Yes, the US did lose a heartbreaker in the Confederations Cup final on Sunday. But there is plenty that we as fans can take away from the team’s performance.
First an foremost, despite the loss, the USMNT showed the world that they can play with the big boys, and not just be competitive, but also almost win. The win against Spain will go down as one of the greats of all time for the men’s team, can you just imagine what a win against Brazil would have done? The US won the first half of the game, but then again there is a reason that they play two halves. Dunga must have really lit a spark under his team at half-time, because they played like a team possessed. Luis Fabiano was particularly impressive with his goal-scoring exploits, and was the most dangerous player on the field for the selecao.
But if the US puts up one or two more good chances in the second half, there was a high likelihood that they could have pulled off the upset, and skyrocketed the team to the international spotlight, as if they were not there before.
Individually, there were a number of outstanding performances. Let’s start from the back line on this one. TIm Howard again showed why he is one of the top keepers in the EPL, because he really kept the game in check for the US, as he was barraged by shots throughout the game. And in all honesty, those three goals were not his fault, his defense did not help him out with their shoddy play on the goals.
Jonathan Spector was just as impressive. Although he seemed to tire late in the game, (his fatigue leading to the second goal), he has to be credited for keeping two of the world’s best players in Kaka, and Robinho in check the majority of the game. They continuously drifted out to his wing, but he was up for the challenge, using excellent tackles to break up the moves and pace of the two Brazilians. Not only that, but it was his brilliant ball into the box that Clint Dempsey got a hold of, to give the US the incredible 1-0 lead early in the game.
However, the rest of the back line also played well, other than a couple of bad moments that Brazil capitalized on. Jay DeMerit, Oguchi Onyewu, and Carlos Bocanegra, all were very solid in defense for the US.
The midfield played very well as well, and seemed to pull a 180 in terms of how they approached the game from the two team’s first meeting in the group stage of the tournament. Ricardo Clark played an excellent game as the holding mid, stopping the Brazilian’s attack, but his distribution left something to be desired at times. His holding mid companion Benny Feilhaber had the same issues, and was reckless in his tackles at times, not something you want to do against Brazil.
The attacking middies had quite a good game. Landon Donovan again showed why he is the creative force behind the US attack, making run after run at the Brazilian D, which looked slow to react a number of times, especially Andre Santos at fullback, who should’ve been sent off for reckless challenges. Lando pierced the Brazilian D time and time again, and making great passes to his fellow attackers, to put the pressure on Julio Cesar to make a number of saves. He scored on a gorgeous ball in the 27th minute to give the US the 2-0 lead going into half. His only downfall was that he time and time again let Maicon fly down the wing and send in dangerous crosses, and just gain a major influence in the attacking third.
Clint Dempsey as was previously mentioned played an outstanding game as well, harassing the D from the flank and scoring in the 10th to put the US, as he was on the tail end of Spector’s cross. With goals in three straight tourney matches, he was one shy of the US record for most consecutive goals scored in a single tourney.
Up top, Charlie Davies the local kid who played at BC, and now at Hammarby in Sweden, may have been the most impressive US player on the field. Why Bob Bradley does not play him more is mind-boggling. His amazing pace, and skill kept the Brazilians on their heels on the whole game, and he was continuously in position to score, were it not for three Brazilians collapsing in on him to stop him.
The same could not be said for Jozy Altidore who looked disinterested the whole game, and really made zero impact. Granted he is still young at 19, but compared to his performance against Spain, he was just not there for the US.
Overall though, the US played a very good game, and showed the world that they need to be taken seriously, and that they are coming to play in the World Cup next year.
