Brazil Rally Past USA In Final

Well, its the silver medal for America....and we're pissed. 

Honestly, the fact that most fans and players are disappointed with that fact is a sign of expectation and belief in this group of players.  Yes, seeing Lucio's headed effort ripple the net was heartbreaking.  For me personally, it was like getting kicked in the stomach.  

It all started out so well.  The US came out to play and go forward instead of hunkering back in a defensive shell.  The game was open with a few exchanges from both sides, however, the Americans started to link up and the better chances went to the US.  Then, in almost a replica of the third Egypt goal, Jonathan Spector sent in another picture perfect ball to Clint Dempsey in the box.  Dempsey only needed a touch to redirect  it into the far post corner of the net with Julio Ceasar beaten.  Shocked Brazil regained their composure soon after though and made many pressing runs, but then off a Brazil corner the US countered perfectly.  The ball cleared to Ricardo Clark, who passed it up to a streaking Landon.  Landon then feed Davies with through ball down the left side, and Davies hit a nice first time ball back into the middle for Landon.  The composure from Landon was terrific as he took a touch past Ramires, and cooly slotted home the second for the US.  Back corner pocket.  

Unfortunately after, that the US started to sit back and absorb as much pressure as it could.  Both Maicon and Robinho went close before at the stroke of halftime Fabiano just failed to get on the end of a sitter.  The Americans luck, however, ran out at halftime it seems as Fabiano's quick turn and shot caught Tim Howard a little unawares and brought Brazil back into the game.  John Harkes critized defender Jay DeMerit for the goal, but I'm not sure where else he would have wanted Jay to be.  The Watford defender (at least for now, I'm sure an offer at an EPL team will come in) was in perfect positioning and was extremely unfortunately for the ball the go between his legs.  

After that, Brazil turned up the heat and the class.  Kaka, who had been quiet all game, started to get loose more and more.  Then he turned up at the far post to crash a header into what should have been a goal, but the linesman ruled the ball hadn't crossed the line.  Replays would show otherwise as Howard was 3 yards inside the goal when he pushed the ball, which had completely gone in, out and to safety.  The was the last break the US caught and Kaka was again trouble,  beating Spector down the right side to cross in to Robinho at the back post.  Somehow with the goal at his mercy from 3 yards he hit the crossbar.  The ball only deflected to Fabiano and he made no mistake burying his header.  Then, two inexplicable subs (more on them later) by the States.  We lost everything going forward as a result and it was only a matter of time until Brazil got the third.  It came through Lucio who crashed in on a corner with 2 minutes left to drive a header against the back post and in.  With nothing left in the tank, the US struggled on and in stoppage time Oneywu sent the USA's last chance sailing just over the bar from a corner.  

But there are positives to draw from this tournament, along with its negatives.   First off lets start with the negatives (so it can only get better), Bob Bradley still needs to go.  This might anger many people who have jumped back onto his bandwagon, and also many that think that I am overreacting to the loss.  Quite the contrary.  I have always said, and will state again that Bob Bradley is a class act, but not a good football coach.  For evidence, I bring to you Sacha Klejstan and Connor Casey. How on Earth did Sacha make it onto the field after that lousy perfomance against Brazil the first time around?  And to bring Bornestein into the game as a left midfielder?  Why would you do that when you have Torres and Adu, both left-footed players, on the bench?  It doesn't make any sense to me.  Both Torres and Adu would have brought much more going forward and are much better technically.  

Even if you decide to do the unthinkable and put those two into a fragile game, what the fuck do you have to smoke to decide that Feilhaber and Altidore are the ones to come off.  Take two quality players off and replace them with shit.  Hmmm *grind teeth*.  Sacha for his part, again showed us why he along with Beasley should not be allowed onto a USA team until they regain their form. 

Related to that, the US doesn't have enough quality central midfielders.  If our first option off the bench is Sacha we should all go shoot ourselves.  Granted, Michael Bradley missed the game through suspension, and that was a huge loss.  But we still should have at least 4 competent midfielders who can do the job.  Hopefully, the Gold Cup can be used to evaluate players that have previously been overlooked.  Honestly, our best bet is Jermaine Jones.  For those of you who don't know who he is, he is a German who also dual citizenship with America through his father.  Born and raised in Germany, the lad starts for German powerhouse Schalke.  He plays a enforcer/ defensive midfield role, but from all the scouting reports I've read, he also is a skilled passer and very technical. He's played in 3 friendlies wht Germany, but thanks to a recent rule change by FIFA, he is still eligible for the US.  The US might have been his second choice, but a player of his caliber cannot be passed up if only to keep players like Sacha and Beasely off the roster. FIFA still needs to finish the paperwork on him so he won't be available for the Gold Cup, but hopefully by October he'll be donning the Stars and Stripes.  

Finally, lets move on to the positives.

To start, we MEDALLED.  And it wasn't the bronze. We took silver at a major FIFA tournament after playing 5 games against top competition. We beat a back-to-back African Champion and the No. 1 team in the world who hadn't lost in 35 games and was on a 15 game win-streak.  Then we took Brazil down to the wire in the Championship after holding onto the lead until the 74th minute.  Not too bad for a nation that "doesn't care about soccer" (thanks Jim Rome you douche).  Good thing Jim is a moron.  

Secondly, the boys showed that they can compete with big teams in the world.  They may lack big names and maybe a little short of the best talentwise, but damn they can compete.  They should have no excuse for not bringing this same heart and grit to the World Cup because we know now that its there.  Also the big players for the US stood up and were counted.  Landon, Clint, Michael, Oneywu, and Altidore were huge this tournament.  Well, at least for the last three games. The rest of the squad showed fire and committment.  Players for whom I really didn't think could cut it internationally like Davies and Clark completely proved me wrong.  They both had monster performances multiple times during this tournament, Clark especially.  I'm not sure what alien being abducted Ricardo Clark and gave us a genetically engineered soccer midfield giant instead, but thank you.  

This is getting kinda long so I'll end with a few last thoughts.  We now have a backline.  The four that played at the back have been consistent, strong, and good going forward.  All worldclass teams start with a solid back, and now the US can say it has that.  Michael Bradley showed why he needs to be on the field.  We lacked his grit and ability to control the tempo for the US.  He'll definately be one to watch for the next few years because he has immense talent.  It looks like we have a great pairing up top with the Altidore-Davies combo that brings speed galore.  They need to hone their touch and passing a little but the first signs look great.  Probably most importantly, this tournament did wonders for our chance of getting a No.1 seed at the World Cup draw.  This will be huge in that the chances of being placed with 2 other really good teams is minimized and thus the chance of getting out of our group is greater.  Finally, almost as important as the World Cup draw, Guiseppe Rossi had to watch us in the final from home. HAHA. we got second and Italy got humiliated.  Have fun struggling to qualify for the World Cup G-unit.