Soccer Monday: USMNT surrender 5 goals, Endrick superstar and MLS summer talent drain

Kick the week off with all the news from this past weekend

Good morning!

The second weekend of the month brought with it plenty of international friendlies, including ones by the United States and Mexico ahead of Copa America.

The Euros, meanwhile, start this Friday when hosts Germany take on Scotland. Copa America starts on June 20 when Argentina, the defending world and South American champions, play Canada at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

Here are the big stories from this past weekend:

3. Colombia puts five past the USMNT

Is it time to hit the panic button? Not yet. The result for the USMNT was an ugly 5-1 defeat to Colombia on Saturday. That leaves the U.S. knowing they have plenty of work to do before the Copa America starts in just two weeks.

For manager Gregg Berhalter, the defeat is a warning sign. Some would like to see him get canned, but that isn’t going to happen on the eve of a big tournament. Should the Americans do just as bad at Copa America, then Berhalter could very well lose his job.

The biggest issues for the USMNT was goalkeeper Matt Turner and a back four that just couldn’t contain Colombia at Commanders Field in suburban Washington, D.C.

Since a 5-1 defeat to Czechoslovakia at the 1990 World Cup, the U.S. had given up that many goals only in a 5-0 loss to Mexico in the 2009 Gold Cup final. It was the Americans’ first four-goal defeat since a 4-0 loss in a 2016 World Cup qualifier at Costa Rica that caused the U.S. Soccer to fire coach Jurgen Klinsmann.

Up next for the U.S. is a friendly on Wednesday in Orlando against Brazil, a final tuneup before the tournament starts.

2. Endrick fires Brazil to victory

And speaking of Brazil, teen prodigy Endrick scored in stoppage time on Saturday to secure a 3-2 victory against Mexico in a Copa America warm-up match at Kyle Field in College Stadium, Texas.

Endrick, who will join Real Madrid this summer, headed home a Vinicius Jr. cross to put Brazil back in front after Guillermo Martínez Ayala had tied it for Mexico in the 92nd minute.

Brazil had gone 2-0 up through Andreas Pereira and Gabriel Martinelli, but let the advantage slip as Mexico scored twice late on.

“I’m very grateful to God for another opportunity to score for the national team,” Endrick told Reuters after the match. “We trained well and I hope we can work even harder because the goal is to win Copa America.”

For Endrick, it is his third goal in his last three international appearances. In March, the striker scored the winning goal against England, becoming the youngest male player to score an international goal at Wembley and the youngest to score for Brazil since all-time great Ronaldo in 1994.

1. MLS without its talented superstars

With both the Euros and Copa America on the horizon, MLS finds itself in a unique situation.

Unlike Europe’s top leagues whose season’s ended in recent weeks, MLS continues through the summer months. That means teams having to play without some of its superstars.

Take the New York Red Bulls. The team coached by Sandro Schwarz has been having a strong season (12 points from their last five games), but lost 1-0 on the road Saturday to the lowly New England Revolution.

The Red Bulls were without 10 players. Five of whom — Carlos Coronel, Emil Forsberg, Noah Eile, Lewis Morgan and John Tolkin — were away on international duty.

It will be interesting to see how some of the hardest-hit teams — including Inter Miami, Los Angeles FC, Minnesota United and the Philadelphia union — fare over the next month.

In other news: Manchester City goalkeeper Stefan Ortega has signed a one-year contract extension, saying he feels “motivated and challenged” at the English champion. The 31-year-old German, who joined the club in 2022, extended his stay to the end of the 2025-26 season. Ortega is Man City’s back-up goalie, but injury to Ederson meant he came on against Tottenham in a crucial Premier League match when he denied Son Heung-min with a save late on, featured in City’s final league game and made his 20th appearance of the campaign in the FA Cup final defeat to rivals Manchester United. … Bayer Leverkusen signed 19-year-old French defender Jeanuel Belocian in the first new arrival since Xabi Alonso’s team won the Bundesliga and cup double. Belocian, who has played twice for France’s Under-21 team, arrives from Rennes on a contract through 2029. He has played 39 times for Rennes since making his first-team debut in 2022, including in the Europa League. … The chairman of Liverpool said he is “determined” to see the club play a Premier League game in New York. The topic of top European leagues playing matches abroad has been revived after FIFA recently opened a review of its rules blocking so-called “out-of-territory” games. The Premier League proposed back in 2008 to stage an extra round of games each season outside England, but it met with opposition from both fans and FIFA. “I’m determined one day to have a Premier League game be played in New York City,” Liverpool chairman Tom Werner told the Financial Times.