If you had told me two weeks ago that the United States would end the Confederations Cup losing to Brazil by one goal in the final, after knocking of Spain to get there, I would have been ecstatic. Having watched the end game this afternoon, I have to say, it's a little disappointing.
We had Brazil down 2-0 and had it slip away in the second half. Every goal was earned, I have to say, so it's not as if we gave it away. There weren't any bonehead mistakes (on the field, anyway). We played with the same heart, determination, and flashes of real skill that we showed against Spain, but the Brazilians executed better. Bob Bradley's substitution decisions were truly awful, however (even the girlfriend, when the post-game shots showed Kljestan said "you suck"), which makes me wonder if the good of the past week is because of Bob or in spite of him.
Oh, well. On to the Gold Cup!
Maia sez: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Beat my Ticos in the Azteca and we'll talk!
Sunday, June 28, 2009
So Close
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I'll be the first to say that we treat kids too lightly in this "everyone's a winner, taking part is what's important" philosophy, because it's the sting of defeat that makes you work harder next time.
That said, I just can't see this game as a loss for US national football. The *score* didn't go our way, but not only did we get to the final of an international tournament, we scored two goals against Brazil. BRAZIL!
This tournament has shown that we've reached a point that the international community has wanted to see for a long time, that America is taking the sport seriously and can compete.
I think they played as hard as they possibly could, and it will take a few years more before they'll really be able to start winning competitions - but it's going to be soon!
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