AP
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 ...
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Back in Time: November 6
Comments (157) Add A Comment
no
buetisn
Mount Kisco , NY
Total Comments (1)
Joel Santana has clearly done a solid job for SA, and their team deserve the plaudits for putting up a strong fight against Brazil.
"The United States can beat this version of Brazil."
I think the **** in Brazil's armor have been apparent all the while. One just had to be looking with enough of a critical eye to notice them. I think a better way of putting it would be "This version of the United States--as opposed to the one that lost last week 3-0--can beat Brazil."
knick4life
Total Comments (167)
Just so you know the announcers were saying that the game has been moved to the mothership, ESPN. Also the coverage of the win in the mainstream press has been incredible, hasn't it? last night Sportscenter dedicated the first six minutes of the show to the game.
Joe Bob Briggs
Mount Kisco , NY
Total Comments (7)
Anything is possible in football. However, it is going to be quite difficult without Michael Bradley holding down the midfield. He is the glue of that team.
nickg6
Apple Valley , CA
Total Comments (7)
Yes, definitely, the way Brazil played today- and with the Lord's help!
MWlovesJC
Van Nuys , CA
Total Comments (1)
I hope some Mexican Soccer Federation officials and players take note of what danger this American team with heart, soul, and guts poses to them at Azteca in August - it could truly be a passing of the torch in CONCACAF. So long as Beasley is kept off the pitch...
Eliar3
Minneapolis , MN
Total Comments (7)
I can't envision a scenario where Brasil will completely sleep on the Nats like Spain did. WIth that said, I think the US took Brasil's best shot last week. If the weather continues to be around the freezing mark, that helps the Nats. And yes, I know many Brasilians play in European nations for their paychecks, but Brasilians HATE cold weather. Trust me on this one. Hard to call a score right now, but I think one goal for either side will be enough. We're not going to see a 4-3 thriller, nor do I think we're going to see a 3-nil blowout either.
The Las Vegas Genius
Las Vegas , NV
Total Comments (2583)
Brazil should win it easily if it shows up to play. Should win in mediocre form if plays anything like today. But either way it should win. Then again, Spain should have won too :)
Lord Qwert
Bethesda , MD
Total Comments (2)
Brazil saw the match US vs Spain and Dunga is aware of the defensive play that can be put by US, similar to SA. Brazil's pressure is always to win pretty, unlike today; whereas US is just win no matter not, pretty or ugly...Brazil has trouble with defensive minded teams, even in South America qualies played in Brazil...Fatigue can be a factor as well, most players playing along hard european season and US players in MLS or european bench... we'll have to see it Sunday!!! Should be a good game (I hope US doesn't play a defensive game), the WORLD is watching!!!
OATP
Total Comments (19)
We may not get seeded, but that had better damn well mean that Mexico doesn't!!!! Shameful that they wound up with a seed in 06'
Lazymike97
Saint Paul , MN
Total Comments (654)
These are both different teams than the ones we saw last week. Brazil will be fatigued as well as the U.S., but the U.S. gets the extra day. If the U.S. does not allow an early goal, then they can win the game obviously. My prediction 1-1, then penalty kicks. U.S. prevails.
snazzy
Total Comments (57)
I agree 100% with lazy. If CONCACAF gets a seed, it has to be U.S. and not Mexico. no excuses.
snazzy
Total Comments (57)
Dunga is the worst coach in the last decade of the Brazilian national team. This was one of the saddest presentations of the Sele????o I can remember for now.
Dunga is an all-too-defensive coward. Why get the whole match against South Africa with both Felipe Mello and Gilberto Silva??? (the latter one, by the way shouldn't be in the team...there are like 15 midfielders playing in the Brazilian National championship now who are better than him). We could have Kleberson (who's also a superb long-range shooter) as a much more offensive and technical alternative to the limited Gilberto Silva. Felipe Mello wasn't quite inspired today either.
The second thing is that Robinho should have had the same fate Ronaldinho Ga??cho had. He's definitely a handicap to the brazilian team now and he has been playing that bad for a long time (not only in the national team, but in his Manchester City too).
Fernaoorphao
Total Comments (6)
Brazil traditionally struggle against teams that defend well. People here often complain that it's easier to beat Chile or Argentina here at home than it is to beat Bolivia. The thing the USMNT must be careful with is to not get caught too far up field on a counterattack. Many times teams can defend well but, during a quick counter, lose the ball on one bad touch. One mistake is all the Brazilians need to catch the defense unprepared and to crucify you.
Raven1971
Manaus, BR
Total Comments (643)
C'mon, with all respect to USA and to mention that i LOVED seein you guys beating the Spaniards, i should say that you won't win Brazil in the final. South Africa was not as offensive as they beatifully were against New Zeland and having Joel Santana as a brazilian coach(who knows loads about Brasil) helped a lot(and they kept defending well). Brazil needed one clear opportunity to put it in the back of the net and they did. So, no matter how USA play(let's say they play deffensive) Brazil will seek that opportunity the make it work.. let's not forget the last results between the two teams(BUT IN FOOTBALL ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN)!!!
Jeffudi
Total Comments (6)
Sounds like you're one of the Brazilians who harken back to the '82 team; unfortunately, as beautifully as that team played, the reality of the world game today doesn't allow for successful, free-flowing attack. I like Dunga, personally (the fact that I'm "Colorado" probably weighs heavily in this), and think nobody could do a better job right now. While I agree that Robinho is total cr@p, unfortunately up till now it hasn't been Dunga's decision to leave him off the squad or not - that happy power resides with the CBF and Nike, as anyone who lives here in Brazil knows too well.
Raven1971
Manaus, BR
Total Comments (643)
and to comment on the article the guy says 'and Brazil's ridiculous turtlenecks reveal a team that isn't entirely comfortable competing in these conditions.' I only want to give you a bit of information here, only 1 player from the start line up currently play in Brazil(where the weather is pretty hot throughout the year), all the rest play in Europe so they are VERY used to cold temperatures so please, don't say bullsh****!!!!!!! SINCE WHEN WEATHER CONDITIONS WINS FOOTBALL MATCHES!!!! RIDICULOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Jeffudi
Total Comments (6)
Raven1971, C'mon not wanting Gilberto Silva isn't the same as being a deluded fan of 82-style football. We could have a more technical midfielder like Kleberson replacing him, with the added advantage of having more long-range hits on the South African goal (something badly need in this game, but only Ramires seem to have realized that).
Fernaoorphao
Total Comments (6)
The problem is that the seeds are based mostly on past World Cup performances. Given how the U.S. has performed in two of the last three world cups, that doesn't bode well for us.
Mexico, on the other hand, has consistently reached the knockout stages of the tournament.
It's not fair, but that's the way it works.
I wouldn't mind it if they made the 5/6 federation champions the seeds, along with the host, and one other team, probably the previous world cup winner. So the seeds would be the eight teams that competed in the Confed Cup, assuming New Zealand qualifies.
j11forbes: Go Jo-Jo…
Denver , CO
Total Comments (1282)
Ramirez is too small to go against the US defense...Julio Batista on the other hand is a beast!
OATP
Total Comments (19)
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