U.S. Men's Soccer Takes Second, Remains Irrelevant

Much to the surprise of U.S. soccer fans everywhere, the Men’s team found themselves up 2-0 over the heavily favored Brazilian team in the finals of the FIFA Confederations Cup just recently. What transpired in the second half could potentially have put to rest any hope of an increase in popularity for the sport in this country (much to the dismay of David Beckham).

After reaching the semifinals to face another heavily favored squad in Spain, America’s team upended the Spaniards 2-0. An impressive feat considering Spain hadn’t allowed a single goal till that point in the tournament. It was at that point that Americans took notice and media outlets such as ESPN started to give the sport a little coverage. It looked as though U.S. Soccer may have finally broke through in this country, something it had failed to do for so many years.

What an opportunity against Brazil. Some argued that simply reaching a finals match in a significant tournament was enough to garnish some interest around these parts. However after leading 2-0 at the half against Brazil, potentially setting up the biggest “Cinderella Story” the sport has seen in many years, the U.S. team epically collapsed and smothered any and all potential interest in the sport heading into next year's World Cup.

Soccer, much like hockey, is a sport where a two goal lead should be enough to get a victory…especially with only a half remaining. Ignoring this fact, the Americans blew the lead and eventually lost to Brazil 3-2. Forget the fact that they lost for a moment. They were expected to. The fact of the matter is they were up 2-0 in the most significant game in the country’s recent history. With so much was riding on the second half of that match, the U.S. team blew it. It was a choke-job, there’s no debating that (although ESPN’s PTI attempted to make a debate of it).