It sent in dangerous balls consistently. Look at what Sergio Ramos did, Spain's right back. For a good amount of the game, he played up and sent balls in consistently that Torres could make a play on. Torres didn't capatilize a few times and the US did a pretty good job of keeping them out. However, they did give up quite a bit of corner kicks to Spain and then at one point, David Villa was working the middle of the box alone with Fernando Torres widening his game, sending in passes from the wing. After a few minutes after the half, Sergio Ramos started playing up again and sending in balls to Villa. Now the guy that I thought was absolute garbage on the wing was Riera, the opposite wing coming up from the left side. He was terrible. Couldn't send in any passes and then they took out Cesc Fabregas, who worked the middle pretty well I thought and put in Carzola (sp?) who didn't do squat. The whole attacking front, outside of Sergio Ramos - who's originally a defender - lacked touch on the ball the whole day in my opinion. They couldn't finish and they lacked touch. They also looked hesitant at times; I felt there were at least two instances in which Villa and Torres hesitated to put the ball in the back of the net; instead they put an extra touch on the ball that they shouldn't have and lost it because of that. There was one play where it was a three man front by Spain and it was Villa on the left, Torres up the middle and Fabregas on the right and Fabregas should have booted the ball from an angle but instead dumped it off to Torres and it was a poorly passed ball, resulting in a turnover. If he shoots it, at worst, he gets a corner. At best, its a deflection for Torres just to head in. The US simply wanted it more and they defended well inside the eighteen in small parts of the second half, not the full 45 minutes in my opinion. The US attacked well on Spain though. I've always been impressed with Jozy Altidore. He's huge and he can finish. Capdivella was terrible and Puyol was decent from what I noticed.
Enjoyed that game , USA deserved the victory as Spain just couldnt break through the USA defence. Some fantastic blocks from the dude whose name I cant pronounce or spell. THe young striker that plays in Spain looks a great prospect , wish we could get him to play for us as we need a good striker Looking forward to the final at teh weekend
He still sent balls in consistently. He can't shoot but that's why he's a defender, an inconsistent one lol.
I agree with this. Of all the corners and crosses, I cant think of a time where Spain actually got a solid header on the ball. Riera offered nothing in the game except for a shot that was given to him with his much weaker right foot. Spector/Donovan did a great job slowing the left side of Spain which had dominated through the tourney. I can't believe it but gooch has played very solid. It showed today, he has won everything in the air this tourney. He is looking to get paid with Fener giving him a look.
I don't know if the US switched to playing Davies up front or not for the Egypt game, but since he's come in (if indeed that is true) his speed up front compliments Altidore and that leaves Dempsey and Donovan to supply from the middle and right. If the US can add a couple of players to that foursome, offensively speaking, perhaps on the leftside... they'll get better and better. Easier said than done of course!
I dont know if this has been posted but Dude is my favorite player but this is hilarious. No idea what is going on haha.
What a win by the US. They showed a lot of heart and never gave up. If they want to beat brazil though, they have to make the extra pass and play the ball back to Howard more instead of giving possession back to the opposition. Not enough can be said of Howard today, what an animal. The US defense did well when backed up into the box, but Spain had way too much space and way too many opportunities. Howard did a good job masking this, as the US could easily have lost. Such an amazing game, and I'm glad it went our way!!
Nah, Cowherd never owns his mistakes, I'd bet he doesn't even play that dopey "how many goals will the US get beaten by" song.. A huge win for the US, not quite a put the program on the map win, but the biggest probably since the 94 WC was held in the US
Nah, bring on Brazil. South Africa might be the smart play but beating Brazil for the C Cup would ten times sweeter. We shocked the world today but lets awe them on Sunday. Bring it Brazil.
Altidore is incredible... Freddie Adu who???? Altidore is the real deal at only 19 years old. For some reason I feel like a proud father watching him play and develop from game to game.
Brazil is going to spank that *** provided they get by South Africa. Enjoy celebrating over the next few days.
Thats the dude i was on about. Looks a fantastic player. The way he held of the defender for the goal was excellent. Although the finish wasnt the best it still had enough to beat the keeper. Send him to Scotland for a season or two please
Congrats guys, nice to see all of you in this thread finally USA winning this tourney versus S. Africa will not get the world on notice as much as beating Brasil will be
We want Brazil. Yes we could win the cup against South Africa but to get ready for the World Cup we need to play the best. This cup is all about improving the team.
I want the cup and the W...dont care about the opponent...beat who you play....that will build the confidence and measure this team quite nicely.
Would strongly dis-agree that Italian football is looking bright. The Seria A is now weaker than both the Premier League and the Primeria Ligea. Italian clubs displays in the Champions League over the past few seasons has proved that. That impacts the national side because historically, the national team is made up of players playing in the Seria A. Like that Italian team taken to South Africa was far from weak, most of those players will still be there for the WC qualifiers. What would really worry me if I'm a Italy fan would be Lippi's comments after the game. If Lippi thinks they are the best players in Italy, I would be very concerned about the direction of the team. You maybe right, there performances in the Confed's cup may be the spark that wakes up the Italians. But this team has been out of sync for a while now and have not played well for the entire WC 2010 campagian so far. Form is not always an easy thing to re-capture easily.
Nice Confederation Cup games yesterday and today It's important to get to this final because it shows the team is at least in a reasonable level to compete in the WC as a soccer fan I hope we have a clean and good game next sunday, and I hope brazil doesn't look past the US as Spain did, because if so we'll lose this match. cheers!
See, every time somebody brings that up, I laugh. 2 world championships < 24. Sure, it met alot at the time, but you bring up it to any Russian right now, they will laugh
Trust me, I understand what it meant at the time(i love history, and i am very passionate about my country, so you can put 2 and 2 together...But bringing up now, is silly ) You have no idea how many jokes was going around after Russians find out US a movie about beating us a hockey. Numbers speak for themselves
Get what? A world cup? hahah Its safe to say that both countries won't be the front runners this year
GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! USA!USA!USA!USA! Shock the world baby! We're kicking their @#######
