Jurgen Klinsmann: USMNT Couldn't Cope With Brazil's Tempo In Heavy Loss

FOXBORO, Mass. — Like a host of kids in New England, the United States men’s national soccer team went back to school when they rather would have enjoyed one more day of summer vacation.

Brazil trounced Team USA 4-1 in an international exhibition game Tuesday night at Gillette Stadium. Hulk, Neymar and Rafinha did the scoring honors for Brazil before Danny Williams notched a late consolation goal for Team USA.

U.S. head coach Jurgen Klismann took the heavy defeat on the chin, saying Brazil taught his team a hard lesson about soccer at the highest level.

“Their tempo, their speed of play, speed of thought and speed of execution, all those elements were very impressive,” Klinsmann said in his postgame press conference. “For us, it was a huge learning curve. It was a completely different tempo they set, and we couldn’t go that tempo.”

Many of Brazil’s players ply their trades at leading clubs in Europe, and the ones who don’t can target future careers on the continent in which the speeds of play are faster than what each U.S. player experiences on a regular basis.

“They’re not used to that,” Klinsmann continued. “It’s a tempo that is played in the (UEFA) Champions League. They’re always two thoughts ahead. That’s a level we’re trying to catch as fast as we can.”

Klinsmann was aware Brazil might administer a hard dose of reality to his U.S. players. The outcome was a copy of Team USA’s worst home loss in four years under Klinsmann — a 4-1 setback to Brazil in 2012.

Team USA will face Mexico next month in the CONCACAF Cup — a one-game playoff to determine the region’s representative at the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup in Russia. Klinsmann and his staff now must give his team a crash course in confidence boosting between now and Oct. 10.