Pre-Game Primer

You can read the full edition of the pre-game press notes here. Some interesting tidbits:

The shutout by Brazil ended the second longest streak of consecutive games with a goal for the U.S. at 15 games. The U.S. was shut out for the first time since a 0-0 draw against Argentina in 2008.The record for consecutive games scoring for the U.S. is 23, from May 13, 2004, until July 9, 2005.

The Brazil match was just the sixth time in 40 games under Bradley that the U.S. has surrendered three or more goals, with top-five teams accounting for four occurrences (Argentina, Italy and Brazil twice).

The U.S. and Egypt have only faced each other once, with that meeting coming more than 22 years ago on June 8, 1987, in Seoul, South Korea. The U.S. was defeated 3-1 in that match.

Though the Men’s National Teams of the United States and Egypt have met only once, a handful of players on the U.S. have experience against the Pharaohs at the U-20 level. At the 2001 FIFA U-20 World Cup, Onyewu, Beasley and Donovan all lined up against Egypt in the second round, where they fell 2-0 and were knocked out of the tournament. In the 2005 edition of the tournament, Benny Feilhaber, Sacha Kljestan and Freddy Adu took on Egypt in group play where Adu provided the assist on the game’s only goal as the U.S. won its group.

In history, the U.S. has only faced African opponents 11 times, with a 4-5-2 overall record. The U.S. has posted the four wins against South Africa (twice), Nigeria and Cote d'Ivoire.