The second half, the US just seemed to run out of gas.  I couldn’t put my finger on it but it wasn’t fitness.  It took me a while but I’m now of the belief that the passion and intensity they had are what fueled them to close down the Brazilians and dominate so well.  However, you can’t keep going on just passion. 

Eventually the better team–I doubt anyone will disagree on who was the better team–was able to establish their game and, produce what they needed to win.

In the end, it just looked like the US had sat back to defend their lead and…well, they left Brazil too much room and it allowed them to what needed in order to win.

You could see in the eyes of the players after the match that they had nothing left.  They used everything they had…peaked too early but probably wouldn’t have been 2 up at half if they hadn’t.  Not gonna knock any performance yesterday.

One question I have is, why Bradley waiting until the 75 minute to make any changes.  Players were tired, it was obvious.  There has to be a reason he waiting until the final quarter hour and at that point, Brazil had leveled the score.  Does Bradley really think his bench is that short?

I have to revisit this though.  Why is it that the media (well, Op/ED writers) can not present an intellectual piece on the game or the run the team just had?  Instead, all we get are polls and articles about weather or not the sport is catching on in the US.  I guess it’s a bit of a change to the ’soccer will never catch on’ articles we got a few years ago, but that doesn’t really make it much better.  

What I see is that the editors of our traditional media don’t have a clue about the sport.  They realize that it should be covered the don’t know how.  However, they seem to feel that soccer does deserve the occasional 15 minutes of fame.

The word is that yesterday’s game drew a 2.4 rating on ESPN.  With that many people on a Sunday afternoon, you’d almost think the match could have been moved to ABC.  But it just goes to show that there is an interest in the sport and in these games.  But there is still the old school media types who feel the need to continue to speak for all Americans.  

I’m not sure why I picked out Mr. Celizic’s piece, there are plenty of others.  However, he’s just seemed to capture everything wrong with that mindset.

First, you can always tell the writer is out of touch with the sporting landscape with they bring up the NASL and Pele.  It’s as if that episode is proof that there’s no interest in the sport.  Never mind the fact that MLS is doing very well and, has been in existence longer than the NASL did.

Then there’s this bit…

It’s nothing personal. We grew up watching baseball, football, basketball and maybe hockey. Those are the sports that are woven into our neurons from birth. They are the ones that produce the millionaire superstar athletes whose lives are stalked by paparazzi. They are the ones who pitch the products that we rush to buy simply because they get paid millions to wear them.

I grew up in a place and at a time when if you said you enjoyed soccer, other guys would look at you as if you were caught wearing lace underwear. To be fair, most of the people from that farm milieu felt the same about people who played golf and drank scotch.

 I’m sorry, but I’m not sure where he was going with these comments.  He then goes on to say he doesn’t hate the sport but….well, what is he talking about?  He seems to be saying that when he was a kid that those who liked soccer got the shit kicked out of them because they were different.  That everyone just accepted the status quo because, well, that’s what everyone did.

His closing was spot on though.

And nothing will change. Come Monday morning, we’ll be back to talking about baseball and looking forward to football.

 Never mind that the Gold Cup starts this weekend.  There goes the media missing the story again.

Oh, and one last note, ESPN just announced they are pulling out all the stops for coverage of the World Cup next summer. 

Let’s see now, ESPN will have studio hosts, Bob Ley, Chris Fowler and Mike Tirico on site in South Africa rather than in Bristol as they’ve done in the past.  We won’t be seeing any phone interviews with Landon Donovan like we saw on Wednesday…cameras and reporters will be there with the team.  ”Sportscenter at the World Cup” and “World Cup Live” each night.  Pre-game and Post-match shows.  It’s as if ESPN is starting to see the light.  

Oh yeah, and they did just buy the rights to some La Liga matches from GolTV.

No, there won’t be a single event which puts the sport on the map in the US.  It will be a serious of things over a lot of years…and that’s what is happening.  The Confederations Cup run is just another, very big, baby step on that path.  Remember, Mr. Celizic, there’s a whole generation of kids who will start turning 18 in a couple years who have had professional soccer to watch on TV in the US their entire lives.  The landscape has changed, you’re opinion is fast becoming an dinosaur.