GO FOR 2

The United States suffered a crushing loss in the FIFA Confederations Cup final on Sunday as Brazil stormed back from a 2-0 halftime deficit to win 3-2. The loss is certainly hard to take for a U.S. side that played so well over the last two games, and had a brilliant first half. But don’t make the mistake of thinking that this is just the same U.S. team who couldn’t finish a big game, or that this somehow erases the progress made earlier in the tournament. This is right where the United States should be.

The Americans had a great win against the two-time Africa champion Egyptians, then stunned the world with a win over number 1 ranked Spain.  These games inspired confidence in the U.S. team, showed them that they have the talent to play with the world’s best, and gave them invaluable experience against top-end international squads. But as incredible as a win would have been, losing might actually be the best thing for this American team.

Back-to-back wins over Spain and Brazil could have actually had an adverse effect on the United States. This team has a few international veterans, but its future lies with the younger players. These players need to take the confidence gained from the Confederations Cup, but it would have been disastrous if they had left the Cup believing they were better than they are. The U.S. is not suddenly a World Cup favorite, they can’t beat teams like Spain and Brazil easily or on a regular basis. They still have a lot to learn, a lot of work to put in, and they need to stay hungry to keep advancing and getting better. A win over Brazil on Sunday could have actually set this team back if they believed they had become too good, and just chose to rest on their laurels and lost the hunger and the fire that has served them so well over the last few weeks.

The loss to Brazil should inspire this team, show them that they have advanced, but must keep working and training if they want to keep experiencing success. The United States now knows exactly where they stand. They’re better, they’re more confident, but they are not ready to be the best in the world without more work. This team is right where it should be, and now they know it.

We’re looking forward to more in the future, thanks for a fun ride Team U.S.A.

WHAT. JUST. HAPPENED.  ??

For those of you who weren’t watching a soccer match from South Africa in the middle of the day, the United States just beat Spain, the number 1 ranked team in the world. This is a Spanish team that had won 35 straight games, was a favorite not only to win the Confederations Cup but also the World Cup, and is widely considered one of the most technically skilled teams in the world.

So what happened here? The United States played with the same fire and passion that they did in their 3-0 rout of Egypt, but that’s not all that happened. The most skilled players on the U.S. team actually decided to, you know, use their skills? Clint Dempsey, who has been playing awful at the Confederations Cup, finally showed up and scored in the 74th minute off yet another botched Landon Donovan shot/pass. Dempsey did an amazing job just getting to the ball which was passed behind him, but then he made an amazing twisting shot past a defender and buried it in the back of the net. 

Jozy Altidore also stepped up, and simply out-willed the entire Spanish backline on the way to an brilliant goal in the 27th minute. Altidore is arguably the best player on the U.S. squad, and plays for the most accomplished international club of any American, Villarreal in Spain’s La Liga. While Altidore is only 19, coach Bob Bradley and the entire U.S. team have been waiting for his fast, aggressive play to show through in international competition.

So, does completely shutting down the best team in the world show that the United States deserved to advance out of the group stage? I’m saying no, but that’s because the U.S. didn’t NEED to show they deserved to advance. A lot of American sports writers, journalists, and loud, bald guys (Good job, Kornheiser) have been saying that Italy and not the United States should have advanced to the semifinals because they had the head-to-head win. Well, too bad. The point differential system has been the tie-breaker in international soccer for decades, and just because American sportswriters don’t like it doesn’t matter. The United States did what they had to do, won the tie-breaker, and deserved to advance.

Sure, the domination of Spain provides a nice, big plate of crow for the ignorant writers who wasted their time arguing that the rules are wrong and Italy deserved to advance. However, the United States didn’t need  to prove anything to a bunch of whiny guys who don’t really understand or follow the beautiful game. What the U.S. did need to do was prove to the other national teams that they weren’t a pushover team that just got lucky, and that they deserve to be taken seriously. The win may or may not have positive repurcussions for the team back home, but it absolutely will have an effect when they show up to the World Cup next year and people actually show them respect.