Confederations Cup - USA win to steal semi spot

Eurosport - Mon, 22 Jun 14:30:00 2009

United States thrashed Egypt 3-0 in Rustenburg to astonishingly clinch their place in the semi-finals of the Confederations Cup at the expense of their opponents and Italy in Group B.

FOOTBALL Clint Dempsey Michael Bradley USA Confederations Cup - 0

With Italy losing 3-0 to Brazil in the other match, Bob Bradley's side knew that a victory by three goals or more would secure their progress, a result which they duly achieved.

Charlie Davies opened the scoring for the States in the 21st minute, having dominated the first half.

The coach's son Michael Bradley doubled his side's lead in the 63rd minute, before a superb downward header from Clint Dempsey eight minutes later sent the American supporters into delirium.

United States had the better of the first half, and created numerous chances for their forwards, with just one of them being taken.

In the 14th minute, a delightful through ball from Dempsey released Bradley, but his first-time shot was parried away to safety well by Essam Al-Hadari.

The States captain Landon Donovan was at the forefront of the majority of his side's attacking play, and used his pace to cause havoc in the Egypt half on frequent occasions.

In the 18th minute, Donovan was played through by Davies, but for some inexplicable reason decided to pass the ball into space on the right instead of having a shot, after Josmer Altidore had checked his run.

The goal which broke the deadlock came after an innocuous run from Altidore down the left wing, with the forward squaring the ball to Davies from the byline, whose shot deflected off the diving Essam Al-Hadari in the Egypt goal.

A jinking run from Donovan in the 28th minute tore the Egypt defence open again, dribbling with poise and guile on the edge of the area, moving in at pace, before Al-Hadari raced off his line smartly to palm the ball clear.

Slick interplay from Ahmed Eid and Ahmed Abdei-Ghani found Mohamed Aboutriaka in space inside the States penalty area, but the striker's curling shot was coolly palmed away by Guzan on the half hour.

As the half drew to a close, the game became increasingly stretched, and when Davies streaked through on goal again down the left wing, cutting inside and driving a shot across Al-Hadari, coach Bradley thought his side's lead had been doubled, but for the ball swerving wide late.

A minute later, Donovan played a ball through to Bradley, but with just the keeper to beat and in space, a dismal first touch saw the ball trickle frustratingly out of play.

Egypt enjoyed a good spell of pressure at the start of the second half, with Ahmed Samir Farag proving a threat down the left wing, but the US slowly edged their way into holding the ascendency.

In the 52nd minute, Altidore drilled a shot past the diving Al-Hadari, but his effort was blocked by Ahmed El-Mohammadi on the line, a stop which prompted vociferous appeals for handball from his opponents.

Bradley continued to find himself in good positions, but again lacked conviction with his finishing, and the forward hammered a good shot from the edge of the area four minutes later, which Al-Hadari parried away smartly, diving low to his left.

But the States' persistent attacks were rewarded when Donovan surged down the left and cut the ball back inside, where Bradley slid in to stab the ball into the far corner of Al-Hadari's goal in the 63rd minute.

The States knew that one further goal would be enough, and Dempsey provided the class required to secure it: the midfielder rose at the back post to direct a precise downward header into the bottom corner from Ricardo Clark's cross to trigger wild celebrations.

Egypt went straight on the attack, and in the 89th minute, defender Wael Gomaa had a chance to snatch back their semi-final spot, but his header drifted agonisingly over the bar to see the United States advance.

United States join Brazil - who face South Africa - in qualifying from Group B into the semi-finals, with Bradley's side facing European Champions Spain.

Dan Quarrell / Eurosport

Comment 47 - 66 of 66

Sort comments by: Most recent

  1. well, very interesting, how USA qualifed, i wonder

    From victorcud, on Tue 23 Jun 8:45PM

  2. a 3-1 drubbing, a 3-0 thrashing and still goes­ through........you cant beat that ,,,can you

    From victorcud, on Tue 23 Jun 7:27PM

  3. GO USA
    GO ITALY
    GO IRAQ
    GO EGYPT
    AND GO ENGLAND

    From , on Tue 23 Jun 1:51AM

  4. And those countries played the US to lose? If they keep­ score it counts.No less than this meaningless 8 team­ tournament in the middle of nowhere 12 months before­ the real games start. Egypt had everthing to gain and­ they couldn't even compete. They were beaten by a­ stronger team. 14 vs 40.

    From Maxx92, on Tue 23 Jun 1:33AM

  5. The match between the US and Egypt proved one thing:­ both teams are excellent ones but not yet world class,­ not able to provide results on a daily basis. Truth to­ be told, right now besides Spain there hardly is a­ national team that applies as World Class, not even­ Brasil (for the moment their not so good world cup­ qualifying results prevent that).

    From Péter, on Tue 23 Jun 1:28AM

  6. I had my own little rant with SCIPIO back at comment­ 42. I would say I feel sorry for the guy, for being so­ blind in every possible way is almost a new form of­ art, but probably that would be a lie. Even more so,­ after a while his childish little hysterical episodes­ become tiresome and boring.

    From Péter, on Tue 23 Jun 1:25AM

  7. maxx - 'Costa Rica, Mexico, or Honduras with much­ more than­ souvenirs for the kids' yes, sure.­ Concacaf is such a strong federation! As for the other­ results you mention - all in friendlies and you drew­ with Argentina? So what?

    From pegez, on Tue 23 Jun 12:17AM

  8. Maybe the US couldn't win Africa twice in a row.­ But I doubt your national side would come home from­ Costa Rica, Mexico, or Honduras with much more than­ souvenirs for the kids. In the past few years, the US­ has beaten Mexico, Sweden, Poland, Denmark,­ Switzerland, Ecuador & drew with Argentina. This is­ a rank appropriate victory and shouldn't surprise­ anyone who knows more about soccer than what they show­ on Eurosport and the BBC.

    From Maxx92, on Mon 22 Jun 11:59PM

  9. C'mon SCIPIO! Chill oot, man! The Arabs were the­ leaders in scientific and mathematical fields from the­ eighth to eleventh centuries - they invented the­ numeric (decimal) system we currently use, including­ the number zero and also advances in astronomy. Without­ all that, progress in the West would probably not been­ as rapid as it was.

    From pegez, on Mon 22 Jun 11:54PM

  10. So you are telling me that you know nothing , is it???­ you said that Arabs has a great civilization . is it???­ Egyptian people speaking in Arabic, but their­ civilization is not Arabic, then you dirty Arabs claim­ that egyptian civilization is Arabic and Islamic .­ Second point . Before Islam where were Arabs??? before­ 1400 years ago??? in tents?? Deserts?? on camels?? what­ do you have? what to show?? Arabs Invaded Span and­ capture Andolusia and built many building in Persian­ style , and claims that it's Arabic architecture.­ Arabs invade Persia and stole Persian 12000 years­ great civilization and claim thats ours. then Arabs­ invade Turkey when Turkey was East Roman Empire­ Constantinopol , then claimed that Byzanthine­ civilization is ours. and in Holy land , mother land of­ Jews since thousands of years ago , where there was no­ Arab seeds. after Crusade wars you claimed that's­ yours. I have a Question and its very simple... Tell me­ if Arabs have such a great civilization , where wasthat­ before islam??? where was that before 1400 years­ ago???? and certainly those who accusing me are Arabs ,­ which living or not in western countries.. so Arabs­ better you SHUT your A S S O F F !!!

    From Maverick, on Mon 22 Jun 11:45PM

  11. Maxx92 - everyone agrees this was a shock result. The­ US is #14 in FIFA rankings, which everyone lambasts,­ because the US plays in a weak footballing region.­ Egypt are by far the better team who had an off-day. I­ seriously doubt the US could win the African cup of­ nations twice in a row! They barely win the Gold cup!!!

    From pegez, on Mon 22 Jun 11:23PM

  12. scipio, u just helping us to hate our people more and­ more.. i'm surprise there is still people like u in­ western civilization..

    From Liverpol, on Mon 22 Jun 10:41PM

  13. I would think that 'jasoncork' is one of those­ people. Cork, Ireland? Not to far from where my family­ came from. But my suburban town probably has more kids­ playing soccer than Cork has. And do you think any of­ the Irish league teams could seriously play in MLS?­ You've got to be kidding. Sure, our best players go­ to the EPL, just like yours. But as much as I root for­ Ireland and Lithuania when they play any other team in­ Europe (my parents), I can't believe they could­ beat the US in a game that mattered, and doubt they­ could handle playing in Honduras, El Salvador, or Costa­ Rica where the US team struggles to win games. The 5­ MILLION soccer fans in the US would love to see any­ European side play a tournament where they'd have­ to play qualifying games in Tegucigalpa, San Salvador,­ Cipressa stadium, or Azteca. Good luck. You'll need­ it.

    From Maxx92, on Mon 22 Jun 10:10PM

  14. The US victory was a victory of the # 14 team vs # 40­ in the world. The win was expected. The 3-0 margin is­ what makes it important. Forget about injuries for­ Egypt, the US had plenty of their own prior to this­ tournament. It was a good sign, but it is important to­ compete for the victory against Spain the way they did­ with Italy for 50 minutes. All the USA haters can kiss­ my @$$. 5 soccer fans? There's more american kids­ playing soccer on weekends than there are in most­ European countries. That's why victories over­ Europe's 2nd tier (Poland, Sweden) are so easy. A­ win against the Tier 1 is important to establishing­ credibility. And while some snobs complain that the US­ doesn't play a creative game like Spain or Brazil,­ so what. Neither do Germany and England. The US is­ permanently locked into the world top 25. There may be­ a few ups and downs. But watch out soccer snobs. It­ won't be long before this nation is PERMANENTLY in­ the top 15 with one of your top 10 spots always in our­ sights. I love the comments from other European­ countries who never get a sniff of the top 15.­ We've been ahead of you for 10 years. So don't­ tell us how far behind Brazil we are. If you can't­ support your own national side, go watch rugby, cross­ country skiing or cycling. Because you've got­ nothing to say about football.

    From Maxx92, on Mon 22 Jun 9:46PM

  15. USA-2009 Conrederations Cup Champions

    From Shaka, on Mon 22 Jun 7:46PM

  16. Well done USA, I'm sure the 5 people in your home­ country who are actually aware of your victory will be­ celebrating tonight!

    Unfortunately the mighty­ Spaniards will destroy you... but well done for­ reaching the semis!! US soccer deserves to be on the­ map more than it currently, and your achievements in­ this tournament certainly can't do any harm in that­ regard... but there's a long way to go yet, as your­ country first needs to get its head out its @#$% and­ realise how truly great this sport is...!!!

    From Jason, on Mon 22 Jun 7:42PM

  17. LIPPI GO AWAY!!!NOW!
    YOU CAN,T WIN WITH OLD TIRED­ PLAYERS!!

    From , on Mon 22 Jun 7:28PM

  18. Well done USA. I love it. I have always told people­ since the 1998 and 2002 World Cups that USA is coming­ and coming hot. When the Americans seriously want to do­ something, they do it to the maximum. I love the way­ the US has developed its soccer over the years.­ Remember they were in the 1/4 finals at the 2002 World­ Cup after beating Portugal with stars like Figo. Guys,­ USA will soon be a powerhouse, mark my words. Brighton,­ Brazil fan.

    From brightontsaurai, on Mon 22 Jun 7:19PM

  19. I HOPE THAT USA WILL START TO LOVE FOOTBALL MORE!!
    a­ country where football builds small talent in ­ universities, not billions,focusing only on pure ­ talent, on a system of simple game that everyone is ­ able to learn because the teams do not have our ­ technical or our organization. But even on a sporting ­ level of education, standardized, that produces so much­ in basketball ,can work in football. Indeed yankee­ football is starting to offer good individuality It­ continues to progress, without spending what we spend.­
    sorry for my bad english
    and i'm so sorry for­ Egypt anyway!!

    From , on Mon 22 Jun 7:10PM

  20. SCIPIO
    your comment just prove that you know nothing­ about Arabs nor Islam .and including politics and­ religions in sports prove that you are a little kid­ .before you talk about anything baby try to learn the­ truth about it

    From ola azmy, on Mon 22 Jun 6:59PM
Sort comments by: Most recent

Not already a Yahoo! user ? to get a free Yahoo! Account