David Slays Goliath, 2-nil

An historic day for the U.S. Men's National Team as they won a place in the Confederations Cup Finals after defeating #1 rated Spain.

Winning a semi-final spot must have been bittersweet to every US player who picked up a newspaper the next day and saw the words “luck” and “gift” used to describe how they earned a place in the last four. Now it may have been a bit of fortune that Brazil beat Italy 3-0, but Brazil did put at least 3 goals past everyone in their group so why should Italy have been any different? The USA brought the game right down Egypt’s throat with intense play that led to a much-deserved 3-0 victory from the Americans. It just so happened that these games occurred on the last day of the group stage and that the Americans decided that instead of rolling over and exiting the tournament with their tails between their legs it would be better to launch an onslaught into Egyptian territory and have Guissippe Rossi watch them take on Spain in the semi-finals from the comfort of his own home.

I said last week that regardless of the score, Spain is a much more talented team than the USA. The US players all know that; but being talented doesn’t give you a free ride to the Confederations Cup Final. Thankfully for the spectators, Spain did not take this match lightly and gave us all a heart pounding game.

They came at the USA with their usual bag of tricks. Clever ball movement, fantastic shots, and great touches all looked to be too easy for the Spaniards. What didn’t look easy was finding a way inside the American box and creating a golden scoring opportunity. Spain couldn’t find their venom today, and the frustrated faces of David Villa and Fernando Torres told the story of two world class striker who couldn’t create a way to break down the American defenders and fire their team into the finals. That task proved to be just beyond them and that’s in no small part due to the world-class performances of Oguche Onyewu and Jay DeMerit, who seems to have stolen Carlos Bocanegra’s center-back spot.

What makes this victory so sweet for the US players and fans is that Spain did not underestimate the US Men’s National Team. Instead they played with all the vigor and pressure of a world cup final and it wasn’t enough to win. Although Spain is the more skilled and more decorated side, they could not play their way through the beating hearts of the US players who left nothing on the field. The US team did not win because Spain thought this game would be a walk in the park; they won because they were the better team on the pitch.

This game came down to why the US wins all their international “upsets;” they played harder than the other team and the goals came as a result of that. Congratulations lads, you played your hearts out and beat the best team in the world. Even the naysayers have to realize now the when the U.S. plays their game with that kind of intensity and character they can go toe-to-toe with the best teams in the world. Raise your glass and have a toast if you are a U.S. soccer fan, today was a great day for the team, the sport, and the country.

- Tim Conley