Soccer is a funny game, innit? The United States loses to Italy courtesy of 2 goals of an American-born Italian (bastard), gets crushed by Brazil, and then comprehensively dominates Egypt, who had already beaten Italy and had scored three goals against the Brazilians. And this win for the Americans improbably puts them into the next round of the Confederations Cup. Now does that make any sense?
The Americans needed to beat the Egyptians by three to give themselves of any shot of advancing. and Charlie Davies, a player I would like to see more of in an American shirt, scrambled with defenders in the six yard box to deflect a shot off of the hapless goalkeeper's hands to score the first goal. After what should've been a penalty (the Egyptian defender cleared the ball off the goal line with his arm), Michael Bradley slotted home a shot in the 63rd minute (Happy Father's Day, Pops!) before Clint Dempsey headed a brilliant goal in the 71st minute to confirm the United States' spot in the semifinals.
Even though he botched several golden opportunities to score, Landon Donovan had himself a marvelous game. He stretched the field with his quickness on the ball, put defenders on their back foot, and distributed the ball well to his teammates (except in Egypt's penalty box). Dempsey, who has been understandably slagged as a weak link in the team of late stepped up in what otherwise was another sub-par performance, stepped up to score the goal that kept the United States in the tournament. It was his first goal since September 10th, a run of 8 matches with the team.
Bob Bradley has also been the subject of much criticism for the team's recent performances. I haven't been openly been questioning his team selections or tactics, but I also haven't been his biggest fan. Today's team performance, however, was inspired from the opening kick. He got the team to find its rhythm and play a free-flowing game, which stretched the African champions and made them resort to become overly physical just to compete. Bradley wouldn't look as good as he does now if Brazil didn't beat Italy in the fashion they did, and for that he surely is grateful. But the defense was solid, the midfield dominated, and the forwards constantly pressured the Egyptian goal. We've been waiting a long time to see this team perform to it's potential, and today we all saw what it was capable of doing.
Next up for the Americans? Spain, who have won 15 straight games, a new world record, and not lost in 35 straight games, tying them with Brazil (not the current Brazil squad I must clarify) as the record-holders there. It'll be a daunting task for the Americans, but they will play another match regardless of win or loss. Now, I see this tournament as more of a test of consistency. We'll see next Wednesday if the United States can put together two great performances in a row. They'll need to in order to have a chance at beating the best team in the world.
Also, is it too much to ask for the god damn fans to stop blowing those annoying horns? I really hope this isn't what next summer's World Cup is going to be like...
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