In a press conference in Johannesburg earlier today, US National Team coach Bob Bradley got asked about everything from game preparation to his feelings on the death of Michael Jackson. Here are some excerpts:
“When you play Brazil the first thing you notice is the talent and the way they go forward. In particular, they have been very good coming from deep positions where they have space, and the speed of Kaka and Robinho comes into play and those are dangerous situations. And, they have also been very good on set pieces. It’s in these two areas that we understand how important it is, but that doesn’t mean that we don’t see the other things. The midfield is strong, their defense is strong.”
He also talked about covering for Michael Bradley, unavailable due to a red card suspension.
“We've thought about it and we have a few candidates. I think if you look at what has taken place in this tournament, the lead candidate is Benny Feilhaber. When Ricardo (Clark) got red carded against Italy, Benny played in the middle with Michael. If you go back to the second half of our qualifier in Chicago, Benny and Ricardo played to together so I think that there is a good understanding there. As always you wait until the end and size up everything before making the final decision.”
On the passing of Michael Jackson: "When there's a tragedy like this, we're all sad and we've all enjoyed his music."
