Confederations Cup Championship - U.S.A. v. Brazil!!

Well, that sucked.

 

I ceratinly could have written a better ending.

 

D'OH!

So close and so much fun to watch, which makes the ending oh so much worse...they played their guts out and I'm very proud of U.S. Soccer, very proud indeed.

When I saw Man City and Barcelona players sub in for Brazil, then Chivas USA players sub in for the US, my initial thought was: oh shit...

In my opinion, the lack of depth via M. Bradley's absence was incredibly evident in the last 30 minutes.

 

...and I know who you are, Mr. Brazil big shots, no need to turn your shirts around, jackasses.

A smidgen of bitterness lingers...

 

Totally true. We could see the worn-out US players trying to hang on and by the end, they were just out of gas.

On another topic, I was impressed by Spector. He seemed to be in the middle of stuff all night long.

 

Bob Bradley OUT, NOW!

The players did their part, but they call it halftime adjustments for a reason. I repeat, YOU ARE IN OVER YOUR BALD HEAD!

2-0, there for the taking. Chance wasted. Even Cakes recognizes that and said as much.

 

I wanted to point out a few negatives....but hell no I won't. They put their collective balls out on the line, played tough, and went toe to toe with freaking Brazil. I can't ask any more of these dudes.

They have turned this tourney on its head and made me damn fcucking proud. Though I will admit, I was ready to throw these cats under the bus after Italy.

Well done lads! The announcers on BBC were all praise for the boys in white. Everyone in the local was behind me and the USA.

All right one negative thing, I can't imagine how it would feel to be that close to winning a big FIFA tournament, but I was like, lift up your heads boys, you did really well. I imagine it was so close they could taste it... I can see how it might be a bit bitter.

Other than playing Brazil, I think the quick goal after halftime was our doom.

This, along with WC 2002, might be seen as a watershed moment for US Soccer. Lets see if they build off of it....

 

Wow, the highest of highs in the first half followed by the lows of the second half. Trying to remind myself that if you'd told me beforehand that we'd lose 3-2 late in the match, I'd have taken it.

For the match, the first half was brilliant. Davies, Donovan, Dempsey, Gooch, Demerit, Benny and Howard were outstanding. Clark seemed out of his depth a bit with the speed of the match on offense, but held up defensively. In the second half, we seemed to run out of gas. We needed speed on the wings (for Spector and Boca) late b/c they were losing containment on the crosses. Unfortunately, that's where missing Dolo and Frankie really hurt. I thought the subs were late in coming, and poor in choice. Bornstein coming on in place of Jozy after we'd surrendered the lead was odd. And Klejstan was useless aside from one pass to Dempsey. The Casey sub made sense since we were taking a corner but that's all he seems to bring to the table.

But all in all, we have a lot to be optimistic about after this tournament. We have more depth up top than many had thought with Jozy, Davies, Ching and moving Dempsey up. Benny appears to be back, at least as a sub, although I'd love to see him partner with Bradley as the starting CM's. And defensively, Demerit and Spector made strong cases for themselves. Spector probably backs up Dolo, and I wouldn't mind seeing Bob experiment more with Boca at LB and starting Demerit in the middle with Gooch.

The guys showed heart and character in beating Egypt. Then proved what they're capable of in the shutout of Spain and giving Brazil all they could handle. When qualifying resumes, the game should seem easier after these last matches. Good to see Timmy and Clint recognized with their awards.

 

I don't know if I want to go down that road right now...when he looked around the room at halftime, what did he see? Tired players and, obviously, players he doesn't have confidence in for one reason or another. He sure as hell didn't see Alves and Elano, etc.

Granted, I'll entertain the argument that he didn't react quick enough to Brazil's subs (and this is an established pattern, no doubt) when the US players were clearly fatigued, but he doesn't have a whole hell of a lot to work with (and I know that will be thrown back at me in the form of a better coach [Hiddink] could get more out of them) - and that's my only defense of the man, as clearly I've called for his head numerous times, but maybe, just maybe, he learns from this experience as well - he's not dumb, but he's stubborn to a fault. I still believe a technical adviser wouldn't hurt either...

I'm enjoying the showing, because frankly, I had no expectations of such things - and the players are going to come away so much stronger, and many with better clubs too, as a result of this tournament run.

Call me Mr. Brightside, but I won't apologize for being happy, proud and entertained with the effort on the field...at least for today....or maybe because it's 98 degrees (not the boyband) just south of San Francisco and I'm 'crazy from the heat' like Dave Roth...

 

And good for Michael. Normally I wouldn't advocate such imperious behavior, but that ref is clearly shit and as long as it was only a good tongue lashing, I see no problem with it (whatever the suspension - we're back in Concacaf for pete's sake, but that guy will continue to ref in the future and needed a what-for).

http://www.fannation.com/si_blogs/grant ... ref=fromSI

 

...and Donovan's transfer fee this winter tops Jozy's record (please go to Spain, Italy or France...Argentina even, just not Germany). Well done, LD, and thank you for playing with a huge pair every match. Even your set pieces were almost uniformly dangerous. Truly, well done...

 

The match didn't mean very much to him, did it? Thanks for the photo.

 

Clint, I feel you bro.

Fcuk.

 

I was saying over and over to the people I was watching the match with that they needed fresh legs, and then I was waiting and waiting for the answer to come when dunga made his changes. Because of this I would say that a few questions need to be asked. I am not saying he needs to go, but someone needs to ask why he waited and why he made the changes that he did.

Not to take away from what he has done or to run him out, but if the us media was educated they would ask questions like this- you know that the English media would be asking these questions.

 

I like this quote from Donovan after the match.

"But we’re at the point where we don’t want respect, we want to win."

 

Here is my take on how they performed individually today:

Timmy needs a comic book character created in his image because I swear the man is superhuman. When was the last time a keeper allowed nine goals in a tournament like this and you thought “damn this guy is good”! Without Timmy I don’t believe we are even up by one at the half.

Gooch and his accompanying trio were compact and solid for most of the first half. In the second they seemed to get stretched out of position by Brazil’s cutting offense. Gooch was again the stud of the back four clearing ball after ball out of the air. Spector was beaten a couple of times by Kaka but was fairly solid and played a nice cross to Dempsey for the first goal. Boca did well on the left. Demerit did not play terribly but did seem to go missing a couple of times in the second half.

Landon was once again a workhorse with all of the running he did today. The counter that he and Charlie Davies combined on was a real thing of beauty.

Clint’s first goal was just stunning. If I could find any fault with Clint’s game it may be that he did not touch the ball enough today. Some way some how he needs to be more involved in the match especially when things start going south.

Benny did very well in the first half of letting the game come to him and distributing the ball to the right people. He also made several very nice tackles to stop Brazil and regain possession. He disappeared a little in the second half before being subbed off but that is probably down to a lack of match fitness. I thought he more than admirably stepped into Michael Bradley’s position.

Ricardo Clark was solid. He did not overly impress today but I did not see him as a liability in the midfield either.

Jozy once again made a nuisance of himself by throwing his body around but really needs to work on his ability to win the ball out of air and holding the ball up with multiple defenders around him. The good news is he has a year to improve on those areas.

Charlie Davies made a real impression on me in the match. He was by no means perfect but he was very good. He made himself available as an outlet and used his speed to good effect to bother Brazil. His combination play with Donovan today was excellent.

Sasha Kljestan was poor today. He may have given the ball away more in his short minutes than Benny did.

Bornstein made little impact on the match.

Conner had too few minutes to evaluate.

I am sure the team is gutted at not winning this match but they should walk away with their heads collectively held high. They played with guts and intensity and never quit. The first half was very well played but in truth Brazil was the better team over 90 minutes.

 

Yep, I'm there with him and the rest of the guys. Golden opportunity, lost.