The United States Men’s National Team fell behind early but Christian Pulisic’s free kick goal helped the Yanks draw South American giants Brazil 1-1 in front of an announced crowd of 60,016 at Orlando’s Camping World Stadium. Matt Turner set a new career high with the national team with 11 saves, eclipsing his previous best of eight, and although his turnover led to Brazil’s goal, Turner had a strong game stopping shots.

With the draw, the United States snapped an 11-game losing streak to the Seleção, the team’s longest losing streak against any country.

USMNT Head Coach Gregg Berhalter said he was happy with the way the team responded to Saturday’s 5-1 loss to Colombia.

“We talked to the guys before the game and we just asked two things from them. We asked for teamwork and intensity,” Berhalter said. “And the way we framed it is (these are) two things that are totally in their control. It doesn’t matter about the opponent. It doesn’t matter about the field, or the fans, or anything. Those are the two things they can control. And that’s the type of effort that we saw today. We feel like we made a little step. It’s not a huge step, but it’s a little step to be able to play against an amazingly talented Brazil team and bend but not break. I think give them problems as well, push them as well. So for us, looking at it, we think it’s a good end to our preparation camp and we’re ready for Copa America.”

Berhalter’s starting lineup included Turner in goal behind a back line of Antonee Robinson, Tim Ream, Chris Richards, and Joe Scally. The midfield in the team’s 4-3-3 consisted of Weston McKennie, Yunus Musah, and Gio Reyna behind a forward line of Pulisic, Ricardo Pepi, and Tim Weah.

The U.S. started brightly, creating the first two chances of the game. Musah was unlucky not to score just five minutes in as his cannon shot from long range hit the crossbar, bounced down and somehow stayed out.

A minute later, Pulisic made a nice move to cut through traffic into space and fired a shot from outside the area, but Alisson made a diving save.

Brazil grew more into the match after that and created the next couple of chances. The first fell to Rodrygo at the top of the 18. His shot didn’t have much pace on it and was right at Turner for the comfortable save in the seventh minute. A minute later, Vinicius Jr. had a shot from the top of the box on the right but he missed the target.

A nice play by Pepi created an attacking chance for Weah in the 12th minute. The winger cut in from the right side and fired with his left but it went straight at Alisson.

Vinicius Jr. cut inside and fired two minutes later, but the shot was partially deflected, making for an easy scoop for Turner. The goalkeeper then made a save on Vinicius Jr. after Musah turned the ball over moments later. Turner then made a much more difficult save in the 17th minute on the Brazilian speedster, who roasted Richards down the right side of the U.S. defense.

Brazil broke through on the ensuing restart. Turner’s pass into the middle was picked off, igniting the Brazilian counterattack. Rodrygo got in behind on the left thanks to a great diagonal pass, and he placed his shot well, beating Turner to make it 1-0.

The teams exchanged shots in the 20th minute, with Weah cutting in and firing right at Alisson for an easy save. Lucas Paqueta then fired over the bar at the other end.

Turner got away with a big mistake in the 22nd minute. Caught between two minds, he stopped his charge off the line, allowing Brazil to get to the ball first at the top of the area. The ball went left and Turner recovered to force a corner kick. Ream cleared the set piece cross to take the heat off.

Pulisic got to the top of the area in the 24th minute and was fouled hard. Although it appeared to happen right on the line at the top of the 18-yard box, Honduran referee Said Martinez indicated a free kick just outside the box. No matter, because Pulisic smashed a low shot into the bottom left corner, beating Alisson and making it 1-1 in the 26the minute.

“It was so close, it was going to be tough to get it over the wall,” Pulisic said. “And I just saw a bit of an opening.”

The pace of the game slowed a bit after the equalizer, including a hydration break a few minutes later. Brazil sent a couple of long-range attempts well over Turner’s goal in the five-minute span between the 35th and 40th minutes and the U.S. overcooked a couple of crosses in that same time period. A ball forward in the 42nd minute for Rodrygo was well shepherded by Richards, allowing Turner to collect. Pulisic sent a weak header to Alisson a minute later.

The game ground almost to a halt over the final few minutes of the half and the three minutes of injury time, and the teams went to the break all tied up.

The stats were pretty even at halftime, although Brazil held much more of the possession (60.8%-39.2%). The visitors also had more shots (8-6) and corners (2-0), while the U.S. put more shots on target (5-4).

Brazil controlled even more of the ball to start the second half, pushing the U.S. defensive block lower and keeping all 10 outfield players in the Americans’ half for long stretches. This got Brazil’s fullbacks more involved in the attack and Wendell bombed forward and smashed a shot from a tight angle on the left into the outside netting in the 50th minute.

Brazil initially won a dangerous free kick a minute later on the game’s most bizarre play. Richards appeared to commit a foul just outside the semicircle at the top of the penalty area and was booked. Before Brazil took the set piece, the referee went to the monitor, presumably to check to see if Richards was the last defender and should therefore be sent off. Martinez instead deemed that the play was clean, giving the U.S. the ball back and rescinding the yellow card he had shown the U.S. defender.

Moments later, the Brazilians sent an attack up the left that ended in an overhead kick by Rodrygo that sailed just wide. Wendell then sent a shot over the bar in the 59th minute.

The goalkeeper traded fantastic saves in the 67th and 68th minutes. Second-half sub Endrick blazed past Ream down Brazil’s right channel and smashed a shot that Turner saved. He was able to jump on the rebound before an opponent could arrive. Seconds later on the other end, McKennie picked out Pulisic’s trailing run. The captain was wide open but Alisson made an outstanding save to keep the game level.

Rodrygo created a good shot from a bad angle on the left in the 74th minute with a quickly released and cheeky shot with his right. Turner got a hand up at the last second to make a huge save.

The U.S. could have taken the lead in the 83rd minute off a throw-in. Pulisic did well to get the ball at the end line and centered for substitute Brenden Aaronson. However, the winger’s point-blank shot was too close to Alisson, who made a big reaction save. Three minutes later, Pulisic tried a shot from the left but sent his attempt inches wide of the right post.

In the final minutes, Brazil sent a couple of hopeful attempts at Turner and couldn’t do much with a series of corner kicks. Pulisic had one opportunity for the U.S. with a steal in the attacking half, but he was pulled back by a defender. The ref let the U.S. play on but Pulisic only made it about another step and a half before having the ball knocked away and Martinez did not pull the play back for a free kick on the foul. Instead, he gave Brazil a free kick at the other end on the ensuing attack. Turner punched the delivery away.

Ultimately, the U.S. survived the late pressure and earned a hard-fought draw with a tough Brazilian side.

Brazil ended up dominating the stat sheet, finishing with the advantage in possession (60.9%-39.1%), shots (25-12), shots on target (12-7), and corners (9-0). The crowd was a record for a USMNT match in the state of Florida.

“I think it was just a willingness to defend, get numbers behind the ball in transition, getting numbers back, just just a lot smarter, not losing balls in the wrong areas and just giving them easy opportunities. And yeah, just a team spirit,” Pulisic said about his team’s performance vs. Saturday’s game. “A willingness to also suffer at times and then find our chances. So, definitely a big step in the right direction.”

“If we could play with those two teams, we could play with pretty much any team in the (Copa America) tournament,” Richards said. “Of course, every team is going to bring new challenges, but I think tonight especially gives us a lot of confidence.”

The next time the USMNT takes the pitch will be June 23 in Arlington, TX, against Bolivia in the 2024 Copa America.

Aston Villa scored a goal in each half to dispatch Fulham 2-0 in a friendly match, as the Summer Series came to Orlando’s Exploria Stadium. Jaden Philogene put Aston Villa ahead in the first half and Moussa Diaby doubled the lead in the second half to lead the Villans past a Fulham side that wasted several good opportunities to get on the scoreboard.

“A strange match tonight,” Aston Villa Manager Unai Emery said. “We started late, and we didn’t get the rhythm like we wanted. We didn’t build up like we were doing on Sunday against Newcastle. We didn’t connect or progress with good passes trying to get in the boxes, but we competed, we won, and we played the game with different players, trying to get our fitness. I am happy but overall it was strange, tonight’s match.”

Marco Silva’s starting lineup for Fulham looked like this:

Emery countered with this lineup for Aston Villa:

A delay for inclement weather pushed kickoff back an hour and 20 minutes. Once the match began, the two English sides played a physical and sometimes downright feisty game for a friendly.

The opening 25 minutes was mostly bereft of clear-cut chances. The best opportunity for either side up to that point was a header just wide off a corner kick by Aston Villa’s Kansa in the eighth minute.

As the first half wore on, Aston Villa started creating more opportunities. Cameron Archer was sent into the box with a good through ball and he was taken down. It was an obvious penalty. Archer took the spot kick himself, but Fulham goalkeeper Bernd Leno got a hand to it, diving to his right and deflecting it off the woodwork.

Villa worked the ball back into the box to Archer again but this time he sent his shot wide to the left.

Kansa was booked for Aston Villa in the 36th minute for a rough foul as the physical play continued. Shortly after that, however, his side took the lead.

A ball in from the left side from Lucas Digne found Philogene in front and he swept it home to make it 1-0 in the 40th minute.

Just before the break, Fulham put the ball in the net through Carlos Vinicius, but the flag had gone up for offside in the buildup. Villa carried its 1-0 lead into halftime.

Fulham opened the second half looking to get level and creating chances. Substitute Willian won an early free kick but Fulham could do nothing with it. Vinicius was left unmarked moments later but headed over the bar. Sasa Lukic tried an ambitious shot from distance in the 54th minute, but it was always going wide to the right. A minute later, Vinicius had another header attempt but hit this one just outside the upper left corner of the goal frame.

Aston Villa then calmed things down with a good spell of possession, although the Lions couldn’t create any chances from it. Both managers substituted liberally at the hour mark to bring on fresh legs.

Fulham’s best look came in the 71st minute. Willian sent a good diagonal ball that went through traffic and found Harry Wilson in the box. However, the Welsh winger scuffed his shot badly wide to the left.

Two minutes later, Villa scored an insurance goal. A well-weighted ball over the top found a streaking Diaby, who got in behind the Fulham defense and beat goalkeeper Mark Rodak to make it 2-0.

Luke Harris got some late chances for Fulham but he sent his first one straight at substitute goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez and the second one Martinez saved, knocking it just wide for a corner in the 80th and 81st minutes.

Jay Stansfield went for goal from outside the area but sent his shot wide on one of Fulham’s last decent looks in the 87th minute.

Villa nearly made it 3-0 in the 89th minute when Ollie Watkins was sent in behind but his touch was just a tad heavy and that allowed Fulham goalkeeper Marek Rodak to come off his line and intercede.

That was the last good chance and Aston Villa closed out a victory in what was a fairly even match in which Fulham simply couldn’t find the net.

“It was really good,” Silva said of the Exploria Stadium atmosphere. “One of the very good things on this tour and this Summer Series is that we are playing preseason matches, but at the same time, we are playing these types of matches with a good environment, with a good atmosphere in the stadiums. It’s much easier for the players to be motivated when they play with this type of environment in the stadium. One of the good things this Summer Series gives us as a coach, is we don’t need to push them because the environment will give them the boost in terms of the motivation that they need.”

Starting Lineups:

Fulham — Bernd Leno, Kenny Tete, Harrison Reed, Harry Wilson, Tom Cairney (C), Bobby De Cordova-Reid, Kevin Mbabu, Sasa Lukic, Carlos Vinicius, Issa Diop, Luc De Fougerolles.

Aston Villa — Robin Olsen, Konsa, John McGinn (C), Youri Tielemans, Emiliano Buendia, Lucas Digne, Torres, Jaden Philogene, Cameron Archer, Boubacar Kamara.

Scoring:

Aston Villa — Jaden Philogene (40′)

Aston Villa — Moussa Diaby (73′)

Attendance:

16,134

Ricardo Pepi scored in the second half to lift the United States Men’s National Team to a 1-0 win over El Salvador in Concacaf Nations League play at Exploria Stadium in Orlando. With the win, the United States improved to 6-0-0 at Exploria Stadium and qualified for the Nations League semifinals.

“I don’t think we probably set the team up in a way that really helped them in the first half,” USMTN Interim Manager Anthony Hudson said after the match. “I think we made a couple of changes in the second half. It helped the team. The old cliche, two halves. The second half was way better. And then I have to give credit to El Salvador because I think coming off the back of a 7-1 win and playing at home, the confidence is high. And they’re a very tough team to play against.”

Hudson’s starting lineup was a strong one, starting with Matt Turner in goal behind a back line of Antonee Robinson, Miles Robinson, Tim Ream, and Sergino Dest. The midfield consisted of Yunus Musah, Weston McKennie, and Christian Pulisic behind a forward line of Alex Zendejas, Gio Reyna, and former Orlando City striker Daryl Dike, who returned to his old home stadium.

The first half didn’t present many clear-cut chances and El Salvador’s strategy of gumming up the USMNT’s attacking third worked well as the Yanks struggled to sustain pressure due to poor touches and less-than-ideal passes. The hosts seemed to be trying too hard to be perfect at times and the ball movement was either too slow or just not precise enough for much of the opening half.

The first chance of the game fell for the visitors, as Jairo Henriquez blasted a shot on goal in the second minute that forced a great diving stop by Turner.

“I knew it was a 1-v-1 situation versus the defender and I saw Weston pick up his head,” Pepi said about the game-winning play. “And I know he has the quality to play me that ball that I was looking for and he played the perfect ball, to be honest. And then I saw the goalkeeper come out and I just chipped him. It was a big eye contact thing. As soon as (McKennie) picked up his head, I knew he saw me and he saw the run I made and I was 1-v-1 versus the goalkeeper.”

The goalkeeper landed hard on his left side and needed some treatment from the training staff a few minutes later but he was able to play on.

The United States attack was thwarted with strategic fouling whenever the Yanks got into dangerous positions. However, the U.S. couldn’t execute on its set pieces. There was a good flick on from a Pulisic free kick in the 12th minute but it was just a bit too far out in front for Ream to get onto it.

Reyna fired from outside the area in the 29th minute butMario Gonzalez got down to make the save, knocking it out for a corner.

Dike drew a few fouls in the attacking end but nothing came from them. One of them in the 30th minute came after the big striker stole the ball and headed toward the box and was knocked down from behind. The foul should have resulted in a yellow card for a tactical foul halting a transition chance but referee Mario Escobar did not book the offending El Salvador defender.

Dest fizzed in a great cross in the 42nd minute for Pulisic but the captain couldn’t direct it on target and the chance was wasted.

That was it for a first half that saw the visitors fashion very little but the hosts were frustrated by the lack of space in the attacking end and everyone seemed reluctant to shoot when given space just outside the area. Dike didn’t receive much service and the closest anyone came to picking him out was snuffed out by good defending in the air as a well-timed bump from the center back kept him from getting onto a good cross from the right side.

The United States dominated the stat sheet in the first half, winning the battle of possession (57.3%-42.7%), shots (6-1), shots on target (2-1), passing accuracy (86.5%-76.3%), and corners (5-2).

“The first half, they put a lot of bodies centrally, so it made it a little bit more difficult to find pockets of space, to run in behind and do things,” Dike said. “But obviously with the good players we have here we were still moving them around, trying to create chances. At the end of the day, this man right here [grabbing Pepi] did a good job and saved the day.”

The USMNT came out of the locker room buzzing and nearly broke the deadlock seconds after the restart. A good ball from Pulisic sent Reyna down the left and he cut inside and unleashed a shot. The blast came off the left post but no one could get onto it.

Moments later, Pulisic fizzed a cross to the top of the six that came off a defender and skipped wide of the right post for a corner. On the set piece, the ball pinged around dangerously and fell to Ream, who fired a shot off a defender and it was eventually headed behind by the defense to relieve the pressure.

McKennie nodded a looping header over the keeper on the subsequent corner but it went just over the bar and landed on the roof of the net.

Zendejas nearly opened the scoring in the 52nd minute, chipping a shot over the keeper from inside the area but Bryan Tamacas cleared it off the line and out for a corner at the last second.

The second decent look for El Salvador came in the 60th minute when Mayer Gil fizzed a shot wide of the left post from outside the box.

Pepi then subbed on for Dike and it was a pivotal moment. Just moments after entering the pitch, Pepi made a run and Mckennie spotted him, sending a gorgeous ball down the right side of the box. Pepi ran onto it, fought off a defender, and chipped Gonzalez to open the scoring in the 62nd minute.

El Salvador had a chance to equalize three minutes later when a rare cross into the box nearly found Brayan Landaverde but he couldn’t make good contact with the ball.

The visitors started pushing numbers forward as the time wound down and it opened up some spaces on the counter. Substitute Taylor Booth picked out Pepi in the 79th minute and the former FC Dallas man fired a shot but the defense got a slight deflection and it went behind. A few minutes later, Dest picked out Pepi but the forward needed a touch to gain control and when he recovered, his shot was blocked by Gonzalez.

Pulisic had a chance to put the game away in the first minute of stoppage time, taking a pass from Brenden Aaronson to free himself up inside the area but he got under his shot, which sailed high.

That was the last good look for either side and the USMNT had the win it needed to advance to Las Vegas for the final four in the competition.

The U.S. finished with the advantage in possession (58.3%-41.7%), shots (16-4), shots on target (4-1 — the official stats have the visitors without a shot on goal but Turner definitely appeared to make a save in the second minute, so I’m giving them one), passing accuracy (87.5%-81%), and corners (13-2).

“(Hugo Perez) always has a very clear plan of how to have his teams play, and they made it very difficult for us,” Hudson said. “The second half, we were far more compact, for the most part, which allowed us to get closer to them when we put pressure on. We won the first ball and we had players close enough to win the second ball. So, I think that was something that that helped us.”

“It’s a great, great feeling,” Dike said about returning to Exploria Stadium to play and getting a warm reception. “It means a lot because this place gave me the first chance. The fans were always welcoming me. And then coming back, and after leaving and maybe a difficult decision, seeing everyone still supporting me no matter what is a great feeling, for sure.”

The USMNT will head to Las Vegas in June to battle it out for the tournament trophy.