The Soccer World hits the US

All the pieces seemed to be slowly coming together. David Beckham (despite his sour attitude) brought worldwide attention to MLS, the men's USA team made noise in the Confederations Cup, and the World Football challenge was being held in the United States of America. Could soccer finally be a mainstream sport in the "land of the free"?

Spice Boy, David beckham has caused plenty
of drama in the soccer world and will surely
create a nuisance in the MLS in the near future.

David Beckham was the possible breakthrough in soccer history for the US as he came to a deal with the LA Galaxy MLS team in 2007. A whopping five year $250 million contract had the English superstar packing his stuff and leaving Real Madrid, one of the most prestigious club teams in all of Europe. In exchange, the 30+ year old star was headed to a league that seemed dead to most Americans.

Beckham has caused enough trouble in the sports world already, so we shall place him aside for now.

The Confederations Cup occurs once every four years and it takes place one year prior to the World Cup. Eight teams get to participate in this small tournament and the US was one of the contenders. With nations such as Spain, Brazil, and Italy looking like the favorites in this Cup, the US just seemed to look like a country that was out to make a name for themselves by taking on the big bad bullies of the soccer world. And so they did...

USA's chances of standing a chance in this
Cup seemed quite slim. The eleven men representing
the red white and blue on the green grass
had other plans.

During the round robin portion of the tournament, it seemed like the US' journey was going to end shorter than wanted. After losing 3-1 in the first match against Italy, the US didn't seem to confident in their following match with the Brazilians. As expected, the US couldn't find any sort of advantage and collapsed to a 3-0 pummeling. With an 0-2 record and just one game remaining in their round robin schedule, the light at the end of the tunnel seemed very dim. In a last ditch effort, the Americans drop kicked Egypt in the face by winning 3-0 and with Brazils bashing of the Italians 3-0 as well, the US miraculously obtained the second place finish in the group and found themselves advancing to the semi final match.



Torres and the
rest of the Spanish
Soccer Armada
seemed stoppable
as the Spanish
took a quick an
easy route to the
second stage of
the Confederations
Cup.







With a hot Spain squad awaiting Donovan an his boys, the match-up seemed unfair. Critics were soon quieted as the Americans overcame the odds and took out the Spainards 2-0. A finals rematch with the Brazilians was in store and it seemed like the Americans would have been better off just losing to the country of Spain. A rematch with Brazil just seemed to painful to bear. As the whistle blew and the game began, the Brazilians looked confident and seemed ready to hoist the Confederations Cup trophy. But it was USA that looked like the better team as a 2-0 lead quickly formed for team America. As fans all around the world were stunned and speechless, it seemed like USA just might have pulled the greatest upset in US soccer history. When everything seemed to be going in the right direction, Brazil came kicking in high gear as three goals struck through the net of US defense. When the whistle blew at 90+ minutes, the final score read, Brazil 3 - USA 2. The Cinderella Story had been shattered and Brazil was on top once again.



Brazil and USA
took a head on
collision as the
two countries
showed plenty
of spunk in the
Confederations
Cup Finals.
Brazil just came
out with a little
more swag in the
end.





Despite the loss, high hopes were brought upon the USA soccer team for the 2010 South Africa World Cup as the US did exactly what they needed to do in the Confed Cup. Make some noise.

Some of the most powerful soccer clubs from all across the world took center stage in the United States just a few days ago as AC Milan, Chelsea, Inter Milan, and Club America welcomed themselves to the States of America. The World Football Challenge represented four major club as the matches took place in major cities such as Baltimore, Foxboro, and Atlanta. As fans filled the stadiums to full capacity, horns went off and chants erupted as goals struck left and right. Stars such as Andrly Schevchenko, Didier Drogba, Ronaldinho, and Zlatan Ibrahimovic exemplified greatness as the ball was handled in beautiful harmony through the ground and above. While curving through the air and defying gravity, the ball was controlled in majestic ways that could only occur on a soccer field. All of America was given an opportunity to finally see elite soccer at its best.

Chelsea was
one of four
club teams
that took
a visit to the
United States
for the World
Football
Challenge.

With the Premier League and other leagues in Europe getting underway in just a few weeks, you can be sure that US citizens from all around the United States will be tuning in on tv to look for any match listings. The best of the rest will surely be getting a little bit more exposure than the year before as superstars such as Lionel Messi, Kaká, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Torres, and others step onto the clean cut grassy fields of stadiums that are soon to be packed with die hard fans in the respective colors of their favorite clubs.

The speedy Lionel Messi looks to have yet
another spectacular season with Barcelona.

Let Soccer enlighten your world.

-Jason C