If my play-by-play (next item down) wasn’t enough for you, let’s try to synthesize what went on.
United States national soccer team 2, Spain 0.
That would be the U.S. team that was spanked, last week, 3-1 by Italy and 3-0 by Brazil.
That would be the Spain ranked No. 1 in the world. The Spain with the world-record 15-match winning streak and world-record-tying 35-match unbeaten streak.
But the U.S. was the better team on this one day, and that’s all that matters. And now it plays for the Confederations Cup championship on Sunday against the Brazil-South Africa winner. Brazil, that is. Match is tomorrow.
So, what happened here? Let’s go over the main points.
–Spain might have been a little flat. It had rolled through a seriously weak Group A (New Zealand, Iraq, South Africa). Not that the Americans are like playing Germany, but the U.S. is competent, and Spain hadn’t seen a team like that in a while. Not since, well, Germany, in the 2008 Euro final.
–The U.S. returned to a style of play it first mastered against Mexico, and then used against other aggressive, offense-minded opponents to good result: Sitting back, playing defense first and counterattacking. Give coach Bob Bradley credit for this. He identified the one way his team could win, and sold them on it, and they executed it with lung-busting determination.
When the Americans move ahead too often, a couple of bad things tend to happen: They aren’t technically adept enough to score on a set defense, even against lesser teams; and when the inevitable opposition counter comes they are defensively disorganized. Better to sit back, absorb pressure and pick your points to attack. A sort of rope-a-dope strategy.
–The U.S. had two offensive-minded wingers to make this strategy successful. Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey. Especially early, the two of them got forward to support forwards Charlie Davies and Jozy Altidore, which puts some bite in the counter.
It paid off in the 27th minute. Davies, over near the left touchline, made a little pass to Dempsey, who was in traffic, as the Spanish defense reassembled. Dempsey pushed it forward to Altidore, who was at the top of the box with Spain defender Joan Capdevila. As the ball came in, Capdevila made a tactical error, attempting to lever himself around a bigger, stronger man to knock away the ball. But Altidore held him off, and when he controlled the ball, Capdevila was behind him — and so was the entire Spanish defense.
Altidore took a couple of strides into the box, and goalkeeper Iker Casillas came off his line. Altidore shot it low and to his left, aiming for the post. Casillas went to ground and could get only his right hand on it, deflecting it, but not enough to keep it from rolling into the side netting.
One-zero, U.S. Wow.
Scoring the first goal was huge, because it allowed the U.S. to commit fully to its lay-back strategy. Though, goodness knows, Spain almost broke through a couple of dozen times. Even before the first half was over, the U.S. had abandoned defending the overlapping runs of the Spanish outside defenders (especially Riera on the left) in favor of packing the box. It was scary and dangerous, but for the rest of the match Spain would confront a defense with eight men in the box.
And two of those men were Oguchi Onyewu and Jay DeMerit, central defenders, who cleared and tackled and headed away oh, let’s estimate and say, a thousand balls. OK, maybe a few less. Nine hundred.
Also, aside from Dempsey, the midfielders — Donovan, Michael Bradley and Ricardo Clark, stood their ground at the top of the box. They also were good about getting back into the box and deflecting things and sticking out a foot and redirecting them. They made the shutout possible.
Spain tried everything it could to break down the U.S. defense, but even as good as Spain is, it never really got that great chance. Good chances, yes. Scads of half-chances. But no “how did he miss that?”moments. Not really. A shutout against Spain? You would think Tim Howard must have been like a god in goal. In fact, he did his job. Shots came in, and he caught them or parried them. This wasn’t Kasey Keller standing on his head (as hockey guys would put it) in the 1-0 victory over Brazil in the 1998 Gold Cup final. It was just a solid game by a Premiership-caliber keeper.
As Spain pushed forward relentlessly, the U.S., of course, got some outstanding counter opportunities in the second half, and put one of them away. It came in the 75th minute.
Benny Feilhaber, on for Davies, controlled the ball in the middle of the field, in the Spanish half, and Dempsey and Donovan already were on the scene. As was Altidore, though he was offsides as he ran into the box.
Feilhaber rolled it over to Donovan, on the right, and Donovan carried it into the box on the right side. He was alone, and could have taken a shot, and perhaps he should have, but Casillas was well-placed in goal and is one of the best in the world, and it would have required an amazing shot to beat him.
Instead, Donovan rolled it back in the middle, as he did in the 3-0 victory over Egypt on Sunday. Except this one didn’t go untouched to Dempsey’s foot. Instead, it was deflected by Spanish defender Gerard Pique. Still, it rolled to Spain’s Sergio Ramos, standing on the goal line, and he turned to begin play in the other direction.
Apparently, Ramos didn’t know Dempsey was right behind him, and as Ramos pushed the ball ahead Dempsey was there to strike it right back into the goal, and it was 2-0! And now one huge upset was coming into view.
It was a frantic final 18 minutes, but the thicket of American defenders in the box managed to snag the Spanish offense again and again, and when the fourth referee put up three minutes of extra time, well, an upset was about to go into history.
So, how big is this victory?
Very big. It validates the U.S. as a side that is good enough, on a given day, to play with the elite. Not every day. Not one day in four or five, even. But now and then. Which is something about two-thirds of the soccer-playing planet cannot say.
It also gives hope to the U.S. World Cup campaign. Not that the Yanks can get there, because we already knew they will, considering how weak CONCACAF is. But that they could survive World Cup group play, which is their eternal goal. Much depends on the group — if they can get into a foursome with only one of Europe’s elite and not including Brazil or Argentina — they could advance. Yes.
It reintroduced the U.S. side to a style of play that should put it in good stead against a fairly wide variety of sides — all those who come forward a bit too smugly. This is valuable intelligence and perhaps the key point coach Bob Bradley should take from the result: “We attack against Asia and Africa, but we defend first and foremost against the Euros, against Brazil and against Argentina. And Mexico, which still can’t believe the Yanqis are better.”
Where does “U.S. 2, Spain 0” rate on the all-time victory scale? Behind U.S. 1, England 0 at the 1950 World Cup. Behind 1-0 over Trinidad & Tobago in Port of Spain to qualify for the 1990 World Cup and change U.S. soccer history. Behind the aforementioned victory over Brazil. But now we’re coming up on it. Maybe fourth. Fifth, if you like the 3-2 over Portugal to open the 2002 World Cup, or the 2-0 over Mexico to get to the quarters of the same tournament.
But let’s be sure we understand this: It’s not like the U.S. went out and imposed its will on Spain. That did not happen. It didn’t come close to happening. Who knows if that day ever will come?
And as intelligent as the overall plan was, the Yanks still aren’t smart enough to avoid a red card against an elite team. Michael Bradley, rash and impetuous on his good days, picked one up, late, a straight red, and now that makes five American reds in four matches (three in the past 10 days, the fourth in the 2006 World Cup) when the opposition has been Italy, Brazil or Spain. Luckily, this one came late enough that it wasn’t fatal.
Up next? Brazil, barring something freakish. Be nice if the Yanks could keep 11 on the field. And if they all can remember what works for them against the elite and attacking sides — sitting back and carefully choosing moments to counter.
11 responses so far ↓
1 Guy McCarthy // Jun 24, 2009 at 2:48 PM
Nantes 1998:
I sat at an alley table with numerous Spaniards drinking short glasses of strong wine brought out in wooden racks of 20 or more.
They were in town for the first round match with Nigeria. The people I met were relaxed and confident of victory.
The next day turned out to be the spectacle of the first round. Nigeria came back twice to win 3-2.
Yanks did poor then you may recall, bounced out dead last.
Compared with those memories, today is amazing.
2 Doug // Jun 24, 2009 at 4:06 PM
Thanks for the blog and analysis which I think is accurate. Great to see the team play with such heart. All in all a memorable victory. Looking forward to seeing more of Feilhaber as he gets back to full fitness. To compete with the big boys on a consistent basis we need a lot more players with his skill and composure.
3 J.P. Hoornstra // Jun 25, 2009 at 1:35 AM
As the typical American soccer fan, your analysis could be spot on or completely bogus — I’m not sure — all I know is I just watched the second half of a Confederations Cup game today. It made me want to watch the next one. That’s saying something.
And ohbytheway, that red card to Bradley was BS.
4 Ian // Jun 25, 2009 at 7:52 AM
Gooch is the man of the match, though you could make a case for Donovan (damn him for being so good this tournament) and Howard.
The thing that was so interesting for me was how well, they stayed with the play. So often, the U.S. will give up the ball in midfield and give the other team space. Not so much yesterday. I also think that while the U.S. didn’t impose their will on Spain, they did play more physically than Spain did. Aside from a couple of Donovan dives, there was no backing down. Even the smaller players decided to play strong.
And someone finally told Dempsey he’s great when he passes and moves without the ball.
Do I think this was a great coaching match? Nope. I think this is one of those matches where the U.S. played like the U.S. plays. Gritty, ugly. Fast. opportunistic.
If we had gone out with these tactics against Brazil, maybe we avoid the early goal and don’t give up. We’ll see on Sunday. I think we have to be happy with just getting a better result than 3-0.
5 Dennis Pope // Jun 25, 2009 at 9:37 AM
Like most, I’m trying to parry my expectations for the Confed Cup final. The U.S. will be coming off the dreaded physical/emotional high while Brazil isn’t likely to be tested against South Africa meaning the Dunga-ites should be more rested for the match.
Plus, the Canarinho already own a 3-0 beatdown over the U.S. in this tournament. So there’s that.
As for the match against Spain, the team played an elite-level/world-class match on the defensive side. I’ve never seen the Kasey Keller vs. Brazil match where he “stood on his head” so Tim Howard’s performance (especially early in the second half) was the greatest U.S. goalkeeping display of my life.
6 Damian // Jun 25, 2009 at 12:26 PM
One of the best things about this result is that U.S. Soccer has the attention of the world for at least 1 day, maybe 2 or 3 days. It’s nice to see the heart and desire is there amongst a young team that has very little World Cup experience and experience competing against the world’s best. All I could think of throughout the match was that it was amazing how many times Spain had dangerous possession and opportunity in the final third and the U.S. penalty area, only to see shot after shot being blocked away by a diving, sliding, or lunging defender around the penalty spot. Torres missed, what were for him, a couple of sitters atop the 6-yard box on his first touch after a ball was played across, and Howard had a few huge, one-handed saves to save the day.
The boys deserve to celebrate this victory, but hopefully they’ll back up this result with a honest-to-goodness showing against Brazil. Because another poor showing against Brazil and a lopsided defeat will take away some of the luster from this win.
Only Spain knows how seriously they took the U.S. and how mentally ready they were to compete in this match but, for one match, Spain returned to being the constant global underachiever it had always been, pre-Euro 2008.
As far as putting this result in historical context for the U.S., I would say that if we’re only judging the opponent, the match between the lines and the result, I would say this is a top-3 result in U.S. Soccer history. There’s the 1-0 World Cup victory over England (although the U.S. team was made up of, primarily, Scots and other Euros who saw an opportunity to play international soccer and gained U.S. citizenship), then the 1-0 over Brazil in the Gold Cup in which Kasey Keller gave the best individual performance a U.S. player has ever had, and then there’s this match. Of course, there were other wins that meant more in the broader context because they marked more of a landmark occasion or milestone or turning point in U.S. Soccer history
Of course, the U.S. was severely outplayed. That was always going to be the case. If this is a best-of-3, 5 or 7 series, surely Spain runs the table through the rest of the series. But any team has a chance to advance in this scenario because it is a one-off match, and heart and hustle can help offset skill and talent for one match. Hopefully, this leads to some small ounce of global respect. It’s certainly given our country the hope to get out of the group phase next summer, a hope that certainly was not there after losing the first 2 matches in pathetic fashion and accumulating a -5 goal differential.
It still makes me chuckle to know that this result never happens if Egypt doesn’t mismanage the way they play the U.S., based on a +3 goal differential they know they have to protect going into that match, and if the world’s best traditional defensive stalwarts and reigning World Cup champions don’t allow 3 goals in 7 minutes and lose 3-0.
Altidore did not play well at all, constantly displaying a bad first touch to receive balls and unable to hold possession, but a striker can always get away with those performances if he redeems himself with a goal, which he made for himself out of his pure strength. I don’t know why an undersized Capdevila would even try to challenge for the ball the way he did, while he had Altidore turned away from goal and two Spanish defenders in the neighborhood coming to help out, but he paid the price for his impatience. All he had to do was slow Altidore and keep him from turning on the ball, and he was in position to do that.
The 2nd goal was a gift. I can only deduce that Sergio Ramos, for some reason, did not know a U.S. player was behind him. Otherwise, a defender is never taught or trained to trap the ball in his own area when the opponent is lurking. That should have been a first-touch clearance or a pass to one of his defenders in front of him, where there were no U.S. players in the vicinity.
The U.S. did play faster than they had in the first 3 matches. What helped them is that, unlike the matches vs. Italy and Brazil, they were given more time on the ball in the first 30 minutes to create and move the ball around. High ball pressure is not Spain’s style. They’re willing to let you knock it around a little and make your own mistake in passing or build up and they’ll retrieve possession from there and keep it from you for twice or three times as long as you had it.
Finally, Bradley appears to have heeded my request to play Landon and Dempsey in midfield so that they can be involved in the game and see the ball. Not that I left a message with him or he’s got miked up or anything. While those two may be best served as strikers in an ideal lineup, this U.S. team has no midfielders that can consistently receive, hold and distribute good balls to its strikers, thus rendering Landon and Dempsey mostly useless and MIA in the run of play.
Good show U.S.! Let’s do it again on Sunday. But I fear the lads have Brazil’s undivided attention now. Especially with a trophy at stake.
7 Jacob Pomrenke // Jun 26, 2009 at 1:30 AM
DPope: Friedel stopping those PKs in the World Cup will forever be etched in my memory. I wasn’t paying attention in ’98, so can’t say how good Keller was vs. Brazil. But Friedel was the best ‘keeper on the planet for two weeks. Easily the top performance I’ve ever seen.
8 Ian // Jun 26, 2009 at 5:32 AM
Jacob,
If you can find a youtube of the Brazil match, find it. Seriously, Keller put Friedel’s two great weeks into one just amazing match. I seriously think he made 25 saves.
And does the U.S. take a page from South Africa and stifle the Brazilians as long as they can. The counter seemed to be OK yesterday.
9 Eos // Jun 26, 2009 at 3:45 PM
A point of clarification: of the seventeen members of the 1950 American squad, eleven were born in the US. One immigrated (from England) before the war (as a teenager; one during the war (from Poland); four came after the war (Haiti, Italy, Belgium, and Scotland).
That myth usually gets attached to the 1930 team; however:
http://www.rsssf.com/usadave/usawc30.html
And speaking of 1930, this would appear to be the first time the US has won two consecutive games at this level since the Americans defeated Belgium (3-0) and Paraguay (3-0) in the first World Cup.
As for the Spain match: out of all the elite teams in the world, the US is probably best off playing the Spaniards. The American team has one time-tested strategy: defend in depth, clog the middle, and counterattack as necessary — the usual Mexico plan.
Against the rest of the elite (and quite a few non-elite sides as well), this strategy doesn’t usually work, as the opponents can simply go around or through the Americans. But because Spain wouldn’t (or couldn’t) do either of these things, letting the Americans play within a comfort zone (relatively speaking), US success simply required an exceptional effort, but not an otherworldly one.
Against Brazil, however, otherworldly might be necessary.
10 JS // Jun 28, 2009 at 6:32 AM
What I’ve come to realize…American Bloggers and Commentators tend to bash Dempsey all over the place. Then why I see european reviews…they believe he is amazing. He’s the 3rd highest rated player at the Confed Cup according to Fifa…he runs all over the field and is a constant offensive threat…why is he such a hated figure here in America?
11 Mexico and the Confederations Cup Problem // Jun 22, 2013 at 12:04 AM
[…] be halftime of the championship game, when the Yanks held a 2-0 lead over Brazil. After having shocked Spain 2-0 in the semis, ending their 35-game unbeaten international run. After having beaten Egypt 3-0 in the […]
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