2009 Confederations Cup: Brazil Dominates United States 3-0, Egypt Stuns Italy 1-0
June 21st 2009 02:51
The United States soccer team has the nasty habit of shooting themselves in the foot during major tournaments. After being reduced to ten men in the first half hour against Italy, they fared no better against Brazil, conceding a goal in the 7th minute on a dead-ball situation and picking up another red card, this time in the second half.
The game was pretty much over after Felipe Melo's opener on a free-kick. Free to move around as they pleased, the Brazilians had no trouble dictating the pace of the game and the US often found themselves trapped inside their own half of the field. A rookie mistake by DaMarcus Beasley later on led to a quick counterattack by the yellow shirts that concluded with Robinho beating Tim Howard for Brazil's second in the 20th minute of the game.
The second half was the perfect opportunity for the Americans to regroup and try to put up a decent fight. They got their second red card of the tournament instead and were pretty much left at Brazil's mercy. At the 62nd minute, Maicon, who had an excellent game running up an down Brazil's right flank, scored the final goal of the game after a nice passing sequence between him, Ramires, and Kaka.
The US managed to get a couple of chances towards the end of the game, going as far as hitting the woodwork twice, but their luck simply wasn't there. Now, they go on to face Egypt where they'll to salvage something of this tournament which has simply been a disaster for the USMNT.
If the US could watch a tape of the Egypt – Italy game, maybe they could learn something about passion, courage, determination, teamwork, and organization. In a tightly contested game, it was the Pharaohs who came out on top thanks to header by Mohamed Homos five minutes before half-time. As the minutes rand down the clock during the second half, the Egyptians poured every ounce of energy they had into denying the Italians the kind of space necessary to pull even. Pirlo was practically invisible in that game and it set-pieces were downright awful except for one free-kick which shaved off the post. It also didn't hurt that goalkeeper Essam El Hadary played the game of his life, coming up big on several occasions especially in the final fifteen minutes of the match.
Italy had the chances but they were simply overwhelmed by Egypt's willpower. The Pharaohs' performance reminded me of Croatia and Turkey during the Euro 2008. If Egypt defeats the US in tomorrow's game and Italy loses against Brazil, then the African champions will be going through to the semis. Tomorrow will be a big day for all teams of this group as three of them will look to ensure their qualification while the US will try to save face.
The game was pretty much over after Felipe Melo's opener on a free-kick. Free to move around as they pleased, the Brazilians had no trouble dictating the pace of the game and the US often found themselves trapped inside their own half of the field. A rookie mistake by DaMarcus Beasley later on led to a quick counterattack by the yellow shirts that concluded with Robinho beating Tim Howard for Brazil's second in the 20th minute of the game.
The second half was the perfect opportunity for the Americans to regroup and try to put up a decent fight. They got their second red card of the tournament instead and were pretty much left at Brazil's mercy. At the 62nd minute, Maicon, who had an excellent game running up an down Brazil's right flank, scored the final goal of the game after a nice passing sequence between him, Ramires, and Kaka.
The US managed to get a couple of chances towards the end of the game, going as far as hitting the woodwork twice, but their luck simply wasn't there. Now, they go on to face Egypt where they'll to salvage something of this tournament which has simply been a disaster for the USMNT.
If the US could watch a tape of the Egypt – Italy game, maybe they could learn something about passion, courage, determination, teamwork, and organization. In a tightly contested game, it was the Pharaohs who came out on top thanks to header by Mohamed Homos five minutes before half-time. As the minutes rand down the clock during the second half, the Egyptians poured every ounce of energy they had into denying the Italians the kind of space necessary to pull even. Pirlo was practically invisible in that game and it set-pieces were downright awful except for one free-kick which shaved off the post. It also didn't hurt that goalkeeper Essam El Hadary played the game of his life, coming up big on several occasions especially in the final fifteen minutes of the match.
Italy had the chances but they were simply overwhelmed by Egypt's willpower. The Pharaohs' performance reminded me of Croatia and Turkey during the Euro 2008. If Egypt defeats the US in tomorrow's game and Italy loses against Brazil, then the African champions will be going through to the semis. Tomorrow will be a big day for all teams of this group as three of them will look to ensure their qualification while the US will try to save face.
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