By Audrey Nolan

The United Stated defeated on Wednesday the No.1 team Spain, in the semifinals for the Confederations Cup, 2-0, in a stunning match that left everybody breathless.

The probabilities of the Americans beating the Spaniards where minimum since the last 3 performances of the US team have not been the best. They lost their first two games in the Confederations Cup, the first one against Italy and the second one against the defending champion Brazil.

This is one of the biggest defeats in football history; Spain had a 35-game unbeaten streak record from December 1993 to January 1996, and currently had the international record of 15 straight wins, but that streak went away in a very unlikely way against the United States this Wednesday in the Confederations Cup semifinals.

Since the beginning of the game, the United States team was leading the game. Their performance was outstanding, leaving aside what they did in the last 3 games except for the game against Egypt, which they won as well.

The first goal came at minute 27^th when Davies started a play and threw the ball to Dempsey and then he passed over to Jozy Altidore, who struggled a little against Capdevila, he over passed him and fired a shot from the penalty area and though goalkeeper Iker Casillas touched the ball, it was not enough and the ball went in. The second goal was a play started by Captain Landon Donovan, who made a pass to Clint Dempsey who slipped the ball to pass Casillas for the second and last goal of the game.

"It's exciting, a great team effort. To beat an amazing team like Spain and make the final, it's big," U.S. coach Bob Bradley said. "We played as hard as we could and that's what it took. Every guy contributed, so it's a very good feeling."

The United States now will have to face South Africa or the defending Champion, Brazil and will have three full days to recover some energy and face the final that will be held next Sunday. This is the first time ever that the US team gets to the final of a FIFA tournament.

For their part, Spain played in a very disappointing way, much unexpected due to the level of game that they have in Europe, especially in Spain. Most of the people around the world may have thought that it was almost certain that Spain would be in the final, but at the end it was a surprising US team, very solid and accurate in every part of the game, they really deserved the victory.

For his part coach Vicente del Bosque expressed that they are not used to lose a game but that is something that could happen. He also said that the United States was a great rival and that in the match they were better than them.

The United States will be missing midfielder Michael Bradley, who received a red card for a tackle in 87^th minute and will not be in the final next Sunday.

The main goal right now for the US team is to win the final, and to qualify for the 2010 World Cup, if they keep playing as they did on Wednesday, they could certainly accomplish it.

About the Author