Four pints of Guinness were totally expected for Wednesday afternoon's Confederations Cup clash between No. 1 Spain and No. 14 USA. I just expected them to come in misery, not to stave off nerves as myself and several friends bounced up and down at a local establishment in anticipation of one of the greatest upsets in US Soccer history.
Yes, the Yanks knocked out Spain, 2-0, to reach the Confederations Cup Final, but it's so much more than that. The States ended a 35-game Spanish unbeaten streak. The Spaniards had outright won each of their last 15 matches. They had been ranked No. 1 in the world for over a year.
The States? Not-so-much. They needed a miracle to reach the semi-final, but everything worked their way, beginning with Jozy Altidore hammering a ball right at Iker Casillas that hit the Spanish keeper's hand before going in to make it 1-0 less than a third of the way in. Clint Dempsey's 74th minute made it all but certain the States would become the first team since the 2006 Romania squad to top Spain (by the way, huge thanks to Sergio Ramos for trapping a ball in his own six).
But, it was what happened in between and after those tallies that mattered. The States sold their selves for the ball. They draped themselves on Fernando Torres, and made sure any ball that got to unbeatable Tim Howard was saveable. Pick a player, and they made an outstanding play: Landon Donovan, Ricardo Clark, Michael Bradley, etc. Even Bob Bradley's sub choices were outstanding, particularly in the face of a "red for red's sake" from the officials late in the goings.
They played with panache -- Charlie Davies almost opened the scoring with an absurd attempted bicycle. They played with guts. They played with everything you want in an American side. Every Yank fan can be proud of their boys today, regardless of what happens Sunday.
And to make the day complete... fat babies on Maury!
Never get old. The moms are shocked that people would find their massive children unhealthy.
06/25/2009 4:52PM
no one cares
about soccer...sorry
06/25/2009 5:38PM
USA! USA!
Beautiful win! The US played like a wall in front of Howard. Onyewu played like an absolute rock. Donovan was tireless and the US took advantage of the chances they created. Beautiful beautiful game!
06/26/2009 10:29AM
I care
Why do people who don't like soccer take the time to read and comment on a column about soccer? So many come to the mistaken and arrogant conclusion that if they don't like something, then nobody else must like it either. Perhaps it would be better if we just all pay attention to the sports that we enjoy and keep our commentary on sports we don't enjoy to ourselves.
07/01/2009 2:48PM
I care too
Nobody cares about the people who don't care.
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