United States upsets Spain

BLOEMFONTEIN, South Africa (AP) - The world will surely take
notice of this.
The U.S. soccer team is in the final of the Confederations Cup,
beating mighty Spain 2-0.
Even more stunning, the Americans were on the verge of
elimination and ready to head home last weekend before a reversal
of fortune. On Wednesday, goals by Jozy Altidore and Clint Dempsey
led to an upset of the planet's top-ranked team.
Call it a miracle on grass - maybe not the World Cup, but still
an American soccer echo of the U.S. hockey team's upset of the
Soviet Union at the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics.
By winning, the maligned United States advanced to its first
men's FIFA final since starting play in 1916.
Altidore scored in the 27th minute and Dempsey added a goal in
the 74th as the Americans became the first team to defeat Spain
since Romania in November 2006.
"It goes to show what hard work and commitment to each other
can bring," said U.S. goalkeeper Tim Howard, who made eight saves
as he frustrated David Villa and Fernando Torres. "Sometimes
football is a funny thing."
Now the U.S. will play defending champion Brazil or host South
Africa in Sunday's final, which concludes a two-week tournament
designed to prepare the organizers of next year's World Cup.
"Regardless of whether we play Brazil or the Bafana Bafana, the
challenge will be great," U.S. coach Bob Bradley said.
Midfielder Michael Bradley, son of the U.S. coach, will miss the
final. He received a red card for a late challenge in the 87th
minute, the third American ejection of the tournament.
Still, American players had much to celebrate, given how slim
the chances of such a U.S. victory seemed just a few days ago. Or
any victory, for that matter. The 14th-ranked Americans were
soundly defeated in their first two games in this event.
"I think it just shows that we can compete with the best. Now
we need to do it on a consistent basis," U.S. captain Carlos
Bocanegra said.
Spain, the European champion, had set an international record
with 15 straight victories and had tied Brazil's record unbeaten
streak of 35 games from December 1993 to January 1996.
The United States had been 1-7-1 against No. 1 teams, beating
Brazil in the 1998 CONCACAF Gold Cup and tying Argentina last
summer in an exhibition at Giants Stadium.
"This is an accident, a little step backward," Spain coach
Vicente del Bosque said. "We have to look forward with optimism."
Altidore got the first goal when he outmuscled Joan Capdevila,
his teammate on Spain's Villarreal, to send an 18-yard shot in off
the hand of goalkeeper Iker Casillas. Capdevila thought he was
fouled by Altidore, who had engaged in some trash texting a few
days ago.
"I told him, 'Be careful of the USA.' And he tried to say I
didn't understand Spanish, so it was just all fun and games,"
Altidore said. "We're teammates and we were just messing around
with each other a little bit, but in the end we had the last
laugh."
Altidore, a 19-year-old forward from New Jersey, was so excited
after he scored that he took off his jersey as he ran toward the
stands in celebration, drawing a yellow card. It was the first goal
against Spain in 451 minutes, since Turkey's Semih Senturk scored
on April 1, and just the third goal the Spaniards allowed in 17
games dating to last summer's European Championship.
Dempsey sealed the victory, scoring from 6 yards when he pounced
on Landon Donovan's cross, which had bounced off Gerard Pique and
the foot of Sergio Ramos.
"There will ups and downs in any cycle," U.S. Soccer
Federation president Sunil Gulati said. "I think this tournament
makes that point very clearly. Tonight was a very big up."
The U.S. opened the tournament with a 3-1 loss to world champion
Italy, then was outclassed by South American champ Brazil in a 3-0
defeat. The Americans advanced over the Italians on the second
tiebreaker - total goals - only by beating Egypt 3-0 on Sunday as
Brazil defeated the Azzurri by the same score.
"Three games ago I think it would have been impossible to think
about a night like tonight," Howard said. "We've had our fair
share of critics, but we stood up and took it on the chin and kept
going."
While the U.S. women have won two world championships, the men
have long been outsiders and didn't even qualify for the showcase
event between 1950 and '90. This ranked alongside the upset of
Brazil as one of their top wins, just below victories over England
in the 1950 World Cup, Portugal and Mexico in the 2002 World Cup
and Colombia in the 1994 World Cup.
Spain outshot the U.S. 29-9 in near-freezing conditions at the
Free State Stadium, but Howard came up big every time he was
needed.
"We knew we had to pick and choose our moments to go forward,"
Dempsey said. "We're happy with the result and we know we're going
to have our work cut out to get anything out of the final."
The United States had lost its three previous matches against
Spain, including 1-0 in an exhibition on June 4 last year at
Santander. But the Americans were boosted by Bocanegra, who had
been sidelined since injuring a hamstring during a World Cup
qualifier on June 6. He played left back instead of central
defense.
On this night, everything came together.
"This win is huge for American soccer," Dempsey said. "This
one is much sweeter because we were down and out, came back
fighting."