Yanks look awful against beatable Brazil; lose 3-0.

You can't convert the heathens without something worth admiring, let alone worshipping, and Bob Bradley and Landon Donovan's United States team has been anything but that for several months, a fact underscored in Thursday's 3-0 loss to Brazil in the Confederations Cup. Unlike the 3-1 loss to Italy, the score adequately details their performance.

I'll admit right off that bat that I'm writing in anger, but the States' effort against Brazil -- at least in these first 65 minutes -- has been unacceptable. Sloppy passing, poor touches and a lack of creativity have marred a winnable game against a Brazil team who has been nothing better than advantageous. Not to mention another red card, this time to a favorite of mine in Sacha Kljestan (though it came after the team was down 2-0).

To capitalize on a brilliant point Scott made in an earlier post, both of the States' first two conceded goals were the fault of players who don't play much for their club teams, and that calls into question Bradley's mindset.

The first goal came when Jonathan Spector continued a lackluster tournament by failing to stay with Felipe Melo off a free kick (which the Brazilians earned with trademark thespianship). Spector played just 13 games for West Ham this year in EPL, and may have a future with the States as an '85 birthday, but has not looked prepared for top-level international competition.

Goal No. 2 came when DaMarcus Beasley whiffed off of the U.S.'s first corner, springing Brazil into a shap-sucking full-length run that Robinho finished off. Similarly to Spector, Beasley has played in just 21 matches over two years for Rangers since coming over from Manchester City in 2007.

It is important to remember that the States are a much better squad with a healthy Carlos Bocanegra and Maurice Edu. I can even grudgingly admit that Brian Ching would be an improvement over Conor Casey. But, this sort of performance falls upon the leadership. There were no guts in the attack and there was no fluidity or creativity from the midfield.

The good news? Tim Howard is outstanding, and Oguchi Onyewu continues to improve. I don't it's silly to call Howard one of the elite goaltenders in the world, and Onyewu will be getting his backline on with a much better crew than Standard Liege next season. His rumoured suitors include EPL teams Fulham, Wolverhampton and Birmingham City, while another report says Fenerbache is in play for Onyewu.

Also looking good were Benny Feilhaber, who came millimeters away from netting his third international goal for the States. Michael Bradley continues to win me over, and the coach's kid is an absolute bulldog with a neat little mean streak. I've seen precious little of Jay DeMerit, but what I've seen I've loved.

Certainly Clint Dempsey has more upside than this pitiful two-game stretch, and everyone knows my high hopes for Jozy Altidore, though he missed a "gotta-have-it" striking opportunity in the Brazil loss. The third part of this recent attack has been the acting skipper, Landon Donovan, and while I'm fine with him being on the field, it would be nice to toss that arm band on Howard or Onyewu. Donovan is a poor example on the field, showing flashes of brilliance that only highlight his lackluster effort and whining, complaining that only works if you are genuinely one of the best players in the world.

I want to see more from Freddy Adu, Jose Torres and Kljestan. I hope they all play in Sunday's contest in Egypt, and I look forward to seeing Jermaine Jones join the fray once his papers clear. Perhaps some sort of new field amalgamation with him and Bradley could give the team a more defensive and stable look.

Once I really think about this, and reflect on the game, things should start to look a little clear. The team is not nearly as bad as they've looked -- nor this has read -- but throw in the miserable showing against a pretty good Costa Rica squad, and we're due to have fear that South Africa 2010 could look more like Germany '06 and France '98 than the Orient '02.

Four out of five isn't just a pattern; it would make the '02 outlier a straight aberration.

Alexi Lalas just said it best on the post-game report: Sunday's match against Egypt needs to show character, heart and spirit... something absent in a great spell of American soccer time.