Well, it was fun while it lasted. Despite a 2-0 first-half deficit, Brazil netted a trio of second-half goals to upend the U.S., 3-2, in the FIFA Confederations Cup Final Sunday in South Africa.
Tied at 2-2, Lucio added the match-winner in the 84th minute to help cap a three-score half. I’m no soccer expert, but the U.S. was playing with such confidence after Clint Dempsey (10th minute) and Landon Donovan (27th) notched a pair of first-half strikes. But it only took Brazil a minute to cut the lead in half as Luis Fabiano tallied the first of his two scores on the night.
“The feeling is a mix of great disappointment but also great pride,” said U.S. Men’s National Team head coach Bob Bradley. “There’s no getting around that it is a difficult loss. Certainly the moment that really hurt was giving up the goal so early in the second half. At that point, they are right back into the game. When we get past the disappointment, we know that we are making progress. You learn from these kinds of experiences and these kinds of games, but it doesn’t make it any easier on the night.”
I was hoping this would be an early Fourth of July present for our sweet land, but instead the Americans collapsed in their first FIFA final. Thankfully, this game does not factor into the team’s 201o World Cup bid.
Up next, the U.S. will take on Grenada, Honduras and Haiti in the coming weeks. And unless Guadulupe Salad decides to actually contribute content, this will probably conclude our soccer coverage — if you can really call this “coverage” — for quite a while. Most of you are now happy.
15 Comments Received
June 29th, 2009 @8:51 am
The gap between us and the soccer elites remains wide. Soccer might be the toughest sport to make a comeback in (especially 2 goals down), and Brazil made it look easy. I don’t believe the US has ever had a come from behind victory against a highly ranked team.
The Good: Nice to see some fight in the this team
The Bad: Teams may not take us lightly come World Cup time.
June 29th, 2009 @10:19 am
I actually asked GS to provide a more expert recap of the match. He was indifferent and said he might if he has time. He hates Americans.
June 29th, 2009 @10:40 am
On the topic of the game:
I was looking for a picture of the Golden Glove trophy that Tim Howard won yesterday (It’s one of the sweetest trophies I’ve ever seen). Didn’t find it, but I did find this:
Ugly Girl Gets Groped by trophy
http://www.bravogk.com/Alyssa%20with%20Golden%20Glove.jpg
June 29th, 2009 @8:39 pm
someone needs to file some sort of lawsuit against that trophy, moses.
but getting back to the game, it was a great effort by the americans. the early goal in the second half killed us. after that, it was pretty much a foregone conclusion that brazil would take the win.
June 29th, 2009 @10:15 pm
They always say, 2-0 is the toughest lead to hold. The US will never be able to stay with the big boys with subs like Sacha Klijestan. Did you know Freddy Adu was on the bench? I hope he had fun on his South African field trip.
This game didn’t deserve as much attention as it received from the US media. This tournament didn’t deserve that much attention. It’s a dress rehearsal for the world cup hosts.
Landon Donovan sounds like a loser commenting that this might be the last chance the US has to win a FIFA tournament. I guess he’s already given up on the world cup.
Anyway, USA goes to Azteca in August. Maybe I (aka Guadalupe Salad, aka Sleepy Sleep, aka Nitty) will write about that one.
June 30th, 2009 @7:48 am
I commented on some soccer forums about this game so I’ll share some thoughts.
I wish they had played Josie (intentional misspelling) Altidore…wait, what? he was playing….I wish Josie would have participated then.
And Davies…WTF? Dude, give the ball to Donavan and wait for your pass.
And as Sleep so eloquently states, WTF is the deal with leaving Edu on the bench? Edu isn’t near as pathetic as Altidore. If Altidore is God’s latest gift to soccer He should take him back and exchange him for another Freddy Edu. IF I hear another person say, “but Altidore is only 19″ I’m going to punch them in the throat.
IMHO: The USMNT is about 4 great players from being a serious contender.
June 30th, 2009 @8:54 am
The biggest problem with US soccer is that for casual fans like me, we don’t know the hell most of these players are. I could probably name more race horses or swimmers, than I could US national team players.
June 30th, 2009 @1:41 pm
I really want to take an interested in some of the European Leagues, but the hardest part about that is knowing and following the players and the storylines.
That’s why it’s so great to watch U.S. sports, particularly NCAA football and the NFL.
Moses, looking for a picture of Howard’s Golden Glove hardware, I found this awesome blog. I really think I need to start visiting it more.
http://zharfandzulkarnaen.blogspot.com/
June 30th, 2009 @1:46 pm
It is hard to keep up with the Euro leagues and their players. You have to immerse yourself in the sport, like you do with NCAA or NFL. That is difficult. Reading forums and watching a lot of soccer reviews is required. I can’t seem to catch up. When you realize there are 3 or 4 “Michael Jordans”, 3 or 4 “Kobe Bryants” and 3 or 4 “Lebrons” playing all at the same time in the same league you realize the depth of this sport.
June 30th, 2009 @3:20 pm
And it seems like there’s 5 different NFLs, so to speak. Italian League, Premier League, etc. etc.
June 30th, 2009 @5:03 pm
Yeah DirtyMonkey, other than the fact that Zharfan D’s lady friends have to wear those lame coveralls, they look like they have some pretty fun times. Dudes even got to see Transformers before me. It’s pretty sad that these guys probably know more about the US Soccer team than I do as well.
June 30th, 2009 @5:27 pm
But they gave Transformers 2 a 9.5/10, which I’ve been told (and read) it’s one of the worst movies ever made … Megan Fox not withstanding.
That blog was a wild look into a different world.
June 30th, 2009 @9:39 pm
Freddy Adu different than Maurice Edu. Edu plays for the Rangers in Scotland, and for some reason he isn’t even on the Gold Cup roster. FWIW, the Gold Cup roster is a bottom level B team, maybe even the USA’s C team. We won’t see the A team until Aug 12 at Mexico.
And if you want to get into the European leagues (especially England, which is all I care about) just add Fox Soccer Channel to your cable lineup. It’s usually pretty cheap, and it gives you something to watch until the college football games start each Saturday. And if you miss the games, FSC plays the official English Premier League wrap-up highlight show every Sunday night. All the action in 1 hour. There’s also Setanta for the games that FSC doesn’t cover, but they tend to cost more. I hear ESPN won the rights to at least some of the EPL games. Not sure how that will play out.
July 1st, 2009 @4:56 pm
I think I already have FSC, so I may have to pay more attention.
July 1st, 2009 @5:05 pm
I’m going to see Transformers tomorrow night. I’ll give my official thoughts Friday. Until then, I’ll file all of the bad reviews under “Michael Bay haters”, “Unpleasable fanboys with unrealistic expectations”, and “Critics who think every movie should be dark and bloody like Batman”.
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