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FIFA's Awards: adidas Bronze Ball: Clint Dempsey (USA) Singling out an individual from an outstanding USA team is a hard task, but if one man stood tall above the rest, it was the dangerous Fulham midfielder. The 26-year-old contributed three vital goals to the North Americans’ utterly commendable tournament, but was arguably even more valuable as a consistent source of unpredictable and inspirational ideas. One or two opponents may have gravely underestimated the US as a potent attacking force, but Dempsey’s superb touch and ability to make the difference will have teams around the world thinking again. The USA star rates as one of the biggest discoveries of the 2009 event in South Africa. adidas Golden Glove: Tim Howard (USA) Bob Bradley’s US team came within an ace of glory at the Confederations Cup, making a mockery of the pre-tournament betting. Their triumphant march into the final was in no small measure due to a series of truly outstanding performances by Tim Howard, who consistently left opposing strikers cursing in dismay. Everton's No1 combined calm authority with formidable presence of mind, visibly steadying his defence when the going got tough. With an eye on the 2010 FIFA World Cup™, Howard looks set to provide the USA with a rock-solid last line of defence. For Howard to win this over Julio Cesar, Casillas, Buffon is a great piece of recognition. Everton will probably be getting more offers for him pretty soon.

When I woke up this morning I didn't really think it was possible to be disappointed in this game. It turns out I was wrong. The way they played in the 1st half was something to be very proud of, and like mentioned before will prep these guys to not be intimated by any future setting. The fans in Azteca now have a legit reason to be worried. I was not only excited about the way they played but at half time I truly believed that they were capable of winning a major title vs. Brazil. This tournament looks like it will now play a crucial role in just helping to find the right pieces to the puzzle. Looking back at things two months ago this result no matter how it played out would have been an amazing success. Beat Egypt by 3, beat Spain by 2, out play Italy for a half down a man. I'm disappointed now as I could envision them lifting the trophy at halftime. Of course my tivo didn't record anything for some stupid reason, so I have to wait until 11 to rewatch everything again. Either way this is probably the most proud I have been of the National Team outside of maybe vs. Mexico in 2002.

This is what I think most people missed about the game against Spain and instead got caught up in the whole "US beat the No. 1 team" stuff. Everything went our way in that match. If Jozy's shot is deflected another inch, it bounces out instead of in. If Spain actually clears the ball, Clint never has a chance on the second goal. Spain had a bunch of chances that either were saved, went wide or were blocked by a sliding US defender. It's certainly possible that we can beat Brazil, but the breaks have to go our way. We really need to take advantage of our counterattacking opportunities, since I doubt we score in the regular run of play. That, and I know it sounds obvious, but scoring the first goal. If Brazil scores first, we'll have to push for an equalizer and Brazil will kill us with their own counters. If we score first it's no guarantee that we'll win, but I think it's a must if we want to win. And I'm so excited. I'm just hoping we play well and actually avoid getting a red card once again. We have zero chance if we get another early red. We are due for another game with no red card too, its sad to actually think that.

They should just have a new uniform every single game.

I really like what the Spurs have done this offseason so far.

Pretty much how I feel. Blown save in game 1 against a team like LSU should be the kiss of death. Texas will be back though returning almost everyone.

And they apparantly just killed a guy on Brazil, oh wait, he's fine, nevermind. I lol'd. He must practice in Mexico.

From the looks of gamecast, South Africa are hanging in with Brazil very well. Almost the half now.

Except one of them is not a douche bag.

I would agree, 2002 WC would be the closes to it and its not really all that close.

At this point it's more about hoping for a good draw, a-la 2002. Given the way the seeds match up right now, the US could end up in a potential nightmare draw with a seeded European team plus the Netherlands and an unseeded CONMEBOL team like Paraguay. And if that ends up being the case, hopefully we get a 2002 draw rather than a 2006 draw. If France manages a #1 seed I would like to be in their group.

So did Gooch sign already? I would think his value has gone up with his performance so far.

Spain, Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Brazil, England, Argentina, France.... I don't think the US could pass any one of them. Now, if France somehow misses the World Cup... You named 8. There's only 7 seeds. So we'd need 2 of those to miss. It's not likely at all. Do the seeds just go by the world rankings? No, but I am pretty sure its a factor. It used to be also based on past WC performance too which I find a little stupid.

I'd still rank 3-2 over portugal and 2-0 over Mexico above that, maybe even 2-1 vs. Columbia from 1994. Just because those are the World Cup and this is the Confederations Cup. 2-0 over mexico is definitely tops, considering it was [expletive] mexico Agreed, that was maybe the most important victory ever. Today win was probably against the best team ever.

I'm really liking Demerit.

http://www.cnnsi.com/soccer/us/news/2003/05/07/us_mexico_history/t1_lalas_vert_all.jpg

I think it's been about as solid as it can be against a team like Spain. I'm not sure there's a team out there good enough to prevent Spain from generating chances. There have been a few giveaways, certainly, but for the most part we've been good. And that was something that we were going to have to deal with. We aren't going to beat Spain by bunkering in - that just isn't going to happen - which means we have to push guys forward sometimes and that's going to create counterattacking opportunities for Spain. There should be plenty of chances in the 2nd half too based on how the first half went.

great clear by Gooch

Clint has to do better than that.

Now if we can get Timmy to pull a Keller vs. Brazil we will be in good shape.

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Yep, US has had better chances and better shots early on. They look like the team with more energy and Spain looks flat. As I type this Spain gets a good chance that Torres can't finish. Sweet Jesus, I got a live feed to work at work. So much for me doing any more work for the next two hours :-). Link? SOB now it just went off air. Been going through here. http://myp2p.eu/broadcast.php?matchid=41823&part=sports

Yep, US has had better chances and better shots early on. They look like the team with more energy and Spain looks flat. As I type this Spain gets a good chance that Torres can't finish. Sweet Jesus, I got a live feed to work at work. So much for me doing any more work for the next two hours :-).

What I am reading the US has come out playing well. Damn late lunches today.