In a move that will make any US soccer fan weep with joy, ESPN has recently, and at the 11th hour, secured the rights to up to two English Premier League fixtures per week.  The two time slots fall at 7:45 AM EST or 10:00 AM EST on Saturdays and all of the Monday 3:00 PM EST fixtures.  With the top league in the world now on a major cable network for all to see, soccer will have its day here in this country. Even if it is quite early on Saturday morning, especially for the West Coast viewership.

But this morning, while watching Chelsea v. Hull City in HD, I couldn’t help but think how great it is that the highest level of soccer will be on display for those who find little joy in the currently mediocre talents of the MLS. The sight of Didier Drogba scoring from a vicious set-piece to draw Chelsea level at 1-1 had me yelling at the top of my lungs before the 9 o’clock hour had even rolled around, leaving my wife truly worrying about my mental state.

For at least the first broadcast ESPN has chosen to us the English commentator feed rather than using its own “talent”.  I truly hope this continues as the nuances and presentation of the game will be genuine for the viewing audience.  Anyone who has watched a US broadcast of soccer can relate to their constant need to lay the ground work, so to speak, for each and every minute of play.  They are keen to explain every little tweak on the ball to both solidify their credibility and tell you how you should be feeling about what you’re watching. Using native English play-by-play is a fantastic tactic and will do well towards raising the viewing audience to its level, rather than dropping the level of commentary to the lowest common denominator.

Before I let this article get ahead of me here, suffice to say this is the start of a great trend from ESPN to bring the world’s game to us and show what top-flight football really and truly is to the negative talking heads of the sports media. Now we can hope for the Worldwide Leader to really go great guns and get a much larger chunk of the Premier League’s television contract beginning with the 2010-2011 season… word on the street is that it is already in the works.

Soccer just became 0.1% more accessible in the US and my wife now knows she’s lost me another 0.1% to it.

The excitement is only heightened in New York when for a few weeks in the summer the streets empty at kickoff, and every bar with a TV in Manhattan is filled to capacity. It really is, “the world’s game.”

So the U.S. is generating support to make their bid for the 2018 event, and I’m really hoping they can pull through. My hopes of going to South Africa for the 2010 World Cup dwindle with every passing day. So 2018 may be my next best chance to see it live. So go sign the petition. And tell friends to do the same.

I don’t know what the analysts have said or what the coaches and players have attributed the loss and more-so the monumental collapse to. But in my mind it seems pretty clear. It was a failure of strategy. The U.S. played the first 26 minutes nearly perfectly. I honestly don’t know what else they could’ve done better. But then things turned. Team USA went straight from “let’s get up early” mode and right into “oh crap we can’t lose this” mode. They were paralyzed by the fear of giving up a two-goal lead in the championship to Brazil. And when all you’re thinking about is not losing, you’re going to do just that, lose.

The U.S. executed a flawed strategy flawlessly

For the remainder of the first half and the majority of the second half the U.S. was in pure defense mode. They played nine guys back and when they did gain possession they quickly gave it back. Brazil had 24 shots, 11 on goal, and nine in the first half. Team USA had a measly eight shots, four on goal and only four total in the first half. You don’t have to be a math whiz to know those numbers aren’t in your favor. 

So not only did their strategy allow Brazil to play almost 3/4 of the entire game on the U.S. side of the field, and constantly give them scoring opportunities and keep the U.S. on their heels, but it also didn’t give them any opportunities to attack. In any given match, each team has to battle their opponent, occasionally the officials and the clock. And by failing to press forward at any point, the U.S. neglected to retain possession, taking time off the clock, keeping the ball off of their side of the field and taking the pressure off of their defense.

Team USA played the soccer equivalent of the prevent defense in American football. And any football fan knows, the only thing the prevent defense does, is prevent you from winning. Hopefully the coaching staff has learned their lesson and won’t coach so tentatively the next time they have an early lead.

Was it a case of Spain coming out flat and underestimating the Americans?  Was it the Americans finally playing a flowing game of soccer that we’ve all been looking for since their pre-2006 World Cup days?  Perhaps a bit of both.  Regardless, the end result stands.  In the end it was done with fantastic pressure in the attacking third, containment of a potent Spain attack, intelligent passing and a bit of luck – Spain had more than their share of point blank chances on the US goal.

I’ll eat my words and be more than happy to write a vitriolic account of their upcoming matches if these are the results they produce.  I’m more than happy to be publicly wrong if that is the outcome.  Next up, the Confederation Cup Final against either Brazil or South Africa.  Since I was expecting a Spain/Brazil final, perhaps the US has to set their eyes on a dark horse South African side instead.  Unlikely, but today proves crazy things can happen, especially if they’re the host country and playing for pride and in front of their people.

Again, an incredibly minor tournament in the grand scheme of things, but perhaps the perfect shot in the arm the US needed as they embark on the final half of their World Cup Qualifying matches.  Let’s hope the continue to make me look like an ass and prove me wrong.

Dear US, prepare to be dismantled. Love, David Villa.

The United States Men’s National Soccer Team find themselves in the semi-finals of the Confederations Cup in South Africa.  However, when they meet Spain on Wednesday in Bloemfontein (a completely real city, despite its seemingly fictitious name) they will not subsequently find themselves advancing to the finals.  Anything can happen in sports, but the fact that the US are in the semi-finals is a bit of a false indicator to the lay soccer fan.  In all honesty, they made it here by mistake.

The Confederations Cup is essentially a dry-run tournament for the country hosting the next World Cup.  With the World Cup a year a way now, it is a great time to test the infrastructure, logistics and crowd control that will make the worlds largest sporting event one equally large cluster-f***.  Why not have a mini-tourney to rile things up?

The US has been righteously sucking wind in its World Cup qualifying rounds and although it will make the tournament, the team has had less than dominating performances against teams supposedly fair inferior in their CONCACAF region.  Add to that the first two games of this Confederations Cup where they were tested by two of the best in the world in Italy and Brazil and failed miserably, losing 3-1 and 3-0 respectively.  While living life at the bottom of their group going into their final game the idea was to have a solid showing against Egypt to save a little face and end on a high note.  A decisive 3-0 victory there gave the US a life-line as they garnered enough goals to place second in their group on a goal differential technicality.  Welcome to the next round Bob Bradley and crew!

Of equal but opposite intrigue is that of a Spain side who has lost zero games in their last 35.  That is exactly zero games lost since November 2006.  They are the reigning UEFA Euro 2008 winners, and sport one of the more ridiculously star-laden rosters in the world.  What is most remarkable is the fluidity with which Spain play, and that will be quite the contrast to what we see out of our Yanks.

When it is boiled down, this tournament doesn’t mean much in the grand scheme of things.  However, it is a great indicator as to when it is alright to make a mountain of a problem out of a molehill of a tournament. The United States needs to get better.  They need to get better at player development, playing the world’s game, but more importantly finding their own game – one that involves a cohesive footy-unit on the pitch.  Tomorrow’s match will be a showcase of how strong Spanish football has been and will be and consequently a stark realization as to the gap that still needs crossing to get the US onto the same competitive playing field.   Please, Mr. Bradley, have your troops surprise me.  I won’t be upset if you don’t, though, I already know the reality. I just hope it gets better before the world stage gets bigger next year.

And it worked! Torino goalie Matteo Sereni couldn’t see the kick by Giuseppe Mascara, who scored during Catania’s 3-2 victory. They went balls out (literally) for the win.