It's USA-Brazil in Confed Cup Final

2009-06-28T11:22:16-04:00

2009-06-25T16:52:57-04:00

157

2009-06-25T16:52:57-04:00

2009-06-28T11:22:16-04:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/520/020/thumb/Frankenstein_Peter_Boyle.jpg 994 FL

Hogtown

Gainesville 520460

157 But that doesn't mean I won't suffer if the US loses today. 5902089

2009-06-25T21:33:20-04:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/414/46/thumb/30092009594.jpg 685 BR

Raven1971

Manaus 41666

70 Theoretically, if frogs had wings... oh, never mind. What I've been trying to say, all the pre-game hype goes out the window when the game starts. If the US can play their game, and stop Brazil from playing theirs, then the US could pull off another upset. If not, well, the result will be what most are expecting it to be. 5881568

2009-06-28T11:11:01-04:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/520/020/thumb/Frankenstein_Peter_Boyle.jpg 994 FL

Hogtown

Gainesville 520460

Theoretically, if frogs had wings... oh, never mind.What I've been trying to say, all the pre-game hype goes out the window when the game starts. If the US can play their game, and stop Brazil from playing theirs, then the US could pull off another upset. If not, well, the result will be what most are expecting it to be.

156 Raven, I was just yankin' your chain. I travel regularly to Brazil and have learned a little about the game (and learned to enjoy it), but you obviously know much more than I. It's certainly possible that the US can win today, but my feeling is that, even in a game like soccer, in which so much can happen almost by chance, the differences in talent and experience between these two teams is pretty significant and will give Brazil a distinct advantage. I'm sure you know that almost all Brazilian athletes are drawn to futebol first, and the country has such a long and proud history of success. Sometimes I wonder if the US will ever catch up in the level of talent. 5902073

2009-06-28T10:25:10-04:00

Chenzo

No City 802284

155 reading from your blog i can clearly sa football has lost its entertainment value, seeing from you justifying the cheating methods that most teams use by suffocating their opponets by the defense strategies, whilst football is there to gauge yourself pound for pound against your opponet. not running around the ring waiting for that moment to throw that lucky punch that might get your opponet off guard. 5901956

2009-06-28T10:19:20-04:00

Chenzo

No City 802284

154 For the record won against spain not because the played well, the was mainly based on good defending and luck. By saying S.A is a pedestrian outfit that is an insult as well as your average if not none existent knowledge of football. Football is a position sport as much as goals count. the reason we fans watch football is for entertainment as well as goals. USA can win based on frustrating the brazillians upfront which is not the mentality the South africans have, we try to match you pound for pound. 5901911

2009-06-27T00:15:31-04:00

167

Fanatico do Selecao Brasileira

North Miami Beach 86366

153 ONly a fool truly believes this version of the US team can or will beat Brasil. With WHAT??? They (Selecao) relaxed too much knowing Spain is no longer there. I really think if Brasil score within the 1st 20-30 minutes on Sunday, it's the "lights out" for the US and from there on it will be 2-3 more golas for my boys. But only time will truly tell. 5896446

2009-06-26T21:35:21-04:00

HKforte

Glendale 801444

152 Brazil is not known for showing all it's strengths in situations that don't matter. This is a team that had horrible World Cup qualifying runs in both of the last years that it won the World Cup. Using the South Africa game to gauge this team's strengths and weaknesses is ridiculous. The US can win this match because they will put forth a 200% effort. They will not win this game because Brazil happened to play a lackluster game against South Africa. 5895808

2009-06-26T19:16:46-04:00

Coriell9

Cincinnati 801364

151 Of course they can shock Brazil....but what team will show up? The attacking, resilient side that beat Spain or the overmatched weak team that lost to Brazil earlier in the tournament? I am betting they are ready! U.S.A....U.S.A!!!! 5895062

2009-06-26T14:12:40-04:00

BIG PIMPIN

Germantown 763286

150 USA will prevail. 4-4-2 all day. Donovan is surely a midfielder and not a striker. He is a machine. 5890884

2009-06-26T14:11:27-04:00

BIG PIMPIN

Germantown 763286

149 4-4-2 must be what USA stays with whomever they play. Donovan is a machine and is surely a midfielder versus a striker. 5890808

2009-06-26T14:01:39-04:00

Atahualpa Diodonet

Humacao 800347

148 Like I said, even a broken clock can get it right twice in one day. Too bad the US didn't play the semi and the final on the same day, though. Wishful thinking. Not enough tricks left in the bag. The US is played out emotionally. After every enormous high comes a crushing low. Brazil 3-1 5890715

157

<div class="photo_container image_right"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/soccer/06/25/safrica.brazil.ap/brazil-3.jpg" alt="Double Click to select a Photo" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">Brazil clearly isn't used to playing in such cold weather. AP</div> </div> JOHANNESBURG -- Three thoughts after Brazil's 1-0 win over South Africa in the Confederations Cup semifinals: • The U.S. can beat this version of Brazil. Give credit to Bafana Bafana for frustrating the Brazilians and keeping this game scoreless until the final minutes before Dani Alves' sick free-kick winner. But South Africa is a pedestrian outfit, and Brazil picked an interesting time to play its least dangerous game of this tournament. If the U.S. can keep playing with confidence (and keep 11 men on the field) in Sunday's final (2:25 p.m. ET, ESPN ESPN2), then we might see a very different game from Brazil's 3-0 beatdown of the Americans on June 18. The fact of the matter was that Aaron Mokoena should have put away his set-piece header inside the six-yard box in the 21st minute, and the U.S. has a few players (Clint Dempsey, Oguchi Onyewu, Carlos Bocanegra) who can convert in that situation. In case you haven't noticed, it has also gotten very cold in South Africa over the last few days, and Brazil's ridiculous turtlenecks reveal a team that isn't entirely comfortable competing in these conditions. • South Africa can take some pride from its play. For a team that has been criticized mercilessly inside its own country, Bafana Bafana made a good showing on Thursday, and it had dangerous scoring opportunities by Mokoena, Siphiwe Tshabalala and Steven Pienaar. Now that the World Cup stadiums are on the right track and there is zero danger of having the 2010 event moved to another country, the biggest concern here will probably be the quality of South Africa's soccer team. I'm still not convinced that Joel Santana's outfit has what it takes to reach the World Cup second round (as has every host in the history of the tournament), but Bafana is showing a lot more creative flashes than it was a few months ago. Nor will it hurt to have one of the eight top seeds at December's World Cup draw, thus avoiding a grouping with any of the world's (theoretically) seven best teams. • Let's stop this talk of the U.S. getting a World Cup seed right now. As historic as the U.S.' 2-0 upset of Spain may have been on Wednesday, I don't envision any scenario in which the U.S. would be one of the eight seeded teams at the World Cup draw. The exact formula FIFA will use remains unknown, but it will involve the FIFA rankings and performances in previous World Cups, neither of which bodes well for the U.S. to be considered among the world's top seven teams. What's more, it's time to stop the confusion: There will only be eight seeded teams and no more. The rest of the teams will be grouped in pots by continent. Do you think the U.S. can shock Brazil in Sunday's final? Post your thoughts below ... Grant Wahl's new book, The Beckham Experiment, comes out on July 14. You can pre-order it <a href="http://tinyurl.com/layry6" target="_blank">here</a>. You can also find him now on <a href="http://www.twitter.com/GrantWahl" target="_blank">Twitter</a>. 68741 http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/194/315/thumb/wahl_grant.jpg 11 MD

Grant Wahl

Baltimore 194615