By Brendon Hanley Jun 24, 2009, 22:32 GMT
Bloemfontein, South Africa - After claiming a historic 2-0 victory over Spain on Wednesday night in the Confederations Cup semi- finals, the US national team were overjoyed with what many were calling their biggest football victory ever.
Jozy Altidore and Clint Dempsey scored in either half at Bloemfontein's Free State Stadium for the US, who snapped Spain's winning streak at 15 matches and unbeaten run at 35 games.
'This win is huge for American soccer,' said man of the match Dempsey. 'This is our first time to be in the final of a major competition, so obviously we're thrilled.'
Central defender Oguchi Onyewu, who made several last-ditch tackles on the night, talked about defeating the world's number one team and formidable favourites.
'A lot of people didn't think we could do this,' he said. 'But we showed our heart, our grit and our resilience. It's a huge achievement for us. I bet there weren't a lot of people in Europe and around the world that would have bet on this.'
Spanish striker Fernando Torres echoed that sentiment: 'They have fantastic players and a strong team, and maybe by beating Spain and breaking our streak people will start to recognize that.'
The prize for Bob Bradley's side, whose son Michael Bradley was harshly sent off with four minutes remaining, is a final date Sunday against hosts South Africa or Brazil, who meet Thursday in the other semi-final at Ellis Park in Johannesburg.
'It was a great team effort and to beat an amazing team like Spain is big,' said US coach Bradley. 'We played as hard as we could and every guy contributed. That's what it took.'
The United States harried Spain for the 90 minutes, attacking them from the outset. They carved out a couple of early chances through Charlie Davies, who came close with an overhead kick in the 8th minute and a glancing header a minute later.
Dempsey was the next to try his luck with a shot from distance that fizzed just wide, while Spain almost got on the scoresheet themselves through Fernando Torres after 11 minutes. But the Liverpool striker just failed to get on the end of a Cesc Fabregas cross to the far post.
In an evenly-matched game, the US finally broke the deadlock after 27 minutes through Altidore, who latched on to a Dempsey pass and turned his Villareal teammate Joan Capdevila on the edge of the area before firing a low shot past Iker Casillas in the Spanish goal.
Spain were now chasing the game but lacked the fluency that had seen them unbeaten since going down 1-0 to Romania in a friendly on November 15, 2006.
After the match, Torres insisted that the Spanish team didn't have a bad performance. 'We created a lot of chances and played well but we just didn't finish them. It's very frustrating for us, but they are a complicated side to beat.'
Despite failing to dominate proceedings, Vicente del Bosque's side could easily have equalized before the break through Torres but Tim Howard saved well at his near post.
The second half began just as the first had ended, with Spain occasionally threatening as Villa was the next to test Howard.
Villa could also have had a penalty when Landon Donovan made contact in the area after 53 minutes while Albert Riera fired narrowly wide a minute later.
Howard pulled off good saves from Fabregas and Sergio Ramos before a defensive error from Ramos on 74 minutes allowed Dempsey to end Spain's dreams of setting a new world record unbeaten streak.
Donovan sent the ball across the Spanish area and Ramos tried to control the ball rather than clearing it, allowing Dempsey to hook home from six metres.
'No one thought we could come out and win tonight,' said Dempsey, who plays for Fulham.
'We are happy with the win and know we will have to work hard to get something out of the final.'
The only shadow on the evening was the sending off of Bradley, who was shown a straight red by referee Jorge Larrionda for a tackle on Xavi that seemed to merit a yellow card at most.
'It's disappointing for any player to miss the final,' said coach Bradley. 'But as a team we're excited to be in the final. At that point only two teams will have a chance to lift the trophy, and we'll be one.'
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