Bloemfontein, South Africa - Going into the semi-finals of
the Confederations Cup, Spain's vaunted strike force of Fernando
Torres and David Villa were joint tournament top scorers with three
goals each in as many matches.
But after the 2-0 win for the Gold Cup champions United States
against the world's number one team, talk was all about the US
defence and how they had led the side to one of the biggest victories
in the nation's football history
'They did a great job,' said man of the match Clint Dempsey. 'I
mean, shutting out Spain? That's great.'
Spain's world-class forward Fernando Torres was full of praise as
well, saying: 'They're defence played fantastic. We haven't had
problems scoring, and we have had lots of opportunities to score
tonight, but they were very frustrating for us.'
With captain Carlos Bocanegra back from injury after having not
played since injuring a hamstring on June 6 in a World Cup qualifier,
the defence was heroic all night, making many last-minute deflections
and interceptions.
With Bocanegra, who usually starts in the centre, slotting into
the left back roll that he typically plays with his club, the centre
back pairing stayed Oguchi Onyewu and Jay DeMerit, with Jonathan
Spector playing well on the right.
But Bocanegra, struggling to hit full fitness, often stayed back
and tucked in tight, functioning as another central defender.
'I was allowed to stay inside more and be almost a third central
defender because the wingers were making long runs back,' said the
Rennes player.
'We knew we were getting to them because they started to hit long
balls more. This shows we can stop the best,' he said.
Coach Bob Bradley said having Bocanegra back was key to the upset,
but that having him stay in the middle wasn't necessarily part of the
game plan.
'It's important in games like this to have a player like that on
the field. He's one of our more experienced players. Having him on
the left gave us some extra strength and that was important,' he
said. '(Cesc) Fabregas started on the right but he cuts inside a lot.
So when he moved into the middle Carlos followed him, which worked
out well for us.'
But the coach was full of praise for the centre of defence as
well, saying: 'Our backline did very well. Jay DeMerit and Oguchi
Onyewu had very strong efforts. But it was a team effort to defend
for us.'
This is something 'Gooch' agreed with when asked about the
backline's valiant performance.
'Our defensive effort was key, but it wasn't just the four
defenders,' said the humble Standard Liege man, who has been linked
with a move to Fenerbahce this summer. 'The midfielders came back a
lot to help.
'Sometimes it looked like they would score and then a leg would
come out and stop them at the last minute. It was very inspiring,' he
said.
Goalkeeper Tim Howard, who made his fair share of spectacular
saves as well, was excited about the backline's shutout of the
Spanish, who scored eight goals in their three group matches at the
Confed Cup.
'We wanted to fight and scrap and kick together. The one thing you
will always get from us is effort,' he said before explaining that
the Americans purposely ceded a lot of space on the flanks.
'A team like Spain can do what they want and you have to pick your
battles, so we gave them the wings,' he said. 'But we have some big
guys, so we figured we be ok if they sent balls into the box.
'(The defence) definitely made a lot of great blocks and kept
things tight.'
USA
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