Gio Reyna & USMNT stars ‘helped’ Joe Scally with highlights of Vinicius Jr ‘making defenders look stupid’ – with approach working in pre-Copa America friendly against Brazil

The United States completed their preparations for a Copa America tournament on home soil by facing the Selecao in Orlando. They had been crushed 5-1 by Colombia a matter of days earlier, but were able to hold Brazil to a commendable 1-1 draw.

Borussia Monchengladbach defender Scally more than held his own against Real Madrid superstar Vinicius, with the Ballon d’Or contender being kept relatively quiet. The 21-year-old full-back seemingly benefited from the endless stream of videos that had been passed his way on WhatsApp.

Scally has told the Men In Blazers podcast of his preparations for a meeting with Vinicius: “I have a group chat with Josh Sargent, Gio and Brenden Aaronson. The whole week they were sending me the stupid highlight clips – on Instagram and stuff – of him making defenders look stupid. I’ve probably seen every single dribble that he’s ever done in his life just because they sent me it non-stop for four days straight!”

Sargent has said of that approach to ‘helping’ an international colleague: “That was not just me, that was all of us! He had a really good game so, you know, props to him. It worked!”

The USMNT are now readying themselves for a Copa America opener against Bolivia on Sunday, with that fixture taking place at AT&T Stadium in Texas. Scally will be hoping to figure again in that contest, with vital experience being picked up across 11 senior appearances for his country.