So much for moral victories! States to Semis!

Sound the Vuvuzela, as the buzzing will continue for American soccer in the face of everything improbable. The States needed to win by three and have Brazil win by three, which is stupid enough before you consider that the Amerks have looked nothing shy of crap for the first two games of group play in the Confederations Cup.

Leaving my house for men's league's pitch at 3:30 p.m., I planned to write the somewhat moral victory post around, well, now. The US was up 1-0 at half, and Brazil was demoralizing Italy by a 3-0 score. Yet texts began to roll into our team during the game, and as we topped our opponents, 3-0, the United States did the same.

I'm watching it now, knowing what's coming, and I'm buzzing. As previously posted, Charlie Davies' first goal, digging deep in the six and wresting a ball off of Egypt's keeper, was the sort of goals the States have to score, blue collar and no bull----.

The next two goals were also things the US needed. Seeing Michael Bradley rewarded for a stellar tournament despite nothing from his fellow midfielders is fantastic, and, yes, full marks for PK Lando on a wonderful low-pass. As much as I can't stand Bob Bradley lately, the look on his face when his son put in No. 2 was downright stars and stripes. It was Michael Bradley's second-straight goal on Father's Day, with his father behind the lines.

The third and final tally was needed, too, as Fulham's Clint Dempsey had been anything but stellar in the first two contests before turning it on the first half. His strong heading finish of a Jonathan Spector cross sent the Yanks into ecstasy, and they held on for an unlikely trip to the semi-finals to meet Spain.

How unlikely is this? Borderline impossible... and it comes on a day I actually scored in our team's game, which truly shows you how the stars were aligned.

Full marks to Brad Guzan for the clean sheet, but this was without Tim Howard and Carlos "Charlie Blackmouth" Bocanegra.

This is a fine day for US soccer, a day that no one can take away from us, regardless of what happens against Spain in Wednesday afternoon's Stage Two. We'll be at a bar. If you're near Buffalo, come find us (or just email).

And it wouldn't be fun if we didn't ask Giuseppe Rossi how he feels about the whole thing.

Bland Finale? Report forthcoming...

Charlie Davies' hustle goal emblematic of what this team has needed up-top all tourney, while PK Lando's silly-in-a-bad-way pass on a 1v1 with the Egypt keeper is just the opposite. I'll be DVRing the second half due to a Baker's City FC/Hamburg FC match at Ellicott Creek Park, so a full report will come in the evening. States lead 1-0 after 25 minutes, with a guarantee of significant stoppage time, as Egyptian keeper el Hadary shakes off a head injury suffered on the US goal.

Hometown pride

Couple of quick notes, as we're based in Buffalo, NY:

-- University at Buffalo stand-out goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth (Nichols) has signed a deal to help back-up Matt Reis with the New England Revolution of Major League Soccer. Shuttleworth was playing his club soccer with Buffalo City FC of NPSL. Revs third keeper Zack Simmons left the team... to go to law school.

-- The local womens professional team, the Buffalo Flash of USL W-League, continues to bring folks out to Orchard Park High School by improving to 4-2-1 with a home win Saturday against Laval and a road draw Sunday against Toronto. The game will be aired on Time Warner-13 in Buffalo at 7:30 p.m. Monday. Full disclosure: I do the TV play-by-play alongside former Rutgers player Oliver Petersen.

Yanks look awful against beatable Brazil; lose 3-0.

You can't convert the heathens without something worth admiring, let alone worshipping, and Bob Bradley and Landon Donovan's United States team has been anything but that for several months, a fact underscored in Thursday's 3-0 loss to Brazil in the Confederations Cup. Unlike the 3-1 loss to Italy, the score adequately details their performance.

I'll admit right off that bat that I'm writing in anger, but the States' effort against Brazil -- at least in these first 65 minutes -- has been unacceptable. Sloppy passing, poor touches and a lack of creativity have marred a winnable game against a Brazil team who has been nothing better than advantageous. Not to mention another red card, this time to a favorite of mine in Sacha Kljestan (though it came after the team was down 2-0).

To capitalize on a brilliant point Scott made in an earlier post, both of the States' first two conceded goals were the fault of players who don't play much for their club teams, and that calls into question Bradley's mindset.

The first goal came when Jonathan Spector continued a lackluster tournament by failing to stay with Felipe Melo off a free kick (which the Brazilians earned with trademark thespianship). Spector played just 13 games for West Ham this year in EPL, and may have a future with the States as an '85 birthday, but has not looked prepared for top-level international competition.

Goal No. 2 came when DaMarcus Beasley whiffed off of the U.S.'s first corner, springing Brazil into a shap-sucking full-length run that Robinho finished off. Similarly to Spector, Beasley has played in just 21 matches over two years for Rangers since coming over from Manchester City in 2007.

It is important to remember that the States are a much better squad with a healthy Carlos Bocanegra and Maurice Edu. I can even grudgingly admit that Brian Ching would be an improvement over Conor Casey. But, this sort of performance falls upon the leadership. There were no guts in the attack and there was no fluidity or creativity from the midfield.

The good news? Tim Howard is outstanding, and Oguchi Onyewu continues to improve. I don't it's silly to call Howard one of the elite goaltenders in the world, and Onyewu will be getting his backline on with a much better crew than Standard Liege next season. His rumoured suitors include EPL teams Fulham, Wolverhampton and Birmingham City, while another report says Fenerbache is in play for Onyewu.

Also looking good were Benny Feilhaber, who came millimeters away from netting his third international goal for the States. Michael Bradley continues to win me over, and the coach's kid is an absolute bulldog with a neat little mean streak. I've seen precious little of Jay DeMerit, but what I've seen I've loved.

Certainly Clint Dempsey has more upside than this pitiful two-game stretch, and everyone knows my high hopes for Jozy Altidore, though he missed a "gotta-have-it" striking opportunity in the Brazil loss. The third part of this recent attack has been the acting skipper, Landon Donovan, and while I'm fine with him being on the field, it would be nice to toss that arm band on Howard or Onyewu. Donovan is a poor example on the field, showing flashes of brilliance that only highlight his lackluster effort and whining, complaining that only works if you are genuinely one of the best players in the world.

I want to see more from Freddy Adu, Jose Torres and Kljestan. I hope they all play in Sunday's contest in Egypt, and I look forward to seeing Jermaine Jones join the fray once his papers clear. Perhaps some sort of new field amalgamation with him and Bradley could give the team a more defensive and stable look.

Once I really think about this, and reflect on the game, things should start to look a little clear. The team is not nearly as bad as they've looked -- nor this has read -- but throw in the miserable showing against a pretty good Costa Rica squad, and we're due to have fear that South Africa 2010 could look more like Germany '06 and France '98 than the Orient '02.

Four out of five isn't just a pattern; it would make the '02 outlier a straight aberration.

Alexi Lalas just said it best on the post-game report: Sunday's match against Egypt needs to show character, heart and spirit... something absent in a great spell of American soccer time.

Judas

No matter where you come out on the debate, this is funny: http://blog.objectivo.com/?p=1122.

USA v Brazil Preview

Three days removed from a heartbreaker against Italy, the US squad needs to straighten out, and get back to the grind. Whatever letdown still lingers, they need to let it go and get dialed in. Down to the last man off the bench, Bob Bradley's squad needs to regroup and force (at least, no problems here with a win) a tie to keep their hopes alive for a shot at a second round Confederations Cup showing. Enter Brazil. 5 time World Cup champions. Eight time Copa America winners. Kings of the Confederations Cup three times. So how is this going to play? A few thoughts.

1 - Under head coach Dunga Brazil has adopted a defensive oriented system. The free-flowing, wheeling and dealing Brazil hasn't necessarily been handcuffed offensively, but they do look different. Kaka and Robinho key the attack. Juan is a beast in the middle of the backline. Barcelona man Dani Alves gets out wide from his spot on the right and jumps into the attack regularly. Look out. Different style, different strategy, doesn't matter. This squad is still made up of ballers for real. The US needs to play mistake free soccer, and unlike the Italian match, if they have the opportunity to shoot inside the box they need to shoot inside the box.

2 - With Ricardo Clark out, what's the US starting 11 going to look like? Carlos Bocanegra may be back from a hamstring injury, so look for him in his normal spot next to Oguchi Onyewu. Boca's return gives the US another target on set pieces, and its captain, so hopefully that's an inspirational boost. The US should probably look to jam up the middle of the field and do their best to stifle Brazil from the counterattack so look for some sort of 4-5-1 arrangement. Michael Bradley, Benny Feilhaber, and Sacha Kljestan in the middle, Clint Dempsey and Landon Donovan out wide, and a long 60-70 minutes for Jozy Altidore as the lone target forward followed by some Charlie Davies fresh legs.

3 - Febraury 10, 1998. Kasey Keller stands on his head and guides the US to a Gold Cup victory over Brazil. Brazilian forward Romario said that was "the best performance by a goalkeeper I have ever seen" Do it Tim Howard!!!!

USA v Italy News and Notes

I wasn't able to watch this game live due to golf obligations, but catching up on DVR I've got a few observations.

1) Giuessepe Rossi took a ball from 30 yards out and the only thing on his mind was how can I score? I'm dying for Bradley and Altidore to figure that out inside the box in the first half. Just let it rip boys. It's a 2-nil game before the red card is an issue.

2) The straight red card issued to Ricardo Clark was a bit much, but reading the letter of the law can be considered "A player is sent off and shown the red card if he is guilty of serious foul play." OK, I see it. It was a dumb tackle inside midfield where Gennaro Gattuso posed no immediate threat. Clark came high with his right foot and really got a hold of the Italian middie. I don't agree with it, but I get it. Now i hate to nitpick, but the FIFA rules also read: "A player is sent off and shown the red card if he is guilty of violent conduct." Moments after Clark's sending off Landon Donovan was elbowed in the jaw by Fabio Grosso. Grosso picked up a cautioning and I know it was nowhere near what Daniele De Rossi threw at Brian McBride's head in 2006, but it's a two-way street and if the game's going to be called that close..... Just saying.

3) Speaking of refereeing decisions, the way the Brazil-Egypt clash ended and with the Egyptian Football Federation filing an appeal, it makes me wonder: Whether the ref had video assistance and communication from his 4th or not, your player merely had to do his job and hug the post on a corner kick. Instead he drifted to the middle and ended up throwing his arm at a ball heading into the net. I hate to lose too, but if you're going to lose, lose with class. If you're going to appeal your loss on a technicality, well, shame on you.

4) Does anybody know what happened to Jon O'Brien? After Claudio Reyna retired O'Brien was supposed to be our midfield general. He was supposed to be the guy through the 2010 run that was supposed to calm the US down, slow the game down, get creative in the attacking third and engineer the attack from the defensive end. The injuries that cut his career short are nothing short of heartbreaking to myself.

5) The US-Italy thing got off track right quick. One more thought before bed. In the US' starting eleven two players (Benny Feilhaber and Jozy Altidore) either can't get off the bench of receive few minutes for their club teams. Coming off the bench, Brad Guzan, DaMarcus Beasley, and Freddy Adu don't see any playing time at all. Heath Pearce was demoted from regular starter to his side's reserve squad. Point being: It's hard to go toe-to-toe with the world's best when key players on the roster aren't in either mid-season MLS or post-season Europe form. It's impressive to sign a contract in Europe. Bravo. Make it work though. Going up against two of the best in Italy and Brazil (whose players all play regularly in their domestic league or internationally) when they're in game shape and you're not is a major disadvantage.