DaMarcus Beasley, Sacha Kljestan join US lineup against Brazil in Confederations Cup

Beasley, Kljestan join US lineup against Brazil

PRETORIA, South Africa — DaMarcus Beasley and Sacha Kljestan were inserted into the U.S. starting lineup for Thursday’s first-round Confederations Cup match against Brazil.

The pair replaced Benny Feilhaber and Ricardo Clark, the latter ejected from Monday’s opening 3-1 loss to world champion Italy.

The U.S. back five remained the same, with Tim Howard in goal; Jay DeMerit and Oguchi Onyewu in central defense, and Jonathan Bornstein and Jonathan Spector at outside backs. Michael Bradley, Clint Dempsey and Landon Donovan were part of the five-man midfield, with Jozy Altidore the lone forward.

American captain Carlos Bocanegra remained sidelined with the hamstring injury sustained during the World Cup qualifying win over Honduras at Chicago on June 6.

Brazil made four changes from the starting lineup that beat Egypt 4-3 in its opener, switching three defenders.

Maicon, who had been sidelined with a leg injury, took over at right back from Daniel Alves; Andre Santos replaced Kleber on the left; and Miranda took over in the center from Juan. Ramires replaced Elano on the right side of the midfield.

Julio Cesar stayed in goal and Lucio in central defense. The midfield included Gilberto Silva, Felipe Melo and Kaka, and Robinho and Luis Fabiano started at forward.

The referee was Massimo Busacca of Switzerland, who officiated Barcelona’s 2-0 victory over Manchester United in last month’s European Champions League final in Rome.

A five-time world champion, Brazil is 12-1 against the Americans. The lone U.S. victory was a 1-0 upset at Los Angeles in the 1998 CONCACAF Gold Cup.