Matchday 7 24/Jun/09

It seemed a rather strange and familiar sight, at the same time for Mexican fans to watch the stuporous defeat of Spain. I say defeat of Spain and not US win due to a simple relation which Raúl Sarmiento made today throughout the transmission of the match here on the other side of the Atlantic: "Más error de España que acierto de EU" [more of a mistake from Spain than a US hit]. The same story over the past ten years of Mexican defeats on US soil was repeated again, just that the victim this time was La Madre Patria. I agree that the Americans are in the finals for a few shots of luck and a lesser part of talent in a strange mix. Just the group stage, let alone, the entire display at the tournament, confirm my position.

And it is as equally strange and unfamiliar the scoresheet as the game. Paco Villa's words couldn't do more than summarise it for us: "Esta historia ya me la sé, cambien los nombres" [I already know this story, just swap names]. As if it were a question of pronouns in a pre-established formula the Spanish team lost today against a lucky yet strangely talented American side. What stroke me the most is the fact that, tomorrow, we will see the second best attraction of the tournament: Kaká.

Again, in Soccernet, the fanatical comparisons and understated, fairly analytical responses, took just minutes to go online. Again we will see what happens in this rather strange tournament. But remember dear reader, that the state of the current American team, achieved by their performance, could give them a higher rank in the FIFA chart, thus giving them a top seed in the World Cup. Strangely enough, Mexico went in that same process four years ago, and in that sense it could be stated that the Mexican team is way too far from the American side. Just remember Germany's 2006 Confederations Cup.



Spain v. USA 0-2




A storming beginning from the Spanish side saw a couple of deflected shots from Cesc and a Torres, to edge the Americans in the first minutes. Even when the possession was exchanged throughout large parts of the game the Americans lost many balls as well as poor challenges in the midfield. Their defense was the landmark and probably what saw them through, aside form Demspey's overall performance.
The unexpected lead came after a really flaw-plagued Spanish marking; Demspey set Altidore who shot cross Casillas who, despite the effort, could not deviate the powerful driver. Again Spain went all to attack and created some plays not just worth of a goal, but of prize: Ramos chance at 42th as well as an innumerable amount of passes by Cesc.







The typical case-scenario for the American team was perfectly sorted out with the Spanish siege beginning as close as the 53th minute. Shots from Villa, Riera, Xabi Alonso, Ramos and Cesc went all either wide, to Howard's hands or to the woodwork. It was as if there was no way to score for the EURO champions since no other team in the world could have created ten clear chances of goal in five minutes.
Bradley's son was another central defender and with the OCNCACAF team playing the part of a tricky stand off team, the second lead came in the seventy fourth minute. Dempsey's goal was a little gift from the Spanish poor defending, particularly of Ramos. It was clearly obvious that a set of defensive mistakes led the Americans to a strange, rather ludicrous win.