The Rookies

Yellow card forthcoming.

One of the treats of Twitter is seeing insights and observations from old friends appear, unsolicited, in a feed, and for the last two weeks of the Confederations Cup, one of the avatars whose insights I’ve enjoyed the most is @ayanion’s. He and I go back to elementary school, and he’s a more worldly and intelligent fan of soccer (a Milan supporter, up on Brazil and more international play) than I could ever hope to be. I reached out to him for a piece about the Confederations Cup so far. He provided this.

Ah, the Confederations Cup.

A sort of not-quite-there, dress rehearsal for the World Cup—a term I’m sure you’ve all heard if you’ve been watching any of the coverage. It is a minor addendum to the conceivably more important confederation tournaments, and a (usually) less than satisfying preview of the World Cup.

I have a slight recollection of the last tournament, limited mostly to the final where Brazil marched all over Argentina. The tournament, as you might expect for an obscure tournament not featuring the United States, was covered by Spanish networks only. For the record, I watched, recorded and re-watched SportsCenter to see if they covered the final: alas, only Pablo Aimar’s diving header for Argentina’s lone goal (at the end; ignore the music) was shown.

But to be fair, it was a Top Play, number three, if I recall correctly.

Still, this year’s iteration was broadcast by ESPN, with the United States vs. Brazil final getting top billing on ESPN. It’s been an exciting tournament, with plenty of intrigue and surprise (not to mention vuvuzelas), and not at all what I expected from it. Of course, the United States Men’s National Team is at the forefront of all the attention, playing in their first final outside of CONCACAF tournaments.

I’ll be totally honest: I know next to nothing about the USMNT. It’s not for lack of knowledge about soccer; rather I’ve been a fan of Brazil since I watched the World Cup in 1994 with my father, who had been a fan of Pele, Zico, Garrincha and others.

However, you could say I’ve split my attention between USA and Brazil. I missed Brazil’s seven-goal thriller against Egypt, but saw an unlucky USA fall to, quite frankly, an average Italy. I recorded the USA-Brazil match to not miss a minute, but once again the US looked nervous and out of place as Brazil picked them apart (none more so than DaMarcus Beasley). Because of the same start times for the last group stage games, I thought Italy-Brazil would be more interesting, seeing as Brazil has a penchant for taking the foot off the accelerator when they’ve assured qualification for the next round.

I was wrong.

So that brought us to the semifinals for this tournament. A Brazil that under Dunga has finally found the right mix of creative talent and defensive strength and Spain, a team that looked to have the least number (read: none) of weaknesses on paper, stood as the favorites, with the USA and South Africa rounding out the final four. I had almost no expectation for the US to come away with anything from the match against Spain: they looked confused when defending and more so when they had possession.

Spain for their part have done their best impression of what you’d expect from a team that’s loaded with talent, a far cry from the years and years of mediocre Spanish national teams that failed to live up to pre-tournament hype. They might’ve been the most entertaining team in last year’s Euro tournament had the Turks not come back to win at the very last possible moment in almost every game. Fernando Torres and David Villa are the prototypical pair you’d want up front: a target man like Torres to latch onto crosses, and Villa, skilled enough with the ball at his feet to make an opportunity.

You really can’t say enough about Spain’s midfield, as plenty of teams in the past have made the mistake of cramming their midfield with creative players and expecting a masterpiece from each one. Spain’s midfield was more or less one of unsung heroes: Albert Riera, who bounced back and forth from Spain and England with little fanfare before being picked up by Liverpool; Xabi Alonso who hasn’t received as much fanfare as other Liverpudlian midfielders like Lucas, Mascherano and, of course, Gerrard; and Xavi, who quietly pulled the strings for Barcelona while acclaim was ladled onto Ronaldinho. There was enough protection for the more creative players to work, while the defense was capable of routinely snuffing out chances and providing attacking support.

Spain, as they have presented themselves post-WC ’06, have become a perfect team: technically gifted, but still physical; patient, but with plenty of speed when necessary; simultaneously predatory while still able to make chances out of nothing.

The US, for their part, impressed me with the physicality of Tim Howard and flashes of brilliance in attack. For the most part, Howard looked fully confident when dealing with crosses, a probable byproduct from playing in the Premier League. Still, there looked to be no communication in defense against Brazil, and Howard’s inability to deal with shots from distance was evident against Italy. The midfield looked disjointed in both games, incapable of creative chances or even maintaining possession.

Italy’s victory against the US was wholly determined by moments of brilliance: Rossi’s incredible, impulsive shot fresh off the bench was one, and Pirlo’s delicate touch and pass for Rossi’s brace was the second. De Rossi’s goal took an awkward hop, and by all accounts it looked like Onyewu screened Howard from getting a good look on it. And there was the matter of playing with only 10 men for a large portion of the 90 minutes.

Against Brazil, the US continued to struggle as Brazil demonstrated the patient-yet-predatory mentality, exploiting mistakes and being aggressive from set pieces. The miscue by Beasley that lead to the Brazilian goal typified the match for me: the USMNT, having played against weak competitors, looked out of place in a tournament with national teams that are, quite frankly, a class above.

Still, the momentous task of overcoming a -5 goal differential was done, and it was on to the semifinals. I can honestly say I didn’t expect a good match; Spain would score an early goal or two then just waste possession to run out the clock. Fortunately for me and the rest of the viewing public, Charlie Davies’ overhead attempt early on embodied an attacking team that finally capitalized on chances made. The USMNT defense was especially notable for meticulously rooting out any goal scoring opportunities for Spain, doing so without needlessly overcommitting to challenges and racking up fouls. Fernando Torres was constantly prevented from finishing passes made in the thirty yard box, and quick, intelligent passes were snuffed out and cleared downfield.

Altidore’s goal was one that Iker Casillas, ninety-nine times out of one hundred, would push past the uprights for a corner, but was placed and struck well enough to end up in the back of the net. The second American goal looked like something I’ve come to expect from Pippo Inzaghi, veritable fox in the box that he is, sloppily struck but a goal nonetheless. The USMNT held on long enough for the match to end with no major setbacks, aside from Michael Bradley’s studs-up tackle in the 87th minute that didn’t hold any real relevance in a match decided before halftime. Thus, the question of how do you beat the perfect team on paper was answered, leaving a blotch on Vicente Del Bosque’s tenure as manager of the Spanish national side of thirteen wins, one loss and ending Spain’s unprecedented unbeaten streak.

In light of that major upset the other semifinal was anticlimactic, and seemed more like a final as both sides were perhaps overly cautious or simply unable to create clear chances on goal. Dani Alves’ goal was perfectly placed, with just enough curl to get around the wall and force a diving attempt by Khune to stop it. South Africa displayed the kind of tactics that the United States did against Spain, by applying pressure to Brazil’s creative players and forcing them to make bad passes. More importantly, however, it gave the United States a good idea of what they need to do to win against Brazil, and an example of a weakness they cannot have: South Africa lacked a real attacking spark, having plenty of chances but failing to score.

The USMNT, if they can play against Brazil like South Africa did, just might have what it takes to win. Managing expectations is important, but Altidore is strong enough to muscle his way onto balls passed by decently skilled and hardworking creative engines like Clint Dempsey or Landon Donovan to at least give the US a chance.

And why not? They’ve already overcome the impossible twice in this tournament.