Carlos Bocanegra sat in the locker room after Sunday’s exhibition match against Brazil, telling his U.S. teammates how misleading the final score was.
Bocanegra wasn’t alone in thinking the 4-2 setback failed to tell the whole story.
“We showed better than a 4-2 result,” U.S. midfielder Clint Dempsey said. “A 3-2 score would have been just. But that’s just the way it is sometimes.”
Some of Brazil’s goals in Sunday’s match at Soldier Field just weren’t impressive.
After the United States struck first with Bocanegra’s goal in the 21st minute, the Brazilians got on the board when U.S. defender Oguchi Onyewu scored for them in the 33rd minute with an own goal.
U.S. goalkeeper Tim Howard knocked Kaka’s close-range shot away only to see the ball hit Onyewu’s chest and bounce into the net.
Howard dislocated his ring finger on Brazil’s third goal — a Lucio header off a Ronaldinho corner kick in the 53rd minute. The Everton goalkeeper dived for the shot and hurt himself when he hit his hand on the crossbar.
The crowd of 43,543 at Soldier Field, about 60-40 in favor of Brazil, was relatively low-key.
Surprisingly, the U.S. fans were louder and more active than the normally vibrant Brazilian fans, who seemed to react only when Brazil was on the attack. The U.S. supporters really made their presence felt when the referee failed to call a penalty after U.S. forward Josh Wolff was knocked down in Brazil’s box in the 68th minute.
“You either give them a yellow [card] or give me a yellow because you thought I was diving,” Wolff said of the non-call.
But the United States bounced back. In the 73rd minute, U.S. defender Steve Cherundolo bolted down the right flank before finding Dempsey in the box for the far-post strike.
“I hit it low and hard and fortunately it went in,” Dempsey said.
It was at Soldier Field that Dempsey scored his first goal for the U.S. national team against England on May 28, 2005.
“Clint still has unique qualities,” U.S. coach Bob Bradley said. “He’s aggressive around the goal. He has the ability to create a shot out of nothing. … We’re pleased to see his goal today.”
There wasn’t much time to celebrate Dempsey’s goal. A foul by Bocanegra outside the U.S. box set up a free kick by Ronaldinho in the 75th minute. The Brazilian forward, who wowed onlookers with his free kicks on Saturday during practice, did the same again with his strike to the far post.
“It was virtually impossible to see the ball,” said Howard, in reference to the wall of players between him and Ronaldinho. “It was part me, part the guys on the wall. When you give Brazil an inch, they’ll take it.”
Brazil defender Elano (this sentence as published has been corrected in this text) added a fourth in stoppage time on a penalty kick, putting the ball on the left side after Howard jumped to the right. The match ended soon thereafter, enabling Brazil to escape with a victory heading into its exhibition match with Mexico on Sept. 12 in Foxboro, Mass.
The United States now has lost five straight games, including three Copa America tournament matches and an exhibition against Sweden. Still, an admirable showing on defense, as well as a 2-2 tie nearly 75 minutes into the game, gave many U.S. players a reason to be proud.
“At the end of the day, we realized they were human,” U.S. forward Eddie Johnson said. “We watch them on TV every week, but we realized we could play with these guys. We want to build off this.”
The Brazilians were impressed with the United States’ effort.
“It was a tough game,” Kaka said. “They played well. I think they’re getting better.”
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larroyave@tribune.com
