FIFA Confederations Cup 2009; huge upset by the U.S. to make final

[yoshii8]

The U.S. will be facing Brazil, who dramatically edged host nation South Africa with a goal from reserve Daniel Alves in the 88th minute on Thursday.

I was very impressed w/ South Africa, they more than held there own against Brazil, and looked like the better team for a lot of the match. They are definitely a team to watch out for next summer.

[yoshii8]

The game is at 1:00 today on ESPN if anybody is interested. It would be very sweet to see the US beat Brazil.

 

Edited: My tv listings listed it on ESPN 2, but its actually on ESPN

[samwise]

Up 2-0 thirty minutes in.

[yoshii8]

That was a beautiful combination w/ Davies and Donovan on that second goal. 2-0 US at the half!

[thebruce44]

Spector's cross was amazing on the first goal. I can't believe I am watching US soccer right now. We are never going to be a high possession team, but with our counter attack we look capable of beating anyone in the world right now.

[TooLiveBrew]

Dempsey 10'

Donovan 27'

 

 

That, my friends, is sexy! This is the most excited I have ever been about soccer. I also successfully cooked eggs over medium for the first time in my life... coincidence? I think not!

 

EDIT: Oh, and thebruce & yoshii8 completely nailed it for the two goals. The way Donovan played the ball back to his left foot before striking it past Julio Cesar was super-slick. Nice to see Demerit coming up big on a few plays early, too.

[TooLiveBrew]

Oops. I think I cursed Demerit. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/frown.gif 2-1 now.

[TooLiveBrew]

Starting to see some tired legs for the US... I hope the reserves are up to the challenge for the stretch run.

[TooLiveBrew]

TIM HOWARD

 

MVP OF EVERYTHING!

 

 

 

(wow, after the replay, just a missed call by the officials on the Kaka header. That ball looked completely in the goal)

[davego]

I know next to nothing about Soccer, but I did follow this game. From what I could tell, Brazil is pretty good.

[thebruce44]

Disappointing second half for sure. I know Donavan said something to the effect that there are no more moral victories for the US and I want to hear that accountability from him, but there were a lot of positives to take from this game.

[SeriesFinale]

Hot knife to the gut. Angry and sad at the same time.

 

The "frosting" to this mud-pie is having to hear the likes of Harkes and Lalas trying to play it up as a moral victory--Donovan's right, there's no guarantee they'll be back to a FIFA final any time soon, and as good as Brazil is, that was a total bitter breakdown.

[SeriesFinale]

I'll probably feel better about a 3-2 loss to Brazil in a FIFA final in a few days, but for now, ouch.

 

At the least I still have higher hopes for next year's World Cup

[ILuvDaBush]

What can you say about the game? The difference between Brazil and the US...when the US was down 2-0 early v. Brazil, we went and hid. When Brazil was down 2-0 v. US, they got angry. Donovan definitely showed that he is the key to our team (though something could also be said of Bradley Jr and Altidore). He paced the entire team. And the Gooch and DeMerit, between them, one should merit all-tournament consideration (probably Gooch. You can't deny having mini-Lebron back there definitely helps). But beyond all the positives you can take away from today's game, we still come home empty-handed and we have nothing to blame but our lack of desire or fitness. We played an amazing 45 minutes, but then, it was like the first half v. Brazil in the group stage. Brazil came out and immediately punched us right in the mouth. Then the ref tried to gift wrap a reprieve to us (the obvious punchout from within the goal) and we still couldn't take advantage. Hopefully this does lead to some new opportunities for our country's stars (especially Jozy).

Also, as an aside, I too went to BayPort (and DePere), though I never played soccer. I graduated a year behind Jay but I never really said a word to him. Nice guy. Friendly. Then one night a few years ago (after he had gotten his call-up to the national team when they were playing in South America, I believe) I was out at The Bar with some friends and I saw him come in. Now I live in Green Bay and see Packers all over. But an EPL (at the time, his team had yet to be relegated) stud -and National Teamer, to boot - was something to behold. I knew a few people in his group, as I'm friends with the Rhodeses and the Grants in Green Bay, so I approached him and went a bit starstruck. Nevertheless, he recognized me from high school, sat down for a few minutes, and had a beer with us while he talked a bit about how excited he was to even get a call-up to the National Team. Total class act.

[TooLiveBrew]

Cool story on Demerit, DaBush

 

 

I'll probably feel better about a 3-2 loss to Brazil in a FIFA final in a few days, but for now, ouch.

 

At the least I still have higher hopes for next year's World Cup

 

Yeah. I think the US team gameplanned really well for Brazil. Seemed like the entire first half Brazil was on the ropes. But in the second half, let's be honest... the more talented team worked their opponent into the ground. I swear Brazil just alternated between 'being on the attack', and 'getting the ball back from a US clearance to go right back on the attack again'. Seemed like once they adjusted to the US's strategy, we just had no answer. Kaka is so good, it's just amazing.

 

The Brazilians were phenomenal, and you could really easily argue that the score should have been 4-2. Think about that -- a team that held Spain scoreless for 90 minutes... and Brazil put up 4 goals in 45 minutes! Certainly a frustrating loss, but lots of positives. Howard was brilliant. In fact, "brilliant" doesn't even adequately sum up how I felt about his performance. The save at ~ the 70 min. mark where he basically took the foot off the Brazilian player's foot (name escapes me, sorry) was incredible.

[yoshii8]

Disappointing second half is an understatement. Brazil was very good, but why in the world do you take out Altidore, the only forward that can possess the ball, and put in Klejstan? I was shocked to see him get replaced, it made no sense to me.

[bacon06]

Altidore looked gassed in the second half. I can't imagine what kind of game shape his is in seeing as he hasn't played for his club since like 2008. The US is still rather thin on the bench, something hopefully the Gold Cup can help out in getting some new guys playing time.

 

I would feel better about finishing second if the US didn't have a 2-0 lead for a half. The stellar marking displayed against Spain and in the first half disappeared and led to Brazil taking over. All in all, it feels good to finally get this far in a competitive competition, but sucks to lose this way.

[SeriesFinale]

Altidore looked gassed in the first half, really.

 

This team definitely missed Bradley in that second half, and those substitutions were questionable at the time and look even worse afterwards.

[chrisisoutrunning]

Jozy can control the ball, but I don't think he did much of it during the final, against Spain yes, but he never seemed to find any spots in this match.

 

The subs were up waiting to come in just before Brazil tied it at 2. I full expected the subs to be defensive minded when I saw guys up, but I was hoping there was a way to "cancel" the substitution after the goal. (I won't profess to know the details of the soccer rulebook, but I'm guessing once they're up and at the 4th referee, there coming in no matter what happens on the field)

 

At that point we needed to put someone out there to replace Altidore, but we needed offense not defense. I'm not sure who we would have put out, my gut says Beasley's speed could have been used, but in the last couple qualifiers he looked like a D-III college midfielder...

 

The entire 2nd half the back line looked lost to me. Brazil's first goal was just a great strike, but on the 2nd goal Gooch let his man go and he got the goal, the one that wasn't called a goal I'm pretty sure was lack of communication. The winner came off a set piece where no one picked up the goal scorer, I don't know if it was Dempsey's man, but he was the one who was closest, so I have to blame that on him, though he might not deserve it.

 

Tim Howard deserves a ton of credit, which he got with the Golden Glove award. He played outstandingly behind a back line that played rather poorly for half of the tournament. I don't remember him letting in a soft goal the entire tournament.

 

I really think they can build off these last three games. It may not show in the Gold Cup since almost the entire roster is different, save for Davies, Adu, and Guzan. But I'm hoping that the Gold Cup will give some guys the opportunities to prove they deserve one of the last few spots on the WC roster next year. (Baring qualification-knock on wood). The next WC qualifier is in Mexico City, where the USMNT has never won. So I'm hoping they can take the big game experience down there and roll over el tri.

[TooLiveBrew]

Davies was effective at times, and at times I felt he didn't recognize open teammates/runs. Altidore was alright today, but not nearly as visible/effective as he was against Spain imo.

 

 

The entire 2nd half the back line looked lost to me. Brazil's first goal was just a great strike, but on the 2nd goal Gooch let his man go and he got the goal, the one that wasn't called a goal I'm pretty sure was lack of communication. The winner came off a set piece where no one picked up the goal scorer, I don't know if it was Dempsey's man, but he was the one who was closest, so I have to blame that on him, though he might not deserve it.

 

There were even a few instances where Howard wound up making a save... or the ball was knocked out of bounds, after which Howard had some hot words for the defense. I honestly don't know if it was bad defense, good offense, or both.

[Baldkin]

They gave up 31 shots (13 on goal). That's like a hockey game. The US only had 9 with 4 on goal.

 

The offense looked terrible in the second half, it looked like a high school team trying to kick the ball as far as they could down field with 2 minutes to go. I don't think they ever had a single posession the way they did in the first half. You can't win that way against a team like Brazil (heck, against any team, really). If you want to run clock you need to possess, not just clear the ball.