OMG, they are going to play the FINAL on that pitch. What a joke. 
Heartbreaker for South Africa. Wonderful free kick by Alves finds the back of the net with about 5 minutes left in regulation.
Brazil 1 - South Africa 0
Also, nice to see Buddy Hackett coaching the RSA side.
I was torn about who I wanted to win this one. South Africa would give the US a better chance at winning, but if they beat Brazil that ends a lot of criticism about this team being a fluke. Sunday’s going to be glorious or heartbreaking.
USA v Brazil Sunday, 2:30 PM EDT. BE THERE!!!
Note: We’ve beaten Brazil exactly once. It was a Cup final. :eek: 
No, it was the Gold Cup Semifinal back in 1998, amazing game by Kasey Keller. Some band wrote a song called “Kasey Keller” about that match. Anyway, Mexico tipped us 1-nil in the final that year. Same night that Canada beat the US in Olympic hockey in Nagano.
I have a weird memory.
Go YANKS!
-Chris
Highlights are here…damn that brings back memories. Romario was gushing with praise for Keller afterwards if I’m not mistaken.
Ah, your memories are better than mine are. :eek:
And yes, he was fantastic that game. Howard may have to be equally fantastic. Hopefully, we don’t give up any free kicks from 18 yards out in the waning seconds of the game.
The attitude of some Brazilians, that they are God’s gift to the footballing world, really annoys me. I would absolutely love to see the U.S. upset them on Sunday. The odds of that happening are pretty low, but I said the same thing before Spain, so hopefully I’ll be proven wrong again.
On a somewhat related note, I read that before the Egypt game, you could have gotten 12,000-1 odds on the U.S. reaching the final. Wish I had put $20 down on that one.
When will be the next game where the US plays a team in the “home group” (or whatever it’s called) to determine whether we get a slot in the World Cup?
Wednesday, August 12, USA v Mexico in Mexico City. Game time is rumored to now be set for 3 pm (heat of the day). Game will be shown on ESPN most likely.
In between now and then will be the Gold Cup, held at various sites across the USA. The USA will field a “B team” in that tournament. In other words, none of the guys who’ve been playing in the Confederations Cup will participate.
It’s beyond absurd to try and have a continental championship in the middle of a WC qualifying campaign. CONCACAF needs to end that silly practice. :smack:
The remaining US qualifying schedule is as follows:
Aug 12: Away to Mexico
Sep 5: Home v El Salvador (Salt Lake City)
Sep 9: Away to Trinidad and Tobago
Oct 10: Away to Honduras
Oct 14: Home v Costa Rica (Washington, D.C.)
Agreed on the Gold Cup. It should be once every four years. That’s just greed - I’m sure Jack Warner gets a good cut from this.
Over the final five qualifiers, the USA probably secures another trip to South Africa with 2 wins or possibly with a win and 3 draws.
Home vs el Salvador is their most assured chance for a win out of the remaining matches. CONCACAF road games are very hard to win, but Costa Rica at home is no cake walk, especially as I’d bet at least half of the stadium will be Ticos.
Me too. I don’t think I’ve ever read or heard a comment from any Brazilian soccer fan that was respectful of another’s team. I’d like to think that these represent the minority of Brazilian fans but all I ever see are arrogant and derogatory comments, be it against American soccer, or more often, Argentina and other South American rivals. At the NY Times blog, after Spain lost to USA, there were a handfuls of congrats from Iraquis and Egyptians and even Spaniards (like RedFury), but the Brazilians who commented insisted that Brazil would win 5-0 on Sunday and that they were the real world champs because they beat Italy 3-0.
Amazing last twenty minutes of regulation in the third place game between Spain and South Africa. If you haven’t seen this, I won’t spoil it; see if you can find the game and pick it up around the 70th minute.
… and the hosts have dominated the first half of extra time, but haven’t got a goal to show for it yet.
And Another free kick relegates us to fourth place. Naturally, I watch the first sixty minutes or so, then get distracted by my son needing feeding/burping/changing and come back to see I’ve missed all the action 
And ESPN still hasn’t figured out that you replay the highlights during half time or at the end of the match. I don’t give a shit what Alexi Lalas thinks the wider ramifications are - I want to see the effing goals!
[SPOILER]I turned the match on during extra time in the second half, just in time to see that rocket free kick equalizer, and from that point on they didn’t replay all the goals once - not even at the end of the broadcast. I saw the second Spain goal (the one that looked like a cross) three times, but didn’t see the first one or the first SA goal once*.
*they did show what appeared to be the first SA goal right at the very end, but it was next to the credits and behind a Confederations Cup graphics so you couldn’t see much of it. For all I know it was Aaron Mokoena giving the referee CPR.[/SPOILER]
South Africa showed quite well in this tournament, Grimmie. That last goal was probably the goal of the tournament.
USA LINEUP: Howard; Spector, Onyewu, DeMerit, Bocanegra; Dempsey, Clark, Feilhaber, Donovan; Davies, Altidore.
BRAZIL LINEUP: Julio Cesar; Maicon, Lucio, Luisao, Andre Santos; Gilberto Silva, Felipe Melo, Ramires, Kaka; Luis Fabiano, Robinho.