The U.S. men's national team is looking to improve, and one way to do that is by playing better teams. A busy second half of 2018 calendar began on Friday as it welcomed Brazil in an international friendly in New Jersey. It was the young pups of American soccer, without the injured Christian Pulisic, along with some established players, welcoming Neymar and company. Brazil pulled away with a comfortable 2-0 win. Here's how it went down:

Fast start

Brazil had its stars like Neymar and Philippe Coutinho showing off their skills and at times making it look easy against the young USA defense. But early on, it was Douglas Costa and Roberto Firmino that made the biggest impact. Costa made a lovely run down the right and drilled a lovely ball into the box to give Brazil the opening goal 11 minutes in:

Yedlin complains about Neymar to referee

One of the more memorable moments of the match came in the first half when DeAndre Yedlin fouled Neymar. The American defender received a warning by the ref, and he responded by referring to Neymar's time spent on the ground during the World Cup. Take a look:

Putting it away ... with controversy

Later in the first half, Fabinho got into the box and a penalty was awarded when he went down. It looked like a really soft call with very little contact, but a penalty was given. Take a look:

And that goal went to Neymar, who on Brazil's Independence Day, moved to 58 goal for the team in his career, four away from tying Ronaldo for second and just 19 away from tying Pele. Here's his calm finish:

What the result means for both

For Brazil, it was an expected result and just lets this team continue to gel with eyes on hosting the Copa America next summer. For the U.S., it will likely use quite a few of its tough friendlies coming up, taking on Colombia, Italy, England and others. But the results don't matter -- they are great experiences for this young team to play against the best and improve, with the Gold Cup coming up next summer.

Relive updates from Brazil vs. USA 

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