General

US 2, Spain 0: A Woo!-Worthy Upset, Indeed

Jun 24, 2009, 9:10 PM UTC

â†µFirst: WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.â†µ

â†µâ†µSecond: WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.â†µ

â†µâ†µThird: a week ago the United States had lost three of four in humiliating, uncompetitive fashion and Big Soccer was ready to stick Bob Bradley’s head on a pike. Big Soccer… eh… still wants Bradley’s head on a pike. They’re bats over there. But two games, five goals, zero conceded, two wins, and one thirty-five game unbeaten streak torpedoed later, everyone else is… um. â†µ

â†µâ†µWhat are we? Stunned, mostly. While the game turned out basically like expected—Spain dominates possession, peppers Tim Howard and the central defenders with shots, and the US picks up a horsecrap red card—except the score came from the mirror universe where everyone wears black leather and the United States advances out of a group with Italy and Brazil and makes the final of an actual international tournament, minor or not.â†µ

â†µâ†µOn Sunday, the United States will take on Brazil (or, I guess, South Africa, but come on here) for, like, a trophy. WOOO!â†µ

â†µâ†µItems!â†µ

â†µ

â†µWhich team is it? When not playing a man down or carrying around the corpses of Sasha Kljestan and Demarcus Beasley, the United States has outscored three legitimate opponents 5-0. When doing either of these things they've been outscored 6-1. They've been less Jekyll and Hyde, more Osama and Jesus Christ. A competitive game against Brazil—with eleven guys, please—will greatly raise hopes that the US can escape the group stage of the World Cup.â†µ

â†µâ†µLook: this isn’t the world’s greatest team. It took a lot of luck and gritty defending to hold off a clearly superior side today. But they have the skill and effort to put anyone to the test… sometimes. â†µ

â†µâ†µOguchi Onyewu has a ball magnet in his head. The USA planned on allowing tons of room on the flanks and allowing cross after cross to be snuffed out by Gooch and friends, and that basically worked. Spain attempted a wide variety of low, dangerous crosses but never beat the towering USA central defense when the ball was in the air for more than a half-chance. Onyewu has been dominant, and Jay Demerit not far behind. One lasting issue: too often the two central defenders just boot the ball upfield; they’re far behind truly world class centerbacks on the ball.â†µ

â†µâ†µJozy needs work, but good lord. Jozy’s first touch is wanting. He doesn’t hold the ball well and has decision-making issues. But he also treated Villareal teammate Joan Capdevila like a rag doll on his goal and later forced a yellow from him via sheer beastliness. When he goes back to La Liga he’ll have at least one advocate for playing time. â†µ

â†µâ†µHe is also 19. We’ve seen this song and dance before—remember Eddie Johnson?—but Eddie Johnson did his damage against Central America, not Spain, and never transferred to a club with the stature of Villareal. This guy could be the long-awaited Legitimate Star Outfield American we’ve been waiting for since 1994. â†µ

â†µâ†µHello Benny, old friend. Feilhaber wasn’t great in his start but he did launch a couple of attacks with probing balls. The clincher against Spain was 20% Bradley tackle, 10% Donovan run, 10% Dempsey effort, and 60% Feilhaber calming collecting, dribbling, threatening a shot, and laying off the precise pass that got Donovan into the box. He’s been a positive in his four appearances and may be coming in from the wilderness he found himself in after his Gold Cup-clinching golazo against Mexico.â†µ

â†µâ†µIt’s time to add Jorge Larriondo to the Axis of Evil. Larriondo, of course, was the guy who sent off three players in the USA-Italy World Cup game, and he struck again late by showing Michael Bradley a straight red for an incident that was only debatably a foul.â†µ

â†µâ†µYes, the United States has gone a man down in three of four, but that says more about the atrocious state of refereeing the United States has endured. Sasha Kljestan’s late tackle deserved a straight red, but even Gennaro Gattuso thought Ricardo Clark’s red against Italy was unjustified. The latest was the most inexplicable. Michael Bradley got the ball, didn’t show his studs, and… uh… got the ball. That wasn’t even a yellow. â†µ

â†µâ†µCan someone in the government put this guy on the Do Not Fly list? â†µ

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This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.

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