This is a soccer post so I may have to give out some information. I will try to explain as I write.
The United States are playing in a tournament called the Confederations Cup. It is being held in South Africa, where the world cup will be next summer.
There are 8 teams that participate. There are 6 FIFA Confederation Championships (CAF, CONMEBOL, UEFA, AFC, OFC, CONCACAF). The USA is part of CONCACAF (the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football). So, the winners of these championships are in the tournament. And the other 2 teams are the winners from the last World Cup (Italy) and the host country (South Africa). I won't deal with the history of all of this. Are we still following along?
The tournament is broken up into 2 groups (A and B). We were group B, which means nothing. Along with us was Brazil, Italy and Egypt. We lost to Brazil and Italy, bad. We looked awful. The system works on a point scale. A win=3 points, tie=1, and loss=0.
The finals matches were Brazil v Italy and US v Egypt. We basically had to beat Egypt by 3 goals (shouldn't happen) and Brazil would have to beat Italy by 3 goals (super improbable). The odds were unlikely, but that is what happened.
US 3 - 0 Egypt
Brazil 3 - 0 Italy
Crazy. US, Italy and Egypt all tied on points (3). So there are tie breakers. They break down the goals scored to the ones scored on you and subtract the 2 numbers, which gave Egypt -3 and The US and Italy -2. So, the next tie breaker was who scored the most goals between Italy and US. Italy scored 3 and the US scored 4.
Like I said....Unlikely, Improbable and quite a miracle.
Now Wednesday, we played the number 1 team in the world, Spain.
The sport world knew that we would lose but it would give us a good look at the talent we will see next summer. If you have a newspaper or google news, you may already know.
We simply shocked the world. Not only beat Spain but shut them out with a clean sheet.
US 2 - 0 Spain
Phenomenal. If you bet on this US team then you are a wealthy man. I was so proud of that team. And now we move to the finals.
The other game is tonight, to decide who we play in the finals.
Brazil v South Africa
Thursday (tonight) 8:30 Eastern
ESPN2
Then the finals will be Sunday at 2:00pm on ESPN2
Be sure to watch. US v SA would be a great game but it will most likely be US v BRA. That will be epic. It's like the revolutionary war all over again. Still underdogs. Still kickin balls! (sorry)
Watch....comment....enjoy your countries success!
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
soccer, my friend, is lame and will never catch on. i'm just speakin the truth
ReplyDeletebill
catch on here or spread like malaria across the world!? we're just the last country who has detained themselves.
ReplyDeleteSomeone soon will accept that smallpox filled blanket.
Soccer disease will spread, like wildfire...or VD.
So, shut up, Jim Rome.
Plus, you give the US one world cup victory (and that may take 20 years) but you give them that and the country will have something to believe in. Cleveland will have something to hold on to. Shaq may bring a title, but we're desperate. The Clevelanders will do anything for a championship....even soccer.
I am leaving a comment but that in no way insinuates that I love you, got it? Ok good.
ReplyDelete1) Soccer isn't bad but the other day at the bar I saw this sport that looked very similar to Lacrosse but the sticks didn't have nets and it was much more hard core! Any ideas?
2) Clevelands economy is now based entirely on Lebron AND Shaq finally poor Lebron doesn't have to bear the burden all on his own.
3) You said you were going to do a post on movies!! Instead 2 posts later all we have is sports news anybody with a radio has already heard... way to be
I found that pretty interesting.........lol I will be the one who loves everything you write, unless you use a bad word, I can't like that. Unlike Charles, I do love you :)
ReplyDeleteBrandan,
ReplyDeleteI thouroughly enjoyed your post on Soccer. Although I don't watch it much, it is a great sport. Something I'm sure you already know, but others may not; the U.S. is one of the few countries in the world to not embrace Soccer as their #1 Sport. All over the world it is a lifestyle. They stop when games are on and just sit back and watch the game. Soccer games take place in the street, an alleyway, or someone's backyard. Although a win or a lose can bring fires and rioting, they can also bring comaraderie. The fans and players are faithful to their teams so much that some would fight to death over a blasphemous comment. I believe in the U.S. and for us to have come this far in a world that is not new to us, but a life somewhat unfamiliar, it is a great day! GOOD LUCK U.S.
-Alisha
I agree with you, Alisha. I propose we fight war on the pitch. All problems solved by a soccer game. The only problem with that is that the US might end up being the least powerful country in the world! We'll wait until we are a soccer nation to start that.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, US is playing Brazil on Sunday. Watch! It will be huge. We would make history with a win. We've already beaten the best team in the world, what's Brazil? Nobody!!!