Nothing would calm Berhalter’s critics and revive his team’s image like beating the Brazilians. But as he and his players have been saying all year, the results of friendlies and less important tournaments are not as important as continuing to lay the foundation for this month’s tournament. Copa America And the World Cup 2026.

“The natural tendency is to say: ‘Okay, now it’s just about the result,’ but the reality is that it’s a friendly match,” Berhalter said on Tuesday. “We are preparing for the tournament. We have to be brave, we have to continue with our plan. Obviously there is a lot of pressure from outside after the 5-1 defeat at home, but again it is about preparing this group for the Copa America, which is the most important thing.”

Another heavy defeat will not please anyone inside or outside the team, but Berhalter will ultimately be judged on the Americans’ performance in the Copa America, a South American competition dating back 108 years.

For the second time, the 16-team tournament will be held on U.S. venues and will feature six guest teams from CONCACAF, which includes North and Central America and the Caribbean.

“It’s really focused on the performance rather than the result,” Berhalter said of the Brazil match. “It’s business as usual.”

For the team’s confidence, Berhalter’s group will need to show better work practices than on Saturday, when they conceded two early goals, then collapsed in the final 15 minutes, resulting in the most lopsided defeat in eight years and their worst home loss. Since 2009.

Winger Tim Weah, who scored against Colombia, said: “We just went back to work, back to the lab. “And now we’re ready to try again.”

“Everyone has bad games or bad performances,” forward Brenden Aaronson said. “When you look at it, it could be the end of the world in moments, but it’s not, and we’re ready to come back.”

Weah said: Because the Brazil match is not part of a tournament of great importance, the focus is on “how we perform, regardless of the result.”

In other words, the Americans are not interested in the final result as much as they are interested in showing noticeable improvement and increasing hope before the Copa America, which will be held from June 20 to July 14.

The US team’s opening match in Group C will be played on June 23 against Bolivia in Arlington, Texas, followed by matches against Panama on June 27 in Atlanta and group favorites Uruguay on July 1 in Kansas City, Missouri. Two teams will qualify for the quarter-finals.

Failure to progress beyond the group stage would certainly put Berhalter’s job in jeopardy. When asked about job security on Tuesday, he said: “I don’t think I’m the right person to answer that question. But what I would say is that we see this as a building block. We see this group as a talented group, a group that is capable of doing good things, and we want to use a championship.” Copa America to show that.

Even at their best, the U.S. team will be hard-pressed to beat Brazil, which has won 11 straight in the series since surprising the United States in the CONCACAF Gold Cup semifinals in 1998. Brazil’s overall advantage is 18-1-0 with a goal difference of 41-12.

The list includes three players from the European champions real madrid – Forwards Vinicius Junior and Rodrigo and defender Eder Militao – in addition to Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson, Paris Saint-Germain defender Marquinhos and Barcelona striker Rafinha.

“The message to the team is not to chase the result; [it’s] “Chasing performance,” Berhalter said. “If we take care of the game and see 11 players, 16 players performing at the level of 8 out of 10, that will be enough. It is about how to perform at the highest level against teams like this?”

Notes: Berhalter said midfielder Tyler Adams, the 2022 World Cup captain, was cleared to play for up to 45 minutes after missing the Colombia match. Adams has been recovering from back and fitness issues. …

Berhalter said striker Josh Sargent (foot) is still unavailable but is “progressing well” in his efforts to make the Copa America roster. …

More than 53,000 people are expected to attend at Camping World Stadium.