USA Soccer Upsets Heavily Favored Spain
The Q Beat
The American soccer team pulled off what will go down as one of its greatest victories ever, beating Spain 2-0 at the Confederations Cup to reach its first final at an international tournament. 
The United States national soccer team accomplished what few believed they could Wednesday night in Bloemfontein, dominating the world’s number one ranked team and leaving the stadium with a merited 2-0 victory and a ticket to the final of the Confederations Cup on Sunday night in Johannesburg.
The U.S. took the lead after several near misses in the first half, after striker Jozy Altidore took a pass from Clint Dempsey and held off two Spanish defenders, then slammed a shot off the hands of Spanish goalkeeper Iker Casillas and into the net.
“It was a good through ball by Clint and I was lucky enough to get on to it,” said Jozy Altidore. “I just tried to get my body between the ball and the defender and it worked out for me, and I slotted home.”
The Spanish picked up the pressure in the second half, but were unable to find their way through the U.S. defense, which was bolstered by the return of captain Carlos Bocanegra, who was missing from first round matches with a hamstring injury.
Spain , with its cachet of international stars, tried everything in its bag of tricks, attacking from the right, the left, and down the middle, but the Americans were a step quicker all night.
The U.S. sealed the victory in the 72nd minute through Clint Dempsey, who pounced on a loose ball in front of the Spanish net and deposited it in the goal to double the American lead.
Forward Charlie Davies was pleased with the victory.
“For the team it’s unbelievable,” said Charlie Davies. “Beating the world’s best team 2-0 and basically dominating them. They weren’t able to find a rhythm. I think it’s the bets game in my recent memory I could ever imagine the U.S. playing.”
The other Confederations Cup semi-final takes place Thursday when South Africa meets Brazil for the right to face the US in the final.
This is the biggest upset in international soccer since Senegal beat out the heavily favored France squad in the 2002 World Cup. This is the second time that USA has beaten the #1 ranked team in the world… the last time was when they beat the heavily favored Brazil squad in 1998.
Q June 24 2009
