylor Smith; a midfield of Carli Lloyd, Becky Sauerbrunn, and Mewis; and an attacking line of Rapinoe, Alex Morgan and Crystal Dunn. Marta and Monica of the Pride started for the Brazilians, with Camila on the bench.

It didn’t take long for the United States to fall behind the Canarinhas. Just two minutes into the match, Andressinha tried a long-range shot that hit Naeher in the hands, but the Chicago Red Stars keeper muffed the shot and her howler landed over the goal line for a 1-0 Brazil lead.

Just one minute later it appeared the U.S. would get a chance to equalize from the penalty spot when Sauerbrunn was kicked in the head by a high boot. Instead of a penalty, however, the referee awarded an indirect free kick. Rapinoe had a shot blocked and two subsequent rebounded attempts were blocked before the Brazilians finally cleared.

Rapinoe got onto a deflected cross in the left side of the box in the 14th minute but her shot was wide of goal, as the USWNT’s lack of sharpness continued. Moments later, a soft back pass from Dahlkemper had Naeher scrambling to clear it to keep it away from the pressing Marta.

However, the equalizer came in the 18th minute. Sam Mewis tried her luck with a blast fom outside the box and it took a deflection off of Benites and eluded Barbara to make it 1-1.

Minutes after the Mewis goal, Marta curled a back post cross to Gabi Nunes, who couldn’t quite get onto it. Nunes was injured on the play and was forced off at 22’, with Camila replacing her for Brazil.

Morgan earned the U.S. a free kick in a good spot in the 27th minute — although in truth it was a soft foul call on Monica. Rapinoe took the free kick and got her shot on goal but Barbara made the save. A minute later, the U.S. squandered a good chance when Dunn got into the top of the box and laid off a pass for no one in particular, allowing the Brazilian defense to easily collect.

In the 31st minute, the Canarinhas had it in the net again but a foul was called for bumping Naeher, who had spilled the ball. Naeher appeared to lose the ball while still in the air and before the bump, but you still can’t run into the keeper and the foul call denied Brazil a 2-1 lead for the time being.

The U.S. wasted a pair of good opportunities on the break minutes later, with Mewis making a mess of a cross in the 37th minute and Morgan doing the same in the 39th. The teams went into halftime deadlocked at 1-1 but either side could easily have led.

Ellis’ side continued to waste chances through much of the second half. Just a minute in, Rapinoe put a corner cross onto Lloyd’s head but Carli nodded it off target and with little pace. A minute later, Rapinoe made a nice run through the Brazilian defense but couldn’t beat Barbara from the top of the box.

Brazil then came into the game a bit as the American defense struggled for a period. Camila was given too much room but fired her shot over the bar from outside the box. Moments later, Andressinha had a go but her drive was just wide.

Rapinoe got down the left and gave second-half sub Mallory Pugh a layup in the 60th minute with a fizzed cross to the top of the six-yard box, but the young U.S. attacker hit the shot off her shin and well over the bar from point-blank range. That miss proved costly.

Just three minutes later, Benites got onto a superb Marta cross on a corner kick at the back post and slotted it home to make it 2-1. Marta had earned the corner herself with an attacking run and cross that was knocked behind by Short. Bruna was completely unmarked on the back post on the corner kick.

Julie Ertz tried to pull that goal back in the 65th minute, getting a header on a set piece but she didn’t make good contact and her effort trickled in to Barbara. A minute later, Bia Zaneratto nearly made it a two-goal lead with a shot just wide that had Naeher scrambling.

In the 69th, the U.S. should have equalized. Christen Press made a gorgeous long pass across the field to send Pugh in alone but her shot was stopped by Barbara. The Brazilian keeper then recovered quickly to deny Press on a diving stop off the rebound. In the 76th minute, Press had a free header on O’Hara’s pinpoint cross but knocked it well over the bar and it just didn’t look like the Yanks’ day.

Two minutes later, Brazil appeared to stick the dagger in for the killing stroke. O’Hara fouled Marta just outside the box, setting up a free kick. Andressinha took the set piece and delivered a marvelous strike that Naeher had no chance to stop.

The 3-1 lead with 12 minutes to play seemed insurmountable the way the breaks were going throughout the match, but Press and Rapinoe dragged the United States back into it.

Press got the ball in a good spot on the left side of the box in the 80th minute and curled in a shot that Barbara got a hand on but couldn’t keep out. The U.S. was quickly back within a goal with 10 minutes left to play.

Naeher made a vital save in the 82nd minute on Marta from close range but at a difficult angle. That kept the deficit at one goal and allowed the Yanks to level things shortly thereafter. Press picked out Rapinoe with another stellar cross and the Seattle Reign star brought it down with a terrific first touch. She then blasted a near-post shot in the 85th that was too hot for Barbara to handle, although the keeper again got a hand on it. With five minutes remaining the sides were level again.

Four minutes later, the U.S. was improbably ahead. After a corner, Rapinoe set O’Hara down the right flank with a perfect pass and the defender whipped in a cross that hit off Barbara’s hands and deflected off Lloyd before falling for Ertz, who simply hit the ball as hard as she could. It found the back of the net and the comeback was all but complete.

Brazil had one more chance to draw level again on a corner kick that Naeher went up into traffic to catch. Once again the U.S. keeper nearly spilled it but she managed to recover it while on the ground and got the whistle. From there, the U.S. saw out the remaining seconds of the match.

The U.S. moved to second in the Tournament of Nations standings, on three points — three behind Australia. The loss puts Brazil on just one point after two matches, along with Japan. Both Brazil and Japan are eliminated from contention in the tournament. Australia needs only a draw to clinch, while the United States needs to beat Japan and get some help from Brazil on Aug. 3 at the StubHub Center in Carson, CA.

The USWNT can only win if it beats Japan by enough to win the goal differential tiebreaker over Australia or pull level on goal differential but score more total goals, so the Yanks have some ground to make up.

Australia 4, Japan 2

In the early game, Sam Kerr led the Matildas to their second victory in two Tournament of Nations matches. It’s been a heck of a year for Kerr, who scored her first international hat trick just days after doing so in NWSL play.

All of Kerr’s goals came in the first half, including this one, which gave her three on the day.

The Aussies led 3-1 at the half and Japan pulled one back late for the final score. Orlando Pride players Steph Catley and Alanna Kennedy both started for the Matildas, while former Pride players Laura Alleway and Lisa De Vanna were on the bench.

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Orlando City

Orlando City vs. San Jose Earthquakes: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More

Orlando City restarts its 2026 MLS campaign late tonight out west at San Jose.

Published

2 weeks ago

on

July 22, 2026

By

Image of Braian Ojeda taking a shot in a friendly against FC Dallas.
Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Justin Glatt

Welcome to your match thread for a late night midweek matchup tonight between Orlando City (4-9-2, 14 points) and the San Jose Earthquakes (10-3-2, 32 points) at PayPal Park (10:30 p.m., Apple TV). This is the only scheduled meeting between the teams in 2026 and the first time the teams have met since 2024.

Here’s what you need to know ahead of tonight’s match.

History

Orlando City is 3-1-3 in the previous seven MLS meetings with the Quakes since the club joined Major League Soccer in 2015. The Lions got their only away win in the series in the last meeting and enter tonight 1-1-2 on the road against San Jose.

The teams last met on May 18, 2024, with Jack Lynn coming off the bench to score the game’s only goal. Lynn’s strike in the 89th minute broke the scoreless deadlock and lifted the Lions to a 1-0 victory.

The teams met in Orlando most recently way back on June 22, 2021, with the Lions beating the Quakes down, 5-0. Orlando got things started with an early penalty kick goal by Nani, followed by braces from Benji Michel and Daryl Dike to easily put the game away. The lasting memory from the game is Michel’s celebratory dance wearing a cowboy hat that came out of the stands.

Prior to that Orlando City romp, the last time the teams met was on Aug. 31, 2019 when the Lions got freight trained 3-0 at Avaya Stadium, giving the Quakes their first win in the series. San Jose’s offense came via a Chris Wondolowski brace and an early opening goal by Magnus Eriksson. Orlando looked flat and weary out of the gate.

The Lions were victorious in Exploria Stadium in the 2018 meeting on April 21, a 3-2 Orlando win. It was the first win in the series for either side after three straight draws. Chris Mueller, Sacha Kljestan, and Dom Dwyer gave the Lions a 3-0 lead before Florian Jungwirth pulled two back in the game’s late stages.

The Lions led all of the first three matches in the second half only to see San Jose pull level, with two of those tying goals coming late. In the 2017 meeting, Carlos Rivas finally broke the scoreless tie and gave Orlando City the lead in the 81st minute, but Wondolowski spoiled the Lions’ night with an equalizer two minutes later as the teams drew at Avaya Stadium, 1-1.

In 2016, the Lions were gut-punched in the 94th minute in an emotional match that ended in a 2-2 draw. It was the first home match following the Pulse nightclub tragedy and what appeared to be a storybook ending to a cathartic win turned sour on a last-gasp equalizer by Shea Salinas. Seb Hines — now the Orlando Pride’s head coach — opened the scoring for Orlando, only to see Chad Barrett tie it up. Julio Baptista restored the lead in stoppage time, but Salinas ruined everything.

The two teams also drew in the first meeting, a 1-1 affair at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, with the Lions down to 10 men after Brek Shea was sent off in the first half. Kaká and Wondolowski each scored from the penalty spot four minutes apart in that initial meeting.

Overview

The teams meet tonight to get their post-World Cup portion of the season started. Orlando City has been terrible on the road all season long, keeping only one MLS opponent under two goals all year away from home and allowing five goals twice (at New York City FC and Nashville) and six goals twice (at LAFC and in the team’s most recent match away at FC Cincinnati just before the break).

Orlando City is a putrid 1-6-1 on the road this season, and now the Lions must face the Western Conference co-leaders tonight before coming home to face Supporters’ Shield-leading Nashville SC at home on Saturday. They’ll have to play at least tonight’s game without Martin Ojeda, who is out with a thigh injury sustained some time between his first-half goal a week ago in a friendly against FC Dallas and the time the availability report dropped on Tuesday.

But it isn’t all bad news for the Lions, who should have both Antoine Griezmann and Dike in the lineup. Griezmann was the club’s highly prized and widely publicized summer Designated Player signing, while Dike’s return to Orlando came together more recently, following his departure from West Bromwich Albion. They’ll help the club’s offense, but the attack hasn’t been the issue in 2026 — it’s been the historically porous defense, which is on pace to shatter the MLS record for goals conceded.

Meanwhile, San Jose is one of the first half of the season’s biggest surprises, as the Quakes have been outstanding in 2026. Scoring 34 goals while conceding just 15, San Jose is among the league leaders in goals scored (tied for third), goals conceded (third), and goal differential (+19, third).

The Earthquakes are 4-2-1 at home and are coming off a 3-1 road win at Portland in their last game prior to the World Cup break. San Jose boasts Golden Boot challenger Preston Judd, who leads the Quakes with 11 goals, adding two assists in his 15 appearances. Ousseni Bouda has chipped in five goals and three assists. Niko Tsakiris leads the team with seven assists to go along with his two goals, but he’s still recovering from a lower body injury and is not available tonight. However, the arrival of Timo Werner (four goals and five assists in just seven games) has truly elevated Bruce Arena’s Quakes, and he’ll need to be one of the main focal points for the Orlando defense.

To have any shot at taking something from this game, the Lions will need to play better road defense than they have all season. Orlando can score goals, but with Ojeda out, Griezmann will need to adapt quickly, and someone other than the team’s leading scorer will need to find the net.

The Lions will play without Ojeda (thigh), Joran Gerbet (knee), Nolan Miller (knee), Colin Guske (international duty), and Clovis Archage (international duty). In addition, Marco Pasalic may or may not have returned to the team after the World Cup. He was not in training Monday, although interim head coach Martin Perelman said he expected the Croatian back soon. The Earthquakes will be without Nonso Adimabua (lower body), former Lion Earl Edwards Jr. (lower body), DeJuan Jones (lower body), and Tsakiris (you guessed it, lower body…come on, San Jose).

Match Content

Official Lineups:

Orlando City (4-4-2)

Goalkeeper: Maxime Crepeau.

Defenders: Adrian Marin, David Brekalo, Robin Jansson, Griffin Dorsey.

Midfielders: Ivan Angulo, Braian Ojeda, Eduard Atuesta, Tiago.

Forwards: Justin Ellis, Antoine Griezmann.

Bench: Javier Otero, Bernardo Rhein, Tahir Reid-Brown, Zakaria Taifi, Iago, Wilder Cartagena, Luis Otavio, Harvey Sarajian, Tyrese Spicer

San Jose Earthquakes (4-2-3-1)

Goalkeeper: Angus Gunn.

Defenders: Jamar Ricketts, Reid Roberts, Daniel Munie, Benjamin Kikanovic.

Defensive Midfielders: Beau Lerouox, Ronaldo Vieira.

Attacking Midfielders: Timo Werner, Nick Fernandez, Ousseni Bouda.

Forwards: Preston Judd.

Bench: Jonathan Gonzalez, Dave Romney, Paul Marie, Jack Skahan, Jack Jasinski, Ian Harkes, Francesco Montali, Max Floriani, Darius Johnson.

Referees

REF: Elijio Arreguin.
AR1: Adam Wienckowski.
AR2: Mike Nickerson.
4TH: Timothy Ford.
VAR: Jose Carlos Rivero.
AVAR: TJ Zablocki.

How to Watch

Match Time: 10:30 p.m.

Venue: PayPal Park — San Jose, CA.

TV/Live Stream: Apple TV.

Radio: AM 810 FOX Sports Radio Orlando (English), Mega 97.1 FM (Spanish), Nossa Rádio 1160 AM-WRLZ (Portuguese).

Social Media: For rapid reaction and live updates, follow us on Bluesky Social at @themaneland.bsky.social or follow Orlando City’s official Twitter (@OrlandoCitySC) or Bluesky (@OrlandoCitySC) feed.

Enjoy the match. Go City!

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Podcasts

PawedCast Episode 542: Tampa Bay Friendly, McGuire Traded, OCB Beats Cincinnati, and More

Lions maul the Rowdies in friendly action, OCB wins on the road, and it’s transfer season.

Published

3 weeks ago

on

July 14, 2026

By

Image of Antoine Griezmann and Ivan Angulo celebrating a goal in a friendly against the Tampa Bay Rowdies.
Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Orlando City welcomed I-4 Derby rival Tampa Bay to Inter&Co Stadium for a friendly match on Wednesday and then proceeded to bludgeon the Rowdies with a couple of hammers named Antoine Griezmann and Justin Ellis. The two attackers combined for a goal and four assists in a 6-0 beatdown of the team from the Gulf Coast, with five different Lions scoring and Griffin Dorsey forcing an own goal. We discuss Griezmann’s first minutes with Orlando City, what the team showed in its formation, and how good Justin Ellis’ vision is.

Oh, and it’s also transfer season now. Duncan McGuire is on his way out and Marco Pasalic reportedly will follow soon, while a new left back may be headed from Spain to Orlando.

Following all of that, we discuss Maxime Crepeau being added to the MLS All-Star Team and the announcement that he’ll participate in the 2026 MLS All-Star Skills Challenge.

Our mailbagbox asked us about which World Cup semifinalist players we’d want to join Orlando this season (if we could only pick one), and more. Remember, if there’s anything — and we do mean anything — you want us to address on the show, just ask us by tweeting it to us at @TheManeLand with the hashtag #AskTMLPC, or hitting us up on Bluesky Social with that same hashtag.

After the mailbagbox, we dive into OCB’s 2-1 road win at FC Cincinnati 2. It wasn’t the prettiest game by the Young Lions, but they managed to do enough to earn three points on the road, where they’ll stay to face Chattanooga on Saturday. We briefly preview that game.

Finally, Orlando City will be in Dallas Wednesday for the second of two friendlies leading up to the restart of the MLS season. It’s unlikely we’ll get a lot of details about that one, but we’ll see what happens. Maybe the FC Dallas folks will help us out.

Be sure to rate and review our show wherever you get your podcasts. Remember, we’ll read any five-star reviews we get on Apple Podcasts on the next show.

If you’d like to support our independent writing and podcasting efforts, we’d love to have you as a subscriber or donor over at our Buy Me a Coffee site.

Here’s how No. 542 went down:

0:15 – Orlando City crushed the Rowdies, the transfer season is in full swing, plus: hey now, Crepeau’s an all-star.

28:50 – The mailbagbox is always good for a hypothetical scenario.

36:54 – The Young Lions slipped past Cincy and head to Chattanooga, while the senior Lions head to Dallas.

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Podcasts

SkoPurp Soccer Episode 119: International Break, USWNT, Louisville Preview, and More

The Pride return from a long international break looking to get their first-ever road win against Racing Louisville.

Published

3 months ago

on

April 22, 2026

By

Image of Haley McCutcheon scoring the opening goal in Orlando's home playoff win over Seattle.
Image courtesy of Orlando Pride / Jeremy Reper

It feels like months since the Orlando Pride last took the field, but the calendar says otherwise. If you believe calendars, it’s only been a little less than three weeks, but time moves strangely in the post-pandemic apocalyptic world.

Anyway, we don’t have a match to recap, so we touched on a couple of Pride players putting the ball in the net during the international break and chat a bit about the United States Women’s National Team’s three-game friendly series against Japan. Emma Hayes used a lot of players, and the team looked solid for two of the three matches, but the rotated middle game seemed a bit disjointed. Hayes has greatly expanded the player pool and will have plenty of options when the World Cup approaches.

Our mailbagbox had questions about a potential change in the NWSL schedule, as the league explores adopting the fall-to-spring slate, and opposition own goals. Remember, you can ask us anything by hitting us up on Twitter at either @TheManeLand or @SkoPurpSoccer and using the hashtag #AskSkoPurp. You can use that same hashtag and hit @TheManeLand.bsky.social up on Bluesky. Or you can visit our show page, scroll down, and fill out the handy form. We’d also appreciate any ratings or reviews you can leave wherever you get your podcasts, and if you do that on Apple Podcasts, we’ll find them easily and read them on the show.

After the mailbagbox, we turned our attention toward Friday’s late afternoon tussle with Racing Louisville in Kentucky. The Pride have never won on the road against Louisville, and it’s about high time they did. This match begins a congested push to the June World Cup break, and although Friday’s hosts aren’t high in the table, the Pride must be at their best to get a road result in this fixture. We look back at the series history, compare the two sides, provide our key matchups in the game, and make our final score predictions.

If you’d like to support our independent writing and podcasting efforts, we’d love to have you as a subscriber or donor over at our Buy Me a Coffee site.

Here’s how Episode 119 went down:

0:15 – We open the show with a little banter about the Pride in the international break and the USWNT’s series vs. Japan.

9:03 – The mailbagbox features questions via both eletronic mail and social media. We welcome all modes of delivery.

19:59 – The Pride travel to Louisville to face Racing. They’ve never won in Kentucky, but we inform them how to do so.

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