Smiling through the tears

The better teams simply know how to step it up.

In tonight’s Confederations Cup championship match, the US men’s national team played a brilliant first half, taking a 2-0 lead at the half, only to fade and let it slip away. The difference between fifth-ranked Brazil and the US, at #14 just one tier below: the better side knew how to raise its game when forced. Brazil roused itself and dominated the second half, winning 3-2 and taking the tournament championship.

The MNT nevertheless took a step forward tonight because it clearly won the first half. Small consolation but an enormous step for a team that had never held a two-goal lead against Brazil. The Americans continued to show that they know how to play intelligent, tactical soccer. For 45 minutes and 30 seconds, the MNT frustrated the Seleção to a standstill.

Pouncing on counterattacking opportunities, the US scored two unanswered goals, including a beautiful breakaway goal that would have made any Italian proud. The MNT clogged Brazil’s passing lanes and maintained defensive discipline, just as it had against Spain. The CounterAttack had hoped that the US fullbacks would hold a high defensive line to force Brazil to shoot from distance, as they had done against Spain. The American defenders did just that, forcing Brazil to shoot from distance because they simply could not get into the penalty area or create one-on-one opportunities.

But in soccer as in warfare, “good offense” will usually defeat “great defense”. The US defense was only good, not great while Brazil’s offense was unstoppably great -- in the second half. The final score was an inevitability. What the Americans still have not learned is how to close out opponents. This manifests itself in many ways, not least of which is the inability to stomp on minnows it plays in friendlies or World Cup qualifiers.

There are plenty of positives to take from this tournament. First, the US maneuvered through the vagaries of tournament play. Down two losses, goal differential and goals allowed got the MNT into the semifinals, scoring enough goals to give the team a chance to advance if other situations worked out. That is how tournaments are. The end-results are all that matter, not how the side played. Even if the MNT had not gone through (after all, how many times will Italy give up three goals, the last from an own-goal), the play against Egypt was encouraging. The MNT continued this impressive tactical display v Spain and then in the first half v Brazil.

So second was a consistent demonstration that the US is starting to play tactical soccer. It is not enough to just show up and play balls to the wall. Against Egypt and Spain, the US demonstrated patience in waiting for opportunities to pour forward in attack. The defense really stepped up, marking attackers out and overlapping when necessary. Spector showed that the US can play an effective wingback, while Gooch Onyewu, Bocanegra and DeMerit showed that they can play in the center. Spector and Boca, however, also showed their limitations when they are on the right and left backs. Both were beaten by Brazilians in this match. Overall, however, it was a good defensive showing. It is telling that only Brazil was able to penetrate the American defense to score from short-range, in both games. The opposition does not get more difficult than Italy, Brazil and Spain, so this was no one-off.

Third, as the tournament progressed, the midfield got stronger. Michael Bradley showed why he is an integral part of the US lineup. He makes players around him better, including Ricardo Clark, who finally stopped giving the ball away cheaply. The US now has a starting playmaker in Bradley and with the arrival of Jermaine Jones, will have a defensive midfielder to partner with Bradley.

Donovan and Dempsey continue to improve as an attacking tandem behind the forwards. Both scored against Brazil, with the Donovan goal coming five touches after the US stole the ball from Brazil in the US penalty area.

Tim Howard is a category unto himself. He is already one of the best goalkeepers in the world. He made critical saves in the last two matches that gave the MNT a chance to win against two of the world’s toughest teams. The spine of the US lineup, from keeper to the center-halfs on through the midfield is set for at least the next year and perhaps as far as 2014.

The strike force, however, is still being worked out but there is room for cheering here. Jozy Altidore, definitely the future of the US attack, is demonstrating he is worth the hype. He was shut out against Brazil tonight and only scored one goal in the tourney but it was a big one, v Spain. His partnership with Charlie Davies looks as if it may pay dividends in the future. At the very least, the US has another option to Brian Ching to play up front. The team scored 8 goals this tournament -- since they scored only one in the first two games, that is a massive output from a side that tends not to score in tournaments.

FIFA.com interviewed Landon Donovan after the match. This tournament will not mean anything for the future of the MNT if it does not build on its positives. When asked what the US has to do as a next step, Donovan’s response holds promise:

“(W)e need to learn from what happened today. If we don't learn from it, then all this achievement will have been for nothing. Hopefully the next time...we can kill the game off and hold the trophy over our heads instead of wearing silver around our necks.”

Photo by Antonio Scorza/GettyImages via Soccernet.com