2009 Confederations Cup

[Drew22]

U-S-A! U-S-A!

Nice little move by Dempsey to get the second goal. That Bradley red card was crap though. Foul yes, yellow maybe, red no.

[STL FANATIC]

Told you guys they could do it on any given day...

One more...

[JayJaxon]

I agree, the red card was crap.

But wow! the U.S. Won! I'm glad I got to see it.

[AndrewPF]

That was FREAKING INCREDIBLE!

Oh and

- Jozy, I like ya... but you were terrible today.

I think he heard you. You gave him the motivation to improve over last game!

[gingerbreadmann]

That was an awesome game!

I don't get why you guys are so pessimistic. It's like a 4 beating a 1 in March Madness. Unlikely, but not unheard of. I suppose it's harder to pull an upset in soccer than basketball, but still. The USA is a top-15 team, not a bunch of scrubs. (Not that I expect us to beat Brazil should they make it, and not that I'm not still incredibly surprised and euphoric, because I am)

I love international soccer! Go USA!

[-kj]

I actually said that about the Italy game. But the point is still valid: he was good today.

I could have done without Bocanegra, and the defense did give Spain a bit too much space for my liking. But it's not like they bunkered for ninety minutes and hit on the counter. There were times--mostly in the first half--when the US held posession and had many dangerous chances.

I'm just plain over the freaking moon right now. I don't know how I'm going to get any work done the rest of the day. Seriously.

[TFoA]

Alright: My amateur analysis of the game since I'm done being excited as hell. lol.

Spain played a pretty good game. They had all the chances in the world, and they were unfortunate in the fact that the 2 chances that the US had in the box, Altidore basically beat his marker for a goal and then the US just had better numbers in the box Dempsey's goal. Spain played a great game except for those two moments when the US got in the box, which is when the US took advantage of the opportunities that they had.

On the other side of the ball.... Spain had every chance in the world to score...Villa and Torres basically had looks from every possible angle that you could have. But the US's defense was just too damn good today. They were making some unbelievable defensive plays (one play that comes to mind was Onyewu clearing a ball with a no-look, back heel kick. That was freaking ridiculous). Spain was putting unbelievable pressure on the US's goal, and the US either cleared the ball or Howard made a save. Basically, the US's defense made all the difference in this one. If the US didn't play half as well in their own box as they did today, Spain probably wins 3-2.

[scottysprings]

I'm so pumped, that was great. I just love how all the people who are sports fans but not necessarily soccer fans (ESPN anyone?) said "oh well Spain is going to demolish them so it doesn't really matter" and of course the US goes out and pulls off the upset. GO USA!!

[The Nation]

Quietly waits for tank to chime in.

I was looking forward to a Brazil/Spain final. I don't think the USA can upset Brazil (I know they haven't made it through yet), but if they do, then it would be good for the tournament, which is heavily criticized.

[jkrdevil]

Michael Bradley sent off!!!

So he has to sit out the Final game because of that? I dont get this sport sometimes, looked like he was going after the ball to me.

Yup, red = automatic ban for next game. That's twice that a US player has been sent off on some BS.

3 minutes left!!!

The in-game ref should not have that power to sit a player out for another game. He doesn't have the benefit of being able to see the replay and sitting a player out an additional game because of a possible bad in-game call is over the line IMO. There needs to be some type of review process by FIFA (or the tournament/league organizers). It is just more fair that way.

BTW, I'm not a Soccer fan but this was a good game to watch. Plenty of chances by both sides.

[heernumurr]

Expect them to win the whole thing. This is Greece in 2004, and I don't mean that in a bad way.

[TFoA]

Michael Bradley sent off!!!

So he has to sit out the Final game because of that? I dont get this sport sometimes, looked like he was going after the ball to me.

Yup, red = automatic ban for next game. That's twice that a US player has been sent off on some BS.

3 minutes left!!!

The in-game ref should not have that power to sit a player out for another game. He doesn't have the benefit of being able to see the replay and sitting a player out an additional game because of a possible bad in-game call is over the line IMO. There needs to be some type of review process by FIFA (or the tournament/league organizers). It is just more fair that way.

The US are probably going to appeal or file a protest. Once again, if that's a red card then I've got a bridge in Brooklyn to sell ya.

[MattF]

Wow.

I have no other words than that.

[chestnutz]

That was an awesome game!

I don't get why you guys are so pessimistic. It's like a 4 beating a 1 in March Madness. Unlikely, but not unheard of. I suppose it's harder to pull an upset in soccer than basketball, but still. The USA is a top-15 team, not a bunch of scrubs. (Not that I expect us to beat Brazil should they make it, and not that I'm not still incredibly surprised and euphoric, because I am)

I love international soccer! Go USA!

Gotta strongly disagree there. The USA may be ranked 14th, but it's the way they played the first few games of the Cup that make this result so incredible, and the way that Spain played in their first few games.

Spain was terrific in the group stage of the Cup, and obviously the 12 games before that (winning streak). USA was coming off a loss against Costa Rica and horrible, horrible tactical play against Brazil in Italy. Sure they beat Egypt. But Spain? Spain was the favorite to win the WC. This has to be one of the top upsets in international soccer.

Sadly, I didn't get to see the game, was at Darien Lake for the day

Anyone know if they'll be replaying it?

[TFoA]

That was an awesome game!

I don't get why you guys are so pessimistic. It's like a 4 beating a 1 in March Madness. Unlikely, but not unheard of. I suppose it's harder to pull an upset in soccer than basketball, but still. The USA is a top-15 team, not a bunch of scrubs. (Not that I expect us to beat Brazil should they make it, and not that I'm not still incredibly surprised and euphoric, because I am)

I love international soccer! Go USA!

Gotta strongly disagree there. The USA may be ranked 14th, but it's the way they played the first few games of the Cup that make this result so incredible, and the way that Spain played in their first few games.

Spain was terrific in the group stage of the Cup, and obviously the 12 games before that (winning streak). USA was coming off a loss against Costa Rica and horrible, horrible tactical play against Brazil in Italy. Sure they beat Egypt. But Spain? Spain was the favorite to win the WC. This has to be one of the top upsets in international soccer.

Sadly, I didn't get to see the game, was at Darien Lake for the day

Anyone know if they'll be replaying it?

Yeah it's gonna be on at 11 EST on ESPN2.

[stolilv87]

it's so great to see the boys win that game when everyone in the American media were righting it off or saying that the US shouldn't have advanced b/c we lost to Italy (reference PTI, with the exception of Reali).

Timmy looked really good and seeing Jozy's play makes me very optimistic about the national squad's future as he's only 19. The only thing I didn't like was Donovan flopping so much, I hate to see the game played like that.

[gingerbreadmann]

That was an awesome game!

I don't get why you guys are so pessimistic. It's like a 4 beating a 1 in March Madness. Unlikely, but not unheard of. I suppose it's harder to pull an upset in soccer than basketball, but still. The USA is a top-15 team, not a bunch of scrubs. (Not that I expect us to beat Brazil should they make it, and not that I'm not still incredibly surprised and euphoric, because I am)

I love international soccer! Go USA!

Gotta strongly disagree there. The USA may be ranked 14th, but it's the way they played the first few games of the Cup that make this result so incredible, and the way that Spain played in their first few games.

Spain was terrific in the group stage of the Cup, and obviously the 12 games before that (winning streak). USA was coming off a loss against Costa Rica and horrible, horrible tactical play against Brazil in Italy. Sure they beat Egypt. But Spain? Spain was the favorite to win the WC. This has to be one of the top upsets in international soccer.

Sadly, I didn't get to see the game, was at Darien Lake for the day

Anyone know if they'll be replaying it?

Yeah it's gonna be on at 11 EST on ESPN2.

ESPN360 for 24 hours a day with no commercials

I still stand by my first statement though. It's an astonishing turn of events, but the USA is still not a team of scrubs and that they played more to their potential than the past few games and Spain had a bad day isn't unheard of. If this was Egypt, maybe.

[TFoA]

The more amazing part of this is that Spain didn't score AT ALL. That's what's ridiculous about this whole thing. They have two of the best strikers in the world in David Villa & Torres and they've been scoring all over the place, they had a million chances to score and not a single one got past Howard. That is the main upset in all of this.

[Drew22]

He made some crazy stops too. Ridiculous.

[stolilv87]

You're right it was amazing that it was a clean sheet but they did everything they needed to to hold Spain scoreless. Timmy made his saves, defenders cut down angles, even the midfielders got back and blocked shots something the US midies seem to hardly do.