Confederation Cup -U.S. Men's Soccer Team somehow squeak in

[John30_30]

The U.S., champs of North and Central America Region were all but mathematically eliminated from the Confederations Cup in South Africa, getting beat soundly 3-1 by Italy scoring some uncharateristic cannon shots from long range, then 3-0 by Brazil in their 2nd game.
They were embarrassing to watch. Only New Zealand looked sorrier.

Although they looked like they had a chance against Italy, the U.S. played like boys against the Brazilian men. Italy never did look that good, and it turns out they aren't. They got the benefit of a political red card to a U.S. kid, and then to add insult, their big scorer was a kid born in New Jersey, who snubbed playing for the Stars and Stripes to try out for Italy's Azzurri.

Basically the U.S. needed to hammer Egypt by at least 3 goals, an Egypt who fought Brazil to a standstill before a bad-luck P.K. in injury time; and then beat Italy 1-0 in their 2nd game.
And then the U.S. had to hope that Brazil would crush Italy to the tune of 3-0. Plus the referees had been calling everything they could against the Americans. Vegas odds on that would be something like 500 to 1, and that's charitable.

Except that's exactly what happened. A very good Egypt team ran out of gas and heart, and the U.S. looked like they knew their business. And Brazil humiliated Italy worse than they had the U.S. At the end of the day, the U.S. won by tiebreaker to get the dubious honor of playing currently the best team in the world, Spain, La Furia Roja, on Wednesday.

Basically, the tournament is a preview of some of the best teams that will be in the World Cup this time next year, and it's got to be a good learning experience for the U.S. When they come out and play with heart, they make up for the lack of skill compared to other nations.

[Rivrrat]

I was yapping about how lucky they were to back into the semi's, and my wife pointed out to me that as a coach, I've backed into a couple of semi's myself, and ended up doing pretty well as a result.

So to practice what I preach to my teams, every team has a good game in them, and the US team is just one good game away from playing for the tourney championship.

[gtu2004]

The U.S., champs of North and Central America Region were all but mathematically eliminated from the Confederations Cup in South Africa, getting beat soundly 3-1 by Italy scoring some uncharateristic cannon shots from long range, then 3-0 by Brazil in their 2nd game.
They were embarrassing to watch. Only New Zealand looked sorrier.

Although they looked like they had a chance against Italy, the U.S. played like boys against the Brazilian men. Italy never did look that good, and it turns out they aren't. They got the benefit of a political red card to a U.S. kid, and then to add insult, their big scorer was a kid born in New Jersey, who snubbed playing for the Stars and Stripes to try out for Italy's Azzurri.
Basically the U.S. needed to hammer Egypt by at least 3 goals, an Egypt who fought Brazil to a standstill before a bad-luck P.K. in injury time; and then beat Italy 1-0 in their 2nd game.
And then the U.S. had to hope that Brazil would crush Italy to the tune of 3-0. Plus the referees had been calling everything they could against the Americans. Vegas odds on that would be something like 500 to 1, and that's charitable.

Except that's exactly what happened. A very good Egypt team ran out of gas and heart, and the U.S. looked like they knew their business. And Brazil humiliated Italy worse than they had the U.S. At the end of the day, the U.S. won by tiebreaker to get the dubious honor of playing currently the best team in the world, Spain, La Furia Roja, on Wednesday.

Basically, the tournament is a preview of some of the best teams that will be in the World Cup this time next year, and it's got to be a good learning experience for the U.S. When they come out and play with heart, they make up for the lack of skill compared to other nations.

The US are simply not on the same level as Italy. Italy can play badly and still grind out results and that's the difference.

The red card to me was a little bit on the harsh side but I'd go out and say it would not have changed the outcome of the game had the US ended the game with 11 men.

And what do you mean by uncharacteristic goals? It goes to show you have no clue about football. When playing against a deep lying opponents like the US who were afraid to lose, it is a lot harder to pick out a through ball and you can't keep crossing from the flanks all the times. Sometimes long shots can be very effective when mixed with other types of attack. Plus it takes a lot of training to be good at it, and De Rossi is one of the best in the world at that.

Also, why are you having a dig at Rossi when he chose to play for Italy, his native country? Is it much worse than the US when many players were not even born here?

Stop being so bitter and criticize Italy at every turn. They have their problem, but I think it's stupid to say Brazil humiliated Italy more than the US. It doesn't work like that. Liverpool humiliated Real and Real humiliated Barca a couple years ago. Are Liverpool better than Barca?

Furthermore, this tournament is just like a friendly cup. You never know what anyone has up their sleeves when it comes to the real thing like World Cup.

[John30_30]

The US are simply not on the same level as Italy. Italy can play badly and still grind out results and that's the difference.

The red card to me was a little bit on the harsh side but I'd go out and say it would not have changed the outcome of the game had the US ended the game with 11 men.

And what do you mean by uncharacteristic goals? It goes to show you have no clue about football. When playing against a deep lying opponents like the US who were afraid to lose, it is a lot harder to pick out a through ball and you can't keep crossing from the flanks all the times. Sometimes long shots can be very effective when mixed with other types of attack. Plus it takes a lot of training to be good at it, and De Rossi is one of the best in the world at that.

Also, why are you having a dig at Rossi when he chose to play for Italy, his native country? Is it much worse than the US when many players were not even born here?

Stop being so bitter and criticize Italy at every turn. They have their problem, but I think it's stupid to say Brazil humiliated Italy more than the US. It doesn't work like that. Liverpool humiliated Real and Real humiliated Barca a couple years ago. Are Liverpool better than Barca?

How many games have you seen Italy score even one goal from 30 yards out, let alone 2, and one of them from 35? Ever?
None, right?
How many games do their forwards even take a shot like that?
None, generally.
Both those goals were scored off a giveaway or a quick build, which negates your ideas about strategy for a deep lying opponent.

You can go out on a limb and blah-blah about the red card not mattering, and you'll still be wrong. The psychological effect is devastating because it tells the players the refs are against them, not that that ref is strict. That was a yellow to everyone else in the world.

I will harsh Italy every time they step on the pitch and play a snide, calculating approach of sympathy diving. That's for mamma's boys and it disrepects the game.
I'll harsh them every time they set foot on the pitch with the U.S. and cheap-foul with the attitude that the other team doesn't belong on the pitch with them. It's easy enough to spot.
When they go out and play bigtime football like they did to beat Cup host Germany in the semi's, I'm their biggest fan. ( Sidenote: Germany are perhaps the only side more arrogant and calculating)

Italy could have gone down 6-0 against Brazil, it was that one-sided. They are calculating prima donnas and they sucked in that game worse than the U.S. "amateurs" they have no respect for.
The difference is they are expected to be able to play level with Brazil or Spain. The U.S. aren't.
Comparing that to club matches is like apples and oranges.

If Rossi has a great career for them, great. I wasn't slamming him so much as highlighting the irony that he was the one to get their turnaround goal from 30 yards out. He knew he was good enough, fine.
He also walked away from being one of the 1st guys with world-class skill to play for the U.S. in the modern age, a difference-maker. A franchise player. One of many for Italy over the years, but a first for the U.S. Maybe he would be only slightly above average surrounded by average American players anyway.

I think you're the one who has little clue about football.

[John30_30]

U.S. 2 - Spain 0.