So Close, Yet So Far

PINNO - I know many Americans were disappointed after the U.S.A. International Soccer Club blew a 2-0 lead to Brazil in the Confederations Cup, losing 3-2. I watched the whole game that promising Sunday afternoon, and it seemed as if American soccer finally had some swagger (especially after beating arguably the World's best, Spain, two days earlier). However, there are a few reasons why the U.S. got in front 2-0, and there were many reasons why most savvy soccer fans knew Brazil still was not going to lose.

The game started out relatively back and forth, and in the 9th minute, Clint Dempsey had a beautifully sleazy goal (watch the link, its sleazy). Brazil was left a tad befuddled, as was the rest of the world as to how that goal happened (their faces were similar to mine when I read that Marcin Gortat was a very desirable Free Agent for a lot of NBA teams).

After U.S. was up 1-nil, Brazil began to attack. However, Tim Howard seemed to be up to every nifty, curvy, sketchy ball that Brazil played at him. By the way, isn't it weird not seeing Ronaldinho out there owning it for Brazil? I always loved him and it's weird to see him fade and not even be on the international team. Now Brazil has so many young players that I'm gonna have to learn to love/hate for the 2010 World Cup, but I digress.

Brazil is pushing, good defense by Beasley on Fabian and now the U.S. is on the counter. Jozy Altidore (my favorite, and he's my age) to Donovan, Donovan beautiful thru ball to Dempsey, Dempsey with an even better thru back to Donovan - Donovan stops, sets, and GOALLLLLLL! Boom goes the dynamite! What a great two man counter goal. This goal should be a video that young soccer players around the nation watch over and over. Good defense, unselfishness, spreading the field, and most importantly: a great finish by Donovan. The U.S. is up 2-0 and its the 26th minute. What's happening? Are we really about to beat out Spain in the semis and then Brazil in the Final to win the Confederations Cup? Who knew the answer to these questions at this point besides soccer God David Bekham? No one. All I knew is that there was something eery about this 2-0 lead, something that did not seem stable.

U.S. holds off Brazil for the rest of the half, and we can into half with an incredible solid 2-0 lead. I saw a lot of brown stains near the buttock's of American players on those white jerseys because I think every U.S. player was shitting themselves. Brazil's coach pretty much dissected every one of Bob Bradley's schemes at the half- which was clear by Brazil's domination in the second half.

I'll make this paragraph, on Brazil's three goals, easy on American soccer fans. Luis Fabiano single-handedly breaks down the U.S.'s poor, poor defense. He scores at the beginning of the second half not even a minute into it! In the 73rd minute, Fabiano gets the ball fed to him after two deflections (Howard had no chance) and scores easily. it seemed as if America had little hope. Everyone was expecting Brazil to score again, there was no way to stop it. And they did, 10 minutes later, in the 83rd minute (Lucio). Game, set, match.

Clint Dempsey was sobbing as the Americans were getting their second place medals, an achievement that, despite the tears, I'm sure he one of his teammates was proud of. No one would have guessed that America would beat Spain, let alone come close to beating Brazil in the Final. Brazil had 11 shots on goal compared to America's 4, they killed the U.S. in possesion time, and Julio Cesar only needed two saves compared to Howard's 8. Most who watched the 2nd half of the Final knew it was over long before stoppage time ended. However, this Confederations Cup showing gives America a lot of confidence for the World Cup in a year; and it also gives the U.S. more respect on a global level. "We're at the point where we don't want respect, we want to win," says Landon Donovan, who put the U.S. up 2-0 and is a fan favorite around the nation. Due to America's gutty performance, I finally believe that American soccer players think and more importantly know that they can hang with the big dogs.