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USA vs. Brazil: Final Score 2-0 as Yanks Take Control of SheBelieves Cup

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5 years ago

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The United States Women’s National Team continued its lack of sharpness but did enough to dispatch Brazil 2-0 on Match Day 2 of the 2021 SheBelieves Cup at Exploria Stadium. Christen Press and Megan Rapinoe supplied the offense against a Brazilian side that looked dangerous throughout the match. With the win, the Yanks improved to 2-0-0 in the competition, with a +3 goal differential.

The U.S. improved to 6-0-0 at Exploria Stadium, outscoring opponents by a combined 16-0 in those matches. The Yanks also took control of the SheBelieves Cup standings, improving to six points to top the table over Brazil and Canada, on three points each. A draw or better for the USWNT on Tuesday would clinch the tournament title.

“I’m very happy that we’re creating chances and the fact that we’re doing it in a manner that is very creative with some good plays makes me happy and tells me that we’re moving in the right direction,” USWNT Head Coach Vlatko Andonovski said after the match. “Now, the fact that we’re not finishing is not disappointing, but it’s something that we definitely have to address.”

Andonovski rotated his squad for the game against Brazil, but not heavily, changing out only four starters from Thursday’s win over Canada. Alyssa Naeher started in goal behind a back line of Crystal Dunn, Becky Sauerbrunn, Abby Dahlkemper, and Emily Sonnett — who stepped in for Midge Purce. Rose Lavelle replaced Catarina Macario in the midfield alongside Julie Ertz and Lindsey Horan. Press and Alex Morgan started in place of Megan Rapinoe and Carli Lloyd, respectively, with Lynn Williams returning to the right wing.

The U.S. started on the front foot and only a terrific save by Barbara kept Williams from scoring in the second minute. Press drew the defense inside and sent Williams in on the right but the Brazilian keeper was able to get a hand on the blast from the U.S. forward.

Morgan set up a chance for Lavelle in the eighth minute but the midfielder couldn’t get her shot on frame. Two minutes later, Ertz sent a rocket shot over the bar from long range. But the first goal came just seconds later.

Ertz sent a diagonal ball to the left for Horan, who slipped Press into the penalty area. Press cut in left to right and sent a perfect shot past Barbara and inside the back post for her 59th career goal, making it 1-0 in the 11th minute. It was her 59th career goal.

“Lindsey played me a great ball in on a diagonal, so I wasn’t in a crossing situation. I was actually able to cut in, and open up the angle of the goal,” Press said. “And that’s kind of like what I like to do. It’s my signature shot and my signature style so it was great to see it go in the back of the net.”

Brazil nearly pulled that goal right back. Ludmila came down the left for Brazil on a 2-v-1 break but tried to fire a shot rather than send a cross to an open teammate on the far post. The shot was blocked by Dunn and the chance evaporated. Andressa took a pass from Brazil captain and Orlando Pride star Marta, then put a shot just over the bar and onto the top of the net in the 17th minute as Brazil continued to press for an equalizer. Much of Brazil’s attacking success came down its left side, where Sonnett was defending.

The game settled in a bit after that, with neither side creating much danger. Press had a shot blocked in the 39th minute and her rebound took a deflection wide that made for an easy collection for Barbara. Lavelle had a chance in the 41st that was straight at the goalkeeper from outside the area. Morgan got her head to a Horan cross in the 43rd but couldn’t make good contact and sent the shot wide.

Brazil had the last decent chance to score on a 3-on-2 break but Ludmila’s cross for Debinha skipped through the six-yard box and over the line for a goal kick. The USWNT took its slim 1-0 lead into the half but both sides could have scored more goals.

“One thing that we know (is) if we give them a lot of space as a unit, they’re going to expose it, and I thought in the first half, we didn’t do a good enough job in closing the space and once again we were caught on the counter attack,” Andonovski said. “But in the second half, after we adjusted the structure a little bit, I thought we did an incredible job in defending their transition.”

The U.S. out-shot Brazil in the first half, 12-5 (4-1 on target) and won the possession battle, 59%-41%.

Andonovski said that at halftime had Ertz drop deeper and had the fullbacks not both commit forward at the same time to prevent Brazil’s dangerous counter attacks. For the most part it worked, but Brazil fashioned some opportunities through sheer determination and quality on the ball.

The United States looked set to take control in the opening moments after the break when Press weaved through seemingly the entire Brazilian team to get to goal but then passed off and it was deflected away.

Horan’s free header on a Sonnett cross in the 56th should have doubled the lead but she couldn’t keep her shot down and it sailed over the goal. Five minutes later, Morgan’s pass unlocked the defense and sent Williams in behind the defense but the North Carolina Courage star slowed down after collecting the ball, allowing the defense to close her down from behind. In the end, she got only a weak shot off and it was deflected.

Lavelle curled a shot wide in the 71st minute and it started to look like the USWNT would have to settle for its lone goal. Lavelle had a couple of other opportunities in the attack where she tried to finesse through multiple players rather than play in a teammate.

Debinha should have tied the game in the 82nd minute. Sonnett got beat to give Brazil a numbers advantage and Marta — who played a terrific game for the Brazilians — found Debinha right in front but her shot skipped just wide.

A minute later, Ludmila dribbled around Dunn and crossed in a ball that deflected off Marta and out for a goal kick.

“As soon as they can get a touch on the ball, they’re running down your throat,” Press said of the Brazilians.

“Part of the reason why Brazil had more of the game is because that’s what we wanted to do, where you know we dropped off a little bit,” Andonovski said. “Eventually (we) went with five in the back, so that was the thing that we went to just close the game down.”

Second-half sub Sophia Smith had an opportunity in the 87th when fellow substitute Lloyd played her in but she took way too many touches and got dispossessed in the area without even getting a shot off.

However, the Yanks got their insurance goal a minute later. Horan made a run down the right side and crossed into the area where Rapinoe swept home a shot that hit Barbara but went in anyway, giving the USWNT some breathing room in the 88th minute. It was Rapinoe’s 55th career goal with the U.S.

The U.S. held on from there, winning another hard-fought match in the tournament against FIFA’s eighth-ranked team. The U.S. ended with a 17-10 advantage in shot attempts and a 5-2 edge in shots on target on a wasteful afternoon.

The United States improved to 30-3-5 in the all-time series against Brazil and has now gone 36 games without a loss (33-0-3) and has scored in 65 consecutive matches — the team’s longest ever streak.

Naeher posted her 10th consecutive clean sheet, which is a USWNT record streak. It was also her 40th career shutout.

“I’m really proud of the team actually,” Dunn said. “It’s funny because I think every time I’m on this team wearing this jersey, I feel like everyone expects us to never have a shot on goal against us or, you know, no team to ever create a chance, and I can sit here and say I think we played a great game.”

Canada 1-0 Argentina

In the late match, a late scramble off a set piece broke Argentinian hearts, snapping a scoreless tie in the second minute of stoppage time. Sarah Stratagakis got on the end of a ball ping-ponging around the Argentina penalty area and poked it home to lift the Canadians to their first ever SheBelieves Cup win, eliminating Argentina from contention.

Orlando Pride midfielder Jordyn Listro got her first career cap for Canada. Former Pride defender Shelina Zadorsky also started for the Canadians.

Canada was on the back foot in the opening moments after a pair of back-to-back giveaways by Sophie Schmidt but after that, most of the game took place in Argentina’s end. Despite that, the Canadians created very few clear-cut chances, coming closest 23 minutes in when a poor clearance resulted in a chance in front but a deflection sent the ball skipping just wide of the net.

Just past the half-hour mark, Argentina nearly opened the scoring off a corner kick. The delivery found the head of Soledad Jaimes, but her shot went straight at Canadian goalkeeper Stephanie Labbe.

Schmidt sent a free kick just wide in the 35th minute, as Canada continued to threaten the Argentine goal. Jessie Fleming then found herself alone with the ball in front of goal moments later but slotted her shot wide of the target. That was it for the first-half chances and the teams went to the break scoreless.

The second half picked up where the first left off. Canada kept the pressure on but struggled to find that last bit of connectivity in front. Labbe started straying further and further upfield. Argentina tried to punish her for it after a turnover but the shot from three-quarters of the field had neither the accuracy nor the distance to reach the net.

Zadorsky hit a volley right at goalkeeper Agustina Barroso in the 54th minute and Adriana Leon fired wide of the target from a good cross in the 55th as Canada continued to threaten to find an opening goal.

Jaimes had a chance to snatch a goal against the run of play in the 62nd minute when Labbe was caught out on a turnover but the shot was well wide of the far post. Canada was very lucky to escape an embarrassing goal. In the 66th, Jaimes headed a looping shot off the top of the crossbar off a set piece. Canada looked to get away with a handball in the box on the ensuing corner, but it also didn’t appear to be a corner as Labbe didn’t look to get a touch of the Jaimes header.

Most of the match consisted of Canada squandering balls into the area and setting up for set pieces. That finally proved to be the key to their success in finding the game’s only goal. In the second minute of stoppage time, Argentina failed to clear a service into the box and it bounced around before finding Stratagakis, who poked it past Barroso for the game’s only goal.

Canada saw out the final four minutes of stoppage time and held on for the win. Argentina was knocked out of contention with no points after two matches and a -4 goal differential. Canada stays in contention with three points and a an even goal differential, meaning the Canadians will need to beat Brazil on Wednesday, have the U.S. lose to Argentina in the late game, and make up several goals on the United States, which is +3 on six points after two matches.

The SheBelieves Cup concludes on Wednesday night after Canada meets Brazil in the early match at 4 p.m. and the USWNT faces Argentina in the nightcap at 7 p.m. The United States would win the tournament with a win or a draw.

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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

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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

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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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