2009 Confederations Cup

[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?

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.

I'm sorry, but this is extremely unheard of. Granted it was an ugly game, but that's what a team like the US has to do to beat a world class team like Spain. Spain completely, completely outmans the USA in terms of personnel. It's more like UConn against George Mason a couple years ago. The dropoff of top tiered teams to where the USA are at is pretty significant.

Think about this: Spain has arguably the best midfield in the world (Fabregas, Xavi, Xabi Alonso), the best keeper, the best forwards (Torres, Villa) and some of the best defenders (Puyol, Ramos). ALL of their players are starters on some of the worlds best clubs. The US? Has maybe three starters on European teams (Howard, Dempsey, someone else I'm forgetting right now, is it Bradley?). That's just an incredible difference in talent, and the fact we were able to score 2 goals and weather the onslaught of attackers throughout the game by Spain is just mind-blowing. A truly hats-off performance to Timmy H and the defense tonight.

[NoHoJoe]

Can You say UPSET????

Good Luck TO Team USA Sunday.

One Little Victory!

[Viper]

I just finished watching my DVD-RW of the contest. Un-f in'-believable. Spain dominated the possession game - it seemed like 3/4 of the match was played in the American end - but couldn't put one home. Meanwhile the U.S. turned the ball over way too much, but made the most of the scoring chances they did get. Altidore's first-half tally in particular was amazing.

[FiddySicks]

HUGE win for the US today, awesome to see them make some noise on the international stage.

Too bad most Americans still won't give a damn. A shame really, soccer is miles ahead of a lot of other popular American sports in terms of excitement.

[NEW.ERA]

If and when Brazil knocks off South Africa but that's not even set in stone, But if it ends up being a Brazil-US final it will be an interesting game and the US could be a true threat next summer kinda like how they we're thought of entering Germany but with a bit more legitimacy this time.

I'm interested in how they'll handle the Gold Cup now with that starting next weekend.

[STL FANATIC]

Too bad most Americans still won't give a damn. A shame really, soccer is miles ahead of a lot of other popular American sports in terms of excitement.

I'm not sure I necessarily agree with that, but I do find it interesting how the lack of scoring in soccer and sometimes hockey is such a knock to the general American audience.

The feeling I had today watching this game, and it's one I've had many a time watching my Blues, was a very nervous and anxious one. Every goal matters, so when the US got their first (and their second) it was an enormously big deal. And with every Spainiard carry into the American half my stomach turned a little more.

That's excitement. To me anyways.

[udubs03]

Too bad most Americans still won't give a damn. A shame really, soccer is miles ahead of a lot of other popular American sports in terms of excitement.

I'm not sure I necessarily agree with that, but I do find it interesting how the lack of scoring in soccer and sometimes hockey is such a knock to the general American audience.

The feeling I had today watching this game, and it's one I've had many a time watching my Blues, was a very nervous and anxious one. Every goal matters, so when the US got their first (and their second) it was an enormously big deal. And with every Spainiard carry into the American half my stomach turned a little more.

That's excitement. To me anyways.

I felt the same way. I was basically wringing my hands and pacing the whole game. When the US scored that second goal, it was the most excited I've been about a sporting event in some time.

I used to be a huge detractor of soccer, as I was basically made to believe that you had to choose between that or American football growing up. I never really paid much attention to it until World Cup '06, but since then I've been hooked. The games have a good flow without all the commercial interruptions, the announcers typically don't get on my nerves as much as in other sports, and when two good sides are playing, it really is a beautiful game to watch.

It would be great to see more support for the USMNT. Let's hope they have some left in the tank for Sunday.

[rams80]

If and when Brazil knocks off South Africa but that's not even set in stone, But if it ends up being a Brazil-US final it will be an interesting game and the US could be a true threat next summer kinda like how they we're thought of entering Germany but with a bit more legitimacy this time.

I'm interested in how they'll handle the Gold Cup now with that starting next weekend.

In other words, they're going to lose to Burkina Faso or Bangladesh in group play, right?

[GFB]

Too bad most Americans still won't give a damn. A shame really, soccer is miles ahead of a lot of other popular American sports in terms of excitement.

I'm not sure I necessarily agree with that, but I do find it interesting how the lack of scoring in soccer and sometimes hockey is such a knock to the general American audience.

The feeling I had today watching this game, and it's one I've had many a time watching my Blues, was a very nervous and anxious one. Every goal matters, so when the US got their first (and their second) it was an enormously big deal. And with every Spainiard carry into the American half my stomach turned a little more.

That's excitement. To me anyways.

I just wanted to comment on this because I find it very confusing on a personal level.

For myself, the lack of scoring isn't a knock at all. In fact, it's a major plus. Because of the lack of scoring in sports such as hockey and soccer, every goal becomes that much more important. Even the near-goals & fantastic saves become magnified in intensity and meaning. And as a player when you do finally break through, it's means all the more to you.

Consequently, too much scoring has the opposite effect on myself. This is why I hate basketball. (outside of two weeks of March Madness, of course) The more times a team "scores", the less meaning each individual score becomes. So what your shot rimmed out, won't you'll have 20 other chances to shoot? So you had the game-winning shot... what was that? The 56th time your team put the ball in the basket?

Now of course my opinion is biased (being a soccer player myself), but I just don't understand what people find so attractive about running up and down the court, scoring every 20 seconds.

****************

Now on the win today, I was shocked. As I was watching the game, I felt like I was watching the MLB All Stars taking on the Pittsburgh Pirates. Spain trotted out the showcased heroes from all the amazing games I watched throughout the year. Torres and Fabregas from that insane 4-4 draw between Arsenal and Liverpool. Puyol from the Barca side that manhandled ManU. Throw in David Villa, Xavi, Sergio Ramos. Then you have the US with their EPL subs on the middle of the road teams (Fulham, Everton) and high-end MLS stars.

Never thought in my life I would see Fernando Torres going up against the likes of Charlie Davies...

However, the stars for the US really showed up IMO. Altidore and Donovan were fantastic. Dempsey and Howard played up to their potential. And what can I say about Gooch and Bradley... defensive studs today. (And did anyone else catch that heel flip Oneywu did to turn away that Spanish cross at the end of the first half? One of the greatest defensive plays I have ever seen!)

I'm still wondering what the hell Charlie Davies and Conor Casey are doing seeing the field? Put in Dempsey or Feilhaber... BB put him in for 20 minutes and he was the one who created that second goal by actually dribbling around four Spaniards before laying the ball off to Donovan.

I hope they appeal Bradley's red. Worst red I've seen since the Italy WC game... that ref should be shamed for giving that a straight red.

[Puckguy14]

I'm not necessarily a big soccer fan, but I will catch some matches on FSC (especially if its the SJ Earthquakes or AC Milan.) But this was a shocker to say the least. If it's Brazil vs. USA and the USA somehow were to pull it off, while its not the Olympics, would it be as big of an upset as the USA hockey team vs. the Soviets, who were the dominant team in the sport on an international stage?

Congrats, but now that you're there, time to shock the world. A win could help soccer in the States immensely get on the map further.

[BJ Sands]

I love footy but it will never be more than a niche in this country and never "be on the map" more than it is now. A US win in the Confederations Cup would boost the sport's popularity here until NFL training camp starts or the start of NBA free agency.

A World Cup win next year would boost the sport's popularity until Week 1 of the 2010 NFL season.

I'm sorry, but we already have a Big 4 in sports, not counting NASCAR and college sports. Soccer will never break into that, especially when our domestic pro league is as lame as MLS.

Still, it was a great win.

Internationally, however, it might force some people to respect the US team more. That's probably what matters more, actually.

[chestnutz]

I just wanted to comment on this because I find it very confusing on a personal level.

For myself, the lack of scoring isn't a knock at all. In fact, it's a major plus. Because of the lack of scoring in sports such as hockey and soccer, every goal becomes that much more important. Even the near-goals & fantastic saves become magnified in intensity and meaning. And as a player when you do finally break through, it's means all the more to you.

Consequently, too much scoring has the opposite effect on myself. This is why I hate basketball. (outside of two weeks of March Madness, of course) The more times a team "scores", the less meaning each individual score becomes. So what your shot rimmed out, won't you'll have 20 other chances to shoot? So you had the game-winning shot... what was that? The 56th time your team put the ball in the basket?

Now of course my opinion is biased (being a soccer player myself), but I just don't understand what people find so attractive about running up and down the court, scoring every 20 seconds.

****************

Now on the win today, I was shocked. As I was watching the game, I felt like I was watching the MLB All Stars taking on the Pittsburgh Pirates. Spain trotted out the showcased heroes from all the amazing games I watched throughout the year. Torres and Fabregas from that insane 4-4 draw between Arsenal and Liverpool. Puyol from the Barca side that manhandled ManU. Throw in David Villa, Xavi, Sergio Ramos. Then you have the US with their EPL subs on the middle of the road teams (Fulham, Everton) and high-end MLS stars.

Never thought in my life I would see Fernando Torres going up against the likes of Charlie Davies...

However, the stars for the US really showed up IMO. Altidore and Donovan were fantastic. Dempsey and Howard played up to their potential. And what can I say about Gooch and Bradley... defensive studs today. (And did anyone else catch that heel flip Oneywu did to turn away that Spanish cross at the end of the first half? One of the greatest defensive plays I have ever seen!)

I'm still wondering what the hell Charlie Davies and Conor Casey are doing seeing the field? Put in Dempsey or Feilhaber... BB put him in for 20 minutes and he was the one who created that second goal by actually dribbling around four Spaniards before laying the ball off to Donovan.

I hope they appeal Bradley's red. Worst red I've seen since the Italy WC game... that ref should be shamed for giving that a straight red.

Haha I saw that, I was so surprised and caught off guard. But it looked like (I only saw it once) that he could have simply headed it away.

Gotta mention DeMerit too, he played one helluva game at centre back.

I think what STL meant by saying the lack of scoring hurts is that's what the general American public feels like. Think about the most popular sports, football will score at least 20 points a game, NBA 90 points, and hell even baseball is usually 7 or 8 runs per team. I really do think that with this win though, people have started to pay attention to the soccer team more. ESPN has gradually increased the amount of attention to the team, and especially with the coverage they're going to give the world cup (read an article they said ESPN would send anchors there and do SportsCenter from South Africa, similar to what they do at the Super Bowl), the popularity will only increase. And I hope so.

[GFB]

I just wanted to comment on this because I find it very confusing on a personal level.

For myself, the lack of scoring isn't a knock at all. In fact, it's a major plus. Because of the lack of scoring in sports such as hockey and soccer, every goal becomes that much more important. Even the near-goals & fantastic saves become magnified in intensity and meaning. And as a player when you do finally break through, it's means all the more to you.

Consequently, too much scoring has the opposite effect on myself. This is why I hate basketball. (outside of two weeks of March Madness, of course) The more times a team "scores", the less meaning each individual score becomes. So what your shot rimmed out, won't you'll have 20 other chances to shoot? So you had the game-winning shot... what was that? The 56th time your team put the ball in the basket?

Now of course my opinion is biased (being a soccer player myself), but I just don't understand what people find so attractive about running up and down the court, scoring every 20 seconds.

****************

Now on the win today, I was shocked. As I was watching the game, I felt like I was watching the MLB All Stars taking on the Pittsburgh Pirates. Spain trotted out the showcased heroes from all the amazing games I watched throughout the year. Torres and Fabregas from that insane 4-4 draw between Arsenal and Liverpool. Puyol from the Barca side that manhandled ManU. Throw in David Villa, Xavi, Sergio Ramos. Then you have the US with their EPL subs on the middle of the road teams (Fulham, Everton) and high-end MLS stars.

Never thought in my life I would see Fernando Torres going up against the likes of Charlie Davies...

However, the stars for the US really showed up IMO. Altidore and Donovan were fantastic. Dempsey and Howard played up to their potential. And what can I say about Gooch and Bradley... defensive studs today. (And did anyone else catch that heel flip Oneywu did to turn away that Spanish cross at the end of the first half? One of the greatest defensive plays I have ever seen!)

I'm still wondering what the hell Charlie Davies and Conor Casey are doing seeing the field? Put in Dempsey or Feilhaber... BB put him in for 20 minutes and he was the one who created that second goal by actually dribbling around four Spaniards before laying the ball off to Donovan.

I hope they appeal Bradley's red. Worst red I've seen since the Italy WC game... that ref should be shamed for giving that a straight red.

Haha I saw that, I was so surprised and caught off guard. But it looked like (I only saw it once) that he could have simply headed it away.

Gotta mention DeMerit too, he played one helluva game at centre back.

I think what STL meant by saying the lack of scoring hurts is that's what the general American public feels like. Think about the most popular sports, football will score at least 20 points a game, NBA 90 points, and hell even baseball is usually 7 or 8 runs per team. I really do think that with this win though, people have started to pay attention to the soccer team more. ESPN has gradually increased the amount of attention to the team, and especially with the coverage they're going to give the world cup (read an article they said ESPN would send anchors there and do SportsCenter from South Africa, similar to what they do at the Super Bowl), the popularity will only increase. And I hope so.

I got what STL was saying, I just don't understand why everyone hates soccer because of a lack of scoring. Lack of scoring creates more pressure and excitement because of it. I hate basketball because they score too much.

Even three of the big four sports here in America are much closer to soccer in scoring than basketball:

Soccer 1-2 scores

Hockey 1-3 scores

Baseball 2-4 scores

Football 3-5 scores (including field goals)

Basketball 50-60 scores

(per team)

Demerit played great too, I kept holding my breath because I could swear he was going to give Spain a penalty... and I think he almost did once.

[chestnutz]

Maybe Americans aren't fans because they aren't knowledgeable about the game and its players. Think about it, most Americans know maybe Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, and David Beckham. If they don't know any of the players, they're not going to want to watch, they don't have that personal connection with the players. This goes to it not being marketed very much and shown on TV in the US. People know all the players in football, baseball, etc.

It's still, along with american football, my favorite sport to watch (and my favorite to play). Just so entertaining when you get two clashing styles (ala Spain and USA).

I will definitely agree with you that that was NOT a red card at all. I hope they appeal that, what an absolutely atrocious call. I wouldn't even give that a yellow. He missed the ball by a millisecond. When I saw the play happen, I was like "that's really the red card call? REALLY?!"

OT: Ghetto, you may want to change your Dawkins sig

[BrySmalls]

Brazil 1 - South Africa 0

Brazil vs. United States, Part II

[Viper]

The Brazilians barely snuck past Bafana Bafana, too. They didn't break the scoreless deadlock until the tail end of regulation time.

Is anyone else starting to get a Super Bowl XLII-style vibe here (as in USA = Giants, Brazil = Patriots)?

[Gothamite]

I'm sorry, but we already have a Big 4 in sports, not counting NASCAR and college sports. Soccer will never break into that, especially when our domestic pro league is as lame as MLS.

True enough. They had their chance when the NHL took the year off, but couldn't make a move. That was the best chance MLS had to step into the top 4.

[gingerbreadmann]

The Brazilians barely snuck past Bafana Bafana, too. They didn't break the scoreless deadlock until the tail end of regulation time.

Is anyone else starting to get a Super Bowl XLII-style vibe here (as in USA = Giants, Brazil = Patriots)?

No.

[-kj]

So... why is it so important that MLS "break into the top four"? Or, rather, why is it always pointed out that it never will? Big whoop.

[TFoA]

So... why is it so important that MLS "break into the top four"? Or, rather, why is it always pointed out that it never will? Big whoop.

Especially when MLS doesn't exactly HAVE to break into the top four. At the rate MLS is going, they will be just fine for years to come, and they have fit into their role in American sports very nicely. They're expanding, their teams are starting to make profit, and the fans that they have are VERY loyal and solid as well. MLS is fine where it's at.