Bob Bradley head coach of the USA looks thoughtful ahead of the FIFA World Cup South Africa Group C match between USA and Algeria at the Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Tshwane/Pretoria, South Africa. In July, U.S. Soccer president Sunil Gulati announced that Bob Bradley, the coach of the men's U.S. national soccer team, was fired after a tenure of five years. (Photo by Martin Rose/Getty Images)
Brazil continue their tour around the world and their quest to play every reasonably reputable team on earth at a neutral site. On Monday, they take on Bob Bradley's Egypt in Doha.
For the first time since he was fired from the United States men's national team, Bob Bradley will manage in a professional match. Hired by Egypt after their disastrous Africa Cup of Nations 2012 qualifying campaign, Bradley doesn't get to start with an easy match, as he takes on Brazil in a neutral site clash in Doha, Qatar. Brazil do not have to participate in the CONMEBOL World Cup 2014 qualifying tournament due to their hosting of the finals, and therefore get to spend their time until the Confederations Cup in 2013 on a fun friendly world tour.
Brazil defeated Gabon 2-0 in their last friendly encounter. While Egypt should theoretically be a step-up in competition, they're an aging side who was terrible in their most recent competitive tournament and they've just hired a new manager. One has to wonder why Brazil, the most popular and famous national team in the world, isn't playing slightly better competition.
Bradley hasn't had a lot of time with his team, so don't write him off if they get crushed by mighty Brazil on Monday. Mano Menezes doesn't have his full first-choice side, but he's taking a very strong team to Doha, featuring the likes of Porto's Hulk, Liverpool's Lucas Leiva, Lazio's Hernanes and Barcelona's Daniel Alves.
Kickoff is at 12:00 pm ET from Doha, Qatar. The game can be seen on ESPN Deportes and ESPN3 in the USA.
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