Media Bumps for Team America

Every few years, U.S. Soccer raises its profile above the ocassional blip status.  Usually that has coincided with the World Cup.  This time around, it’s the Confederations Cup.  After the horrific start to the tournament, Team America has turned the corner with two excellent games.  The last performance, the 2-0 win over Spain (the #1 team in the world and unbeaten in 35 games) was the top sports story of the day on Wednesday.

So here at Beemsville, we thought we’d do our part and feed that media monster:

Los, Timmy, and Gooch with Miss USA

Here’s Jozy Altidore on ESPN’s Pardon the Interruption:

Pentagram: USA v. Spain – Confed Cup

This was a famous victory for U.S. Soccer.  The lead sports story for news services across the globe.  USA 2, Spain 0, and the Spaniards’ 35 game unbeaten streak is at an end.  Most soccer pundits would tell you that Spain wins that game 8 out of 10 times; they are #1 in the world according to FIFA after all.  But not today.

Like Alexi Lalas says, ‘that kind of performance gives me hope’.  Yeah, me too.  And this on the heels of that improbable 3-0 victory over Egypt; suddenly the sky doesn’t quite seem to be falling.  Five points to the pentagram…

Pentagram: Confed Cup v. Italia

You have to bring your best game against a team like Italy.  They’re the reigning world champs, after all.  The best game doesn’t include a crap red-card, lack of tactical adjustment, and anything less than total defensive commitment once you have the lead.  Thus, 3-1 Italy and the U.S. is in the hole with Thursday’s match against Brazil looming.

You did see some guts by guys like Onyewu, Donovan, Bradley, and Spector.  Jozy Altidore was tough to handle and Jonathan Bornstein looked strong on the left.  That said, just too many mistakes.  Five points to the pentagram…