A Truly spectacular game... and other news

Amazing!!! First the US beats Spain and now they hold off Brazil for a good 46 minutes. Not only that, but in the first half, they were dominant with goals coming from both Dempsey (3 goals in the tournament) and Donovan. The US truly played some unreal soccer. For those Brazil fans, there was certainly much reason to be nervous yet anxious.
As we all know, Brazil simply never gives up. They play with style and flair and they make up some of the best talent in the world. After only 1 minute into the second half, Luis Fabiano scored to bring the lead down to one. And only 27 minutes later, the game was tied up with another goal by Fabiano (his fifth in the tournament). As time continued to shorten, the energy in the players and the stadium seemed to become more anxious and tense. The teams certainly did not want to be forced to play at least another 30 minutes with five games already under the belt. Fortunately for Brazil, captain Lucio came to the rescue. Although he had picked up a yellow card earlier, he did not allow that to affect his game; he scored an excellent goal off of a corner kick to give Brazil the winner.
However, important to note is that the US has come a long way. Just over a week ago, the US had lost 3-0 in group play to the Brazilians. Yet, the US didn't give up. As we all saw, they came back to defeat Spain and make it into the finals. Best of luck to the US in the World Cup!
Check out these highlights below. (ABD= US and BRE= Brazil)



In the consolation match, Spain barely managed to get the win over South Africa with a 3-2 win in extra-time.
Goals:
Spain - Daniel Güiza (87, 88), Xabi Alonso (106)
SA - Katlego Mphela (73, 90)

Other news in Europe:
Eto'o: Man City has made the biggest offer to buy Eto'o from Barca (to date). The 28-year-old scored 36 goals in all competitions - not bad to also add he scored in the Champions League final which helped lift his team over Man Utd. It will definitely be interesting to see where he heads next season.

A Semi-Final to be remembered.

I will begin by saying, WOW!!! I certainly did not see it coming and I am sure many of others didn't either. The USA didn't just win by a thin lead, it was somewhat convincing. Although both the American goals were scored due to the errors of the Spanish defense, a win is a win and there is nothing that can be done about it. However, I truly do feel bad for Sergio Ramos. Although he may have been the cause for Dempsey's second goal, it cannot be refuted that he is still an extremely good player; he did not realize that Dempsey was behind him, yet then again I question, why take the touch over simply clearing it out? This will be a question still to be answered for a very long time.



In the other semi-final, Brazil did not have the easiest of wins. In fact, there were multiple times where it seemed as if South Africa could have taken the lead and possibly gotten the win. Although they lost, this only proves that many more positive things are to come from the team that was not even expected to make it to the Semi's.

I am looking forward to what may be another upset for the USA. Don't miss it, tomorrow at 2:30 PM EST on ESPN and Univision.

Group B Results from Confederations Cup

In what turned out to be two one-sided games, little did I suspect Italy to lose so badly to Brazil. It wasn't one nothing or two nothing; it was a three nothing win with only domination floating in the air. Brazil scored all three of its goals in the first half between the 36th and 44th minute. Two goals came from Fabiano and one own goal from Dossena.



In the other match in Group B, USA was able to take a commanding lead over Egypt and win 3-0. More impressively though, USA (prior to this game) was in last place of the group with little hope of making it past this stage, but with their only win and Italy's loss, they were able to advance due to the goal differentials and head to head matches.

Potential Move for Tevez; Spain Truly is Unstoppable

With Cristiano Ronaldo now on his way to the Bernabéu (Real Madrid's home), Manchester United may also see another one of their stars heading out the doors. This time round it's Tevez. the 25 year-old Argentinian international feels that since he is not the most wanted player* by Manchester United, he would be very happy with a transfer. Currently, he has received interest from Manchester City and Chelsea. If he does in fact head to one of these clubs then we will be bound to see home on the other side of what are both intense and emotional rivalries.

Confederation Cup News, Results, Schedule
For those of you who are Spanish supporters like myself, Spain has officially broken and set a new world record. With their 15th straight international win (over South Africa, 2-0) they are now the world record holders. However, more interestingly was what happened during the game. In the 50th minute, David Villa was rewarded a penalty kick due to a ridiculous challenge from South African defender Aaron Moekena. Unfortunately, Villa was denied the game by an excellent save from Khune. Nevertheless, just one minute later, Villa would score and regain the well deserved goal. And exactly 20 minutes later Llorente also helped himself to a goal after subbing out Torres in the 59th minute.
An interesting stat: Together, Spain and South Africa only had fifteen shots.

Clearly, if Spain continues to perform in the fashion they have done up to this point, I don't see why they can't win this Cup to add to their 2008 European Championship. Hopefully, Torres can also put in some goals to help Spain lift up another trophy before they take on the 2010 World Cup next summer.

Other Scores Today:
Iraq 0-0 New Zealand

Upcoming Games:
2:30 PM - Sunday Italy vs. Brazil (ESPN)
2:30 PM - Sunday Egypt vs. USA (ESPN2)
2:30 PM - Wednesday Semi-Final 1
2:30 PM - Thursday Semi-Final 2
9:00 AM - Sunday (6/28) Consolation
2:30 PM - Sunday (6/28) Final

Unstoppable Spain and Drogba's Ban

With Spain's 1-0 victory today over Iraq, they have now placed themselves in excellent position. They now qualify for the semi-final position in the Confederations Cup and they also extend a world record. This was their 14th consecutive International win which means they now share the world record with Brazil, France, and Australia. Furthermore, they are now 1 game away from tying the world record for longest undefeated streak of 35 games (which is currently held by Brazil).

With good news, it seems that there is always bad news. And such is the case with Didier Drogba. He is officially been given a four game European ban by UEFA for his verbal assault on the referee during the match between Chelsea and FC Barcelona. He also has a two-game ban that is now suspended for two years.

A Very Neccesary Post...

Sorry to all my followers and readers for not updating this blog in such a long time - I have become bogged down during the finals two months or school, but now I am done. So, here is an update of all the good stuff that has happened so far.

1. Manchester United lost to FC Barcelona in the final of the UEFA Championship. There is a simple reason for this; Man U dominated in the first ten minutes but could not stay consistent throughout the game. As soon as Eto'o was able to dribble through Man U's defense and score, things really looked gloomy and dull for Man U. Messi would go on to score a fantastic header that required true athleticism. (The link is attached below)
2. Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo has now left and joined the other top in La Liga, Real Madrid. Furthermore, Kaká has also joined Real Madrid, however, having a team full of superstars is not always the best. As we have seen with Chelsea, they may have a lot of extremely good players, but they it seems that they never are able to do enough to win it all.
3. USA soccer continues to lose to European countries as they just did yesterday by losing 3-1 to Italy.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOLCH11XGO8&feature=related