Now I'm impressed. Beating Spain is a big deal. First time ever in a FIFA final. Not bad.
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Now I'm impressed. Beating Spain is a big deal. First time ever in a FIFA final. Not bad.
Holy crap. I'm shocked.
I really got nothing.
Amazing. Put me in a good mood all day. To put this into perspective for those of you that don't like soccer, the US just beat the #1 ranked team in the world, ending the longest win streak ever in international soccer. We just beat the 1992 dream team. We just beat the Jordan, Malone, Magic and Barkley of soccer when we were supposed to get hammered. Great job USA!!!!!!!!!
First soccer match I've ever watched.
Don't consider myself "hooked" at all.
It was okay. Good win though.
After re-watching the match (yes, I saw it live and then watched the replay), Spain is over-rated. But! they are very, very good. Mostly, they lack physically/athletically imposing players. Just like you see in all sports, a team rises to the #1 ranking, but they are not the best team.
Still, I don't want to downplay this win. Spain is a very good team, a legit Top 10 side, and probably a Top 5. They are not a "dream team," however.
Most importantly it was good to see the US playing with heart, enthusiasm, confidence, and hustling for 90 mins. After dismal performances vs. Italy and Brazil, this sudden turn-around 3-0 Egypt and 2-0 Spain, is very encouraging going forward.
Finally, the US is getting screwed by the international refs. Three red cards in 4 matches. Bradley's ejection was bogus. No way should that have been a card, let alone a red. Total bull$hit! In the last WC we got hit with numerous reds. Heck vs. Italy we played with 9 men! This is ridiculous.
The US team does not get rattled and played thru all those cards. That too is good to see.
d80 -- i would hardly call the performance vs. italy "dismal." the americans played a good portion of that match a man down and still led 1-0 before fading down the stretch. the brazil performance was awful. but if we can keep 11 men on the pitch, and play with heart, then we'll compete in the finals and have a chance to pull off the victory.Originally Posted by dawg80
the bold, the beautiful, theprofessor
Problem is, Italy is not very good right now. They got manhandled by Brazil and soundly beaten by Egypt. Losing 3-1 to that side is inexcusable. But, heck, the team has righted the ship. Spain is clearly better than Italy....right now, will probably change come WC time...and the US played an awesome game vs. Spain. Which just highlights the "dismal" performance against Italy. JM not-so-humble O!
I respectfully disagree D80. They are a dream team. They are the best in the world and it isn't even close. The only team remotely close to them is Brazil. Spain just won the hardest tournament in the world outside of the world cup (Euro) they had the longest win streak and unbeaten streak in the history of International Soccer and they did it by beating some very impressive teams. They have players on the bench that would start for any other nation on earth. When Iniesta is healthy Cesc Fabregas of Arsenal, a superstar and one of the top midfielders in the English Premier League can't even start. At almost every position they have a top-5 player in the world playing it. That my friend is a dream team. I will agree with you that they didn't play like it yesterday though. So if you haven't been following them I can see why you would think that. BTW- I think Bigdog13 was the one suggesting Coach Bradley start the exact backline on defense that shut Spain out.
On the flip side I completely agree with you about the refs. I really do my best to try not to blame refs but there have been a lot of "Phantom Fouls" this tournament. (one "gave" Brazil one of their goals) There were also several instances, against Italy in particular where our opponents should have gotten a card and they didn't. Example Ricardo Clark getting the red card against Italy and then Landon Donovan gets elbowed in the mouth and there is a no call. I have a bad feeling that until we prove our selves to be consistantly among the worlds best we aren't going to get the benefit of the doubt on those calls.
Congrats to the USA Team. Now just who do we play in the finals?
brazil, with a chance to avenge that dismal 3-0 loss in group play.
the bold, the beautiful, theprofessor
I expect a tight, hard-fought game. Brazil is physical. They have big, athletic players who have both skill and strength. But this Brazil team, the one playing in the Confed Cup, is fairly young. About half the starting line-up won't be starting for Brazil's WC side next year.
The US was able to muscle the Spanish players. But that is not possible with this Brazillian group. They offer additional challenges to the US team because of the way we play. As in all sports, it's all about match-ups. And Brazil provides some bad match-ups for the US.
I do expect a great effort from the US and the match will be close. Say 2-1....but I ain't saying which side will have the 2. Just hope it's the US.
The US can win this game. Absolutely, they can. Just have to make it happen.
Which team is better at faking injury?
Jordan Mills on choosing Tech:
“It’s a great experience seeing them play. It was a good atmosphere. The fans stood up the whole game and never sat down. They have a great fan base.”
Oh, by the way just to get this out there, Clint Dempsey was a stud this past game IMO. Ran his ass off, no lazy touches, no easy giveaways and was opportunistic on goal. Credit where it's due - he played great.
South Africa showed up to play against Brazil. If we bring half their effort into the finals on Sunday, the USA has a chance to take this thing.
So far, I've been very impressed with Altidore. If he doesn't end up being a force next year, he will do great things for us in the 2014 World Cup.
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