Brazil 3, USMNT 2

Once the adrenalin cut off at 45 seconds into the second half the legs got heavy and what we all at half predicted (and this guy txtd) did.

Here's Goff's player-ratings:

Howard 8; Spector 6, Onyewu 7, DeMerit 6, Bocanegra 7; Dempsey 7, Clark 5, Feilhaber 6, Donovan 8; Davies 5, Altidore 5. Subs: Bornstein 5, Kljestan 5, Casey 5.

Howard, Onyewu, Bocanegra, Dempsey, Donovan, the only five whose tickets are, barring injury, punched for next summer? (And, um, Praise to Donovan.)

The team with the better midfield won, the team with the better strikers won, the team with the better defense won, and I'll call Tim Howard a push. Credit the strategy of pressuring higher than normal and the effort executing it in the first half, but it was a matter of time before Brazil broke down USMNT midfield and once the midfield broke a matter of time the defense broke too.

Altidore and Davies won't get it done. Ricardo Clark won't get it done. And WTF's happened to Sasha Kljestan? There are opportunities to move up the depth charts for this year's Gold Cup USMNT.

O! A complaint: I heard some dope on the radio say if they'd allowed Kaka's goal (which was a goal) the score would have been 4-2. Perhaps, but not as a consequence, dumbfuck.

More importantly, I'm listening to dopes on the radio debate whether this tournament will finally catapult soccer into American sports fans' consciousness, which is helpful in late June when sports talk radio is dying for subject matter. It's almost a "should Pete Rose be in the Hall of Fame" guarantee to light up the call-ins and fanatics.

My theory is American's don't hate soccer but give as much a damn for soccer as they do figure skating every four years. They like and understand soccer enough that if the national team makes a run in a World Cup they yippee and bandwagon then forget about soccer until the next yippee comes.

But lordy, listening to the soccer haters, it's wondrous the pure ferocity of those so certain soccer will fail so ardent soccer MUST! fail, Burn the fucking heretics!

Update, edits, links, later. Or not.