What a choke job by the American squad in the Confederations Cup Final. I am angrily punching these keys thinking about the second half. In fact, I'm trying not to throw up in mouth I'm so disgusted by the lack of intensity and aggressiveness by the U.S. players.
U.S. soccer could have pulled off the greatest stretch in their history by defeating the most heralded soccer nation in the world. Instead, the U.S. took a big lead (2-0) into halftime, then laid down in the second half like a bunch of drunk soriority chicks after a mix up. Horrible, unless you're the lucky frat boy!
The game was a tale of two halves. In the ninth minute, Dempsey scored his 3rd goal of the tournament by redirecting a cross by Jonathan Spector. Seventeen minutes later, Landon Donovan scored on a crisp pass from Davies and drilled a left footed beauty past Julio Cesar. At this point I started a frenzy in my house, as I screamed wildly jumping up from the couch and scaring my 130 pound dog, who started barking in unison with my cheers.
My excitement was soon trounced in the first minute of the second half when Luis Fabiano scored from the top of the box. It was an unlucky goal for the Americans as Fabiano's shot went through defender Jay Demerit's legs and into the back of the net. This started an onslought of Brazilian attacks upon the American defense.
Things got ugly quickly for the U.S. team. They stopped attacking, stopped competing, and pulled all 11 players into their own box trying to deny the Brazilians another goal. It backfired to say the least. The U.S. gave Brazil space to operate, to use their quick precise passes and impressive ball skills to penetrate the defense and create endless scoring opportunities. The U.S. played right into the Brazilian's strength, and found themselves down 3-2 as the final whistle blew.
Why did the U.S. stop doing what made them successful in the first half? Why did they pull back into the their own box and stop putting pressure on the Brazilian defense? It was a mistake the U.S. National Team will lament for the rest of their lives. They could have had back to back wins against the two best teams in the world, and taken home their first confederations cup to boot. Instead, U.S. soccer fans are scratching their heads wondering how this monumental screw up will affect them a year from now when the World Cup begins.
Showing posts with label Confederations Cup. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Confederations Cup. Show all posts
Monday, June 29, 2009
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Improbably Day for U.S. National Team
The U.S. Men's National Team in soccer pulled off the unthinkable today. They not only needed to beat Egypt by 3 + goals, a country that lost to a world class Brazil team by the slimmest of margins at 4-3, but the U.S. also needed Brazil to beat a very talented Italian National Team by 3 goals as well. Impossible right?
Not exactly! Charlie Davies started the scoring barrage for the U.S. in the 21st minute beating Egyptian goal keeper Essam El Hadary to a loose ball. However, with only one goal at half time beating the Egyptians by 3 was still looking bleak. It wasn't until the 63rd minute when the Americans realized they had a shot to pull it off! Landon Donovan diced through the Egyptian defense and hit Michael Bradley with a square pass that was drilled past a diving El Hadary for the second goal. That was followed 8 minutes later by a goal from Clint Dempsey to cap off the 3-0 win for the Americans.
Throughout the match, U.S. players were given updates on the Brazil game that was being played simultaneously. For most of the first half, U.S. players were told Brazil and Italy were tied 0-0. Things didn't look good for the Americans to advance. But suddenly in the 36th minute, Luis Fabiano scorched the Italian keeper for the first goal, and followed it up six minutes later with his second goal in the 42nd minute. Just like that the Americans chances were getting better. To make matters worse for the Italians, in the 44th minute they scored an own goal and Brazil was up 3-0 before the first half was over.
No one thought the U.S. had a chance to advance in the Confederations Cup after losing 3-1 to Italy and 3-0 to Brazil. Of course those outcomes were dramatically affected because of red cards in both games, leaving the Americans to play with only 10 men. To the non-soccer fan, playing 11 on 10 wouldn't seem to make much of a difference, but the advantage of a team playing a man up is almost insurmountable.
Nonetheless, the U.S. Men's Soccer Team advances to the semis in style. The celebration will be short lived though, with the hottest team in the World in Spain waiting to knock them off. Spain has rolled off 15 straight wins, a world record, and is unbeaten in their last 35 games. It'll be tough for the Americans to make the finals, but if today's unprobable win is any indication, anything is possible.
Not exactly! Charlie Davies started the scoring barrage for the U.S. in the 21st minute beating Egyptian goal keeper Essam El Hadary to a loose ball. However, with only one goal at half time beating the Egyptians by 3 was still looking bleak. It wasn't until the 63rd minute when the Americans realized they had a shot to pull it off! Landon Donovan diced through the Egyptian defense and hit Michael Bradley with a square pass that was drilled past a diving El Hadary for the second goal. That was followed 8 minutes later by a goal from Clint Dempsey to cap off the 3-0 win for the Americans.
Throughout the match, U.S. players were given updates on the Brazil game that was being played simultaneously. For most of the first half, U.S. players were told Brazil and Italy were tied 0-0. Things didn't look good for the Americans to advance. But suddenly in the 36th minute, Luis Fabiano scorched the Italian keeper for the first goal, and followed it up six minutes later with his second goal in the 42nd minute. Just like that the Americans chances were getting better. To make matters worse for the Italians, in the 44th minute they scored an own goal and Brazil was up 3-0 before the first half was over.
No one thought the U.S. had a chance to advance in the Confederations Cup after losing 3-1 to Italy and 3-0 to Brazil. Of course those outcomes were dramatically affected because of red cards in both games, leaving the Americans to play with only 10 men. To the non-soccer fan, playing 11 on 10 wouldn't seem to make much of a difference, but the advantage of a team playing a man up is almost insurmountable.
Nonetheless, the U.S. Men's Soccer Team advances to the semis in style. The celebration will be short lived though, with the hottest team in the World in Spain waiting to knock them off. Spain has rolled off 15 straight wins, a world record, and is unbeaten in their last 35 games. It'll be tough for the Americans to make the finals, but if today's unprobable win is any indication, anything is possible.
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