Neymar reveals admiration for 'great player' Christian Pulisic and tips USMNT to pull off 'surprise' at Copa America

Neymar spoke with praise about Pulisic in particular, reflecting on what he had seen when the United States faced Brazil in a warm-up friendly just prior to the Copa America beginning.

The American team held Brazil to a 1-1 draw in which Pulisic himself cancelled out Rodrygo's opener for the Selecao. The USMNT captain has since scored his country's opening goal of the tournament in their group stage win over Bolivia.

Neymar said in a video posted on X by Pase Filtrado: "I know Pulisic, I watched the Brazil vs United States game and the U.S. team surprised me a lot because they ran a lot, they played great defense against Brazil. [Pulisic] is a great player, he spent a long time at Chelsea. The U.S. will surprise during the Copa America. From what I saw in the game against Brazil, they have everything to give teams trouble."

The United States are currently ranked 11th in the world by FIFA and have twice before reached the Copa America semi-finals - in 1995 and 2016, although as members of CONCACAF rather than CONMEBOL, they aren't often invited.

The American team almost certainly will have to pull out a "surprise" if they are to return to the semi-finals. They already look good to finish in the top two of Group C, but topping the standings would require a result against 15-time champions Uruguay. Their most likely quarter-final opponents would also be either Brazil or Colombia, the latter inflicting a humbling 5-1 defeat on Gregg Berhalter's side a little over two weeks ago.