In the first half, the US, who had less time off between matches than the Spanish, came out energized and focused on paying attention to all of Spain’s superstars. Fernando Torres, David Villa and Cesc Fabregas all looked out of ideas from the beginning, because of constant American pressure. After a slew of attacking creativity and positive passing, 19 year-old striker, Jozy Altidore, found himself one-on-one with the Spanish keeper. He coolly slotted it past the goalie, and the US found itself 1-0 up after just 27 minutes. Throughout the first half, the Americans were first to every ball, and the much overlooked American midfield were just stronger than their counterparts. The United States were actually a better team than the European Champions for the first 45 minutes. The second half was what astonished me, though…

At this point, I still felt a Spanish goal would open up the American defense and ultimately lead to a comfortable victory. I didn’t give them enough credit. Oguchi Onyewu and Jay DeMerit were flawless in their central-defense roles. In spite of this, the Spanish onslaught continued for 30 minutes. From the 50th minute on, the United States were parked in front of their own goal, dealing with every cross and through-ball as it came. It is always troubling when a team settles on a one-goal lead and parks up in front of goal, it always seems ominous that they are sealing their own fate to play for the final whistle, not for the extension of their lead. Then, in the 73rd minute, a Jonathan Spector throw-in saw a move develop wherein Landon Donovan found himself alone wide on the right, he settled for a slide back, when he easily could have shot, then after a mistake from right-back Sergio Ramos, Clint Dempsey fired it home. Going 2-0 up with 17 minutes left, was a little too much for Spain to overcome. Had the Americans not scored, would Spain have equalized? I believe so. But giving up a goal after implementing so much pressure, must have been hard to swallow.

Now the USA have sauntered into the Confederations Cup Final, with the second semi-final to be played tomorrow between Brazil and South Africa. Assuming Brazil dispatches the African host nation, the US will have a chance to avenge their 3-0 defeat to the mighty yellows in the group stage. America could pull it off. When it comes to momentum, they’ve got it all. I’ll be happy to see Spain playing in the embarassingly irrelevant 3rd place game; along with the rest of the world witnessing the United States defeating a team that no one in Europe could just last summer. The World Cup beckons…

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An Italian defeat to Brazil and a victory over Egypt would bring the Americans level on points, but as you can see from above, catching up on goal difference would be a different proposition altogether. The U.S. had to beat Egypt by three goals, then count on Brazil to do the same to the world champs. No easy feat. Well, as you know, the U.S.A beat Egypt 3-0 and Brazil dominated a lackluster Italy, winning 3-0, leading to the final table to look like this:As you can see the American’s scored one more goal than the Italians which is why they are now in the Semi-Finals. The Confederations Cup is not a very important Cup, however, it can be a measuring stick with which the United States can evaluate their squad. Needless to say, playing against Honduras and El Salvador doesn’t exactly give Bob Bradley, the U.S. Coach, an adequate challenge. As Bradley heads into his first major tournament one year from now, he needs all of the experience he can get, especially in a tournament which carries the exact same format as the World Cup will.

Therefore, don’t look at this astonishing comeback as a sign of things to come for, what some consider, a highly overrated American team (as they are ranked a generous 14th in the world). But consider it one more rung on the latter, towards America becoming a more established team in the world. The more performances like the one on Sunday, the more confidence this team will have in itself, thus relaying into more positive results.