Here's my take on today's amazing result: USA 2, Spain 0 Let me repeat that. USA 2, Spain 0 In one of the most shocking results we've seen in some time, the U.S. men's soccer team found a way to snap Spain's streaks of 15 straight wins and 35 games without a loss. This is the same team that was recently embarrassed by Costa Rica in World Cup qualifiers, and was run over by Italy and Brazil in the first two games of this Confederations Cup with minimal effort required of those teams. So, will the real U.S. men's soccer team please stand up? The fact this team was even playing in this game was a minor miracle. The U.S. needed Italy to lose by 3 goals and had to beat Egypt by a three-goal margin, and most of us would have bet our life savings against the possibility of that ever happening. Yet, someone waved a magic wand and "Abracadabra," it was done. Or maybe they woke up the morning of the Egypt match and found giant pods in their basements. As in the Invasion of the Body Snatchers, the real players were replaced by the pod people, who are unrelenting in their mission of world domination. Whatever happened... You can read the rest of this article here. GO USA!
I woke to my favorite AM sports radio morning broadcast calling what happened yesterday the Miracle on the Grass. It may not be as shocking as the original Miracle on the Ice but Spain were almost as dominant on their 35 match run as the ice hockey Soviets were back in 1980.
What happened is the USA pulled off an upset. Those happen is sports on rare occasions and that is why they are called upsets.
The USA always pulled big upsets. They often played well against the very top teams. Liked in 2002, they did well against Portugal and Korea, but struggled against Poland. It also happened in 2006. They were the only team who managed to score against Italy through opened play, but really struggled against the Czech Republic. The Americans always have a strong self-brief. They are not afraid against anybody, but yet they sometimes got cocky. I always believe that they can beat Italy, Brazil, Argentina, etc, but they are not as good as Sweden, the Czech Republic, Holland, etc.
as long as the US team don't take a red, they can play. While playing 11 on 11 during this tournament, they have outscored their opponents 5-1. Playing 10 on 11 they got outscored 5-1 . they could be scary against Brazil and during the World Cup if they don't play a man short
They didn't play with a man short against Costa Rica a few weeks ago. I think the US have a decent enough squad that they can occasionally get a result like this, but consistently getting results against teams like Spain and Brazil in major tournaments is too much to expect. I tend to agree that the United States will live and die by their results against the lesser nations - there's no use getting a draw against Italy and then losing to Ghana and the Czech Republic. You have to get the foundations right before you aim for the stars.
Hi, I am a newbie to BIG SOCCER, but a HUGE International soccer fan. I saw a stat during the US v Spain game that Spain's last loss to a NON-European team was to Argentina in 1998, I believe. I have been trying to find out when Spain last lost to a North American/CONCACEF team. I would imagine it may have been Mexico, but not sure. Anyone? Thanks, Bob
Bob Bradley is on a roll "predicting" another USA upset win v. Brazil according to this AFP newswire: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hNaaRF9bKFxVU1L7T3KEqKLVt2Dg There is a BigSoccer Poll to vote if you think this is a smart move, and another to predict the score. I like that Bob is thinking he knows what team will "stand up". I am hopefull as well for the team, just hope Bob didn't go overboard with his pre-match hype.
They were lucky to make it to the semi-final, but their favorale difference towards Spain was deserved. So it's fine. The matter may have also been that the overall quality was lower than expected, so who takes the opportunities gets a better piece of the cake.
US was focused, Spain wasn't. US was in a great day, Spain wasn't. Upsets in football happen? Happen. (More than in any other sport BTW). Nothing of that matters. Future great teams also grow with the gifts of chance. Germany was born to world football with the Miracle of Bern in 54. Kept the appropriate dimensions, the same could be happening to US football after the victory against Spain. (And who knows against Brazil?) ...
Spain has never lost to Mexico: Spain won in the 1928 Olympics and the 1962 World Cup; Spain won in friendlies in 1978, 1981 (in Mexico City!), and 2001; the teams drew in friendlies in 1969 and 1993. Spain drew Honduras in the 1982 World Cup (apparently there are some who feel that the penalty kick awarded to Spain, hosts of the World Cup, in this match was too generous; I have no opinion.) No other matches between the two teams. Spain has defeated Canada in two friendlies: 1994 and 2005. No other matches between the two teams. Spain has never played Costa Rica, Jamaica, Panama, Trinidad and Tobago, El Salvador, or Guatemala. If I had to guess, I would say that USA 2 Spain 0 is Spain's first-ever loss against a CONCACAF team.
Well, if we're going to count more than just Men's "A" Matches, there's also Mexico 1 Spain 0 in the 1999 U-17 World Championship. To clarify, if I had to guess, I would say that USA 2 Spain 0 is Spain's first-ever loss against a CONCACAF team in a Men's "A" Match.
Of course Spain didn't win the 1962 World Cup. They didn't win the 1928 Olympics either. Spain did, however, defeat Mexico in both of those competitions, which is what I wrote.