Confederations Cup Warfare: USA Looks for Tactical Edge Against Spain

Even though the Spanish-American War of 1898 only lasted four months, it was a bitter and bloody struggle in which thousands of men were killed and wounded, with many thousands more falling victim to disease.

The sequel will be showing on a screen near you in just a few hours' time, and it is expected to last just a little over 90 minutes (it is hoped there will be less violence this time around).

At first glance, it seems an unfair fight. The Spanish have all the heavy artillery, and their battle-hardened veterans have recently emerged triumphant from a tough European Championship campaign that has prepared them well for their Confederations Cup appearance. So far in the competition, no team has been able to hold them down.

But Americans are renowned for their courage and determination in battle, so even if they may not have the firepower to evenly match their opponents, we can expect to witness a strong fight from a team that has played some decent soccer in their recent matches.

By comparison, Spain have had a relatively easy path into the finals, while the USA have had to face off against Brazil, Egypt, and Italy. Still, there can be no denying that the USA faces a huge task in attempting to topple the European champions.

The key to victory appears to lie in following the example set by Russia during their match against Spain in Euro 2008. In that game, the Russians managed to shut down Spain during the first half by keeping up a steady and frustrating pressure on David Villa and Fernando Torres. Their fatal mistake was to play too defensively and also forgetting that there is more to the Spanish team than just these two magnificent players.

If the Americans can manage a similar effort in denying Spain the opportunity to bring their strongest firepower to bear, then they have a slim hope. But they must follow through with a relentless and accurate attacking game, avoiding the mistakes of the Russian example.

Spain, too, will need to concentrate. In the game against Russia, they had a tendency during the first half to lose their cool (no doubt as a result of Russia's defensive smothering). Consequently, when they did take shots, there was an edge of panic and inaccuracy to them.

It was not until Xavi Hernández managed to snap one through early in the second half that the tide of morale turned and the Spanish returned to their sensational best.

The Americans claim they are confident. Coach Bob Bradley has hinted that his team may pull a tactical surprise. It will need to be a good one!

Spain really do deserve to be a hot favorite to win this match, although the logic of bookmakers to set the market at exactly the same prices (at the time of writing) to those seen in the Brazil versus South Africa game is puzzling, to say the least. This game is nowhere near the walkover result that the other one will be.

All things considered, it looks almost certain that hopes and dreams alone will not be enough to change the expected outcome.

Prediction: Spain to win by one or two goals (but the Americans will make them earn those goals the hard way).