The USA were well on the road to their first ever men’s FIFA tournament win today (June 28th) after they took a 2-0 lead over Brazil in the final of the 2009 Confederations Cup at Ellis Park in Johannesburg, South Africa. However, they made the fatal mistake that most teams do once they get a lead, they simply stopped playing and let the game slip through their fingers as Brazil came back and punished them for it wad walked off the pitch with a 3-2 win after 90 minutes.

Clint Dempsey got the Americans of to a great start as he scored in the 10th minute on their first attack of the game as he bounced a shot past Brazilian keeper Julio Cesar.

Robinho came down left wing in the 13th minute and unleashed low right-footed shot that toward the far low corner, but keeper Tim Howard dove and turned it away with a fine save. Howard also made excellent stops in the 25th and 27th minutes and then Landon Donovan scored his 41st goal for the USA on a lightning-quick counter attack. Donovan slotted home a left footer into the low corner to the left of Cesar after a pass from Charlie Davies and the USA found themselves up 2-0 after just 27 minutes.

Howard made a fine save in the 35th minute and then Luis Fabiano headed over the bar just a few seconds later on the ensuing corner kick. Fabiano then missed a chance to get Brazil on the scoreboard before the half ended as he missed a low cross in injury time.

However Fabiano made amends for it in the first minute of the second half as he drove home a low left footer from edge of the box to make it 2-1. It was obviously the worst thing that could have happened for the Americans and it was a sign of things to come.

Howard made another fine save from a corner in the in 58th min and just a few moments later, Kaka, with a downward header, looked like he had tied the game up, but the ball was pushed out by Howard and off of the crossbar. Television replays couldn’t show if the whole ball definitely crossed the line because of their angles, but it looked like it may have gone in.

Dempsey had a chance to make it 3-1, but his left footer was saved by Cesar in 66th minute. In the 67th, Brazilian manager Dunga made a double substitution as he brought on Elano, and Daniel Alves came on for Andre Santos and Ramires.

That seemed to spark the team and Fabiano beat the offside trap in 70th minute and broke in on Howard, but the keeper came off his line well and made the save.

Brazil finally tied it at 2-2 when Kaka’s close-range shot hit the crossbar and bounced out right to Fabiano, who headed the rebound into the net for his tournament-leading fifth goal in the 74th minute. The inevitable happened just 10 minutes later as Brazilian captain Lucio headed in a corner kick from Elano in the 84th minute for the 3-2 winner and Brazil’s third Confederations Cup title.

The Americans only have themselves to blame as they didn’t continue playing the style that had put them in front 2-0. They failed to attack with any consistency at all in the final 45 minutes and paid the price for it.

In the third-place game, Spain beat hosts South Africa 3-2 in extra time.

There are probably millions of Spanish football supporters around the world going WTF?

Well, in 1980 the USA pulled off the “Miracle on Ice” when they beat Russia for the gold medal in ice hockey at the Olympic Games in Lake Placid, New York, and today (June 24th) they pulled of the “Miracle on the Pitch” as they beat European champions, and the top ranked team in the world, Spain 2-0 in the semi final of the Confederations Cup in South Africa. Not only did the loss end Spain’s world-record winning streak of 15 games, but it also ended their unbeaten string at 35, meaning they are still joint record holders with Brazil. It was Spain’s first loss since being beaten by Romania in 2006.

But as I said the other day, anything can happen once the whistle kicks off the game and I wouldn’t have bet the farm on Spain. That’s why the games are played. Anybody can beat anybody on any given day.

The Americans actually played a pretty good game, especially in the first half. They put pressure on the Spanish ball carriers and it worked like a charm. They jumped out to a 1-0 lead on a fine goal by Jozy Altidore in 27th the minute. Altidore earned a yellow card for his selfish celebration of taking off his shirt and I was hoping he’d end up with another yellow somewhere along the line. Taking off your shirt is an automatic yellow and anybody who does it is a buffoon. You scored a goal, big deal!. The way they guy celebrated you’d think he just discovered the cure for cancer.

Spain had a couple of chances to tie things up, especially just before the half time whistle went and Fernando Torres wriggled his way into the box, but American keeper Tim Howard was in perfect position to make the save on the near post.

The USA relaxed too much at the start of the second half though and Spain took it to them. Howard had to make a couple of fine saves to hold the lead. There was a shout for a Spanish penalty in the 53rd minute, but the referee rightly let play carry on. It looked like Spain would level things up sooner or later, but the Americans came down the pitch and took advantage of some sloppy defending and Clint Dempsey slid the ball in the back of the net in the 74th minute to double the lead to 2-0.

That goal looked like it deflated Spain and took the heart out of them. They did create a few more chances, but the USA defended well, especially by blocking shots when Spain got into some good shooting positions. There was one last lifeline though, as American Michael Bradley was sent off in the 86th minute on a straight red card and Spain come close to banging one in just moments later. But it wasn’t meant to be and the USA walked away with a well-played and earned 2-0 win.

It was an entertaining game, but the officials are still calling plays offside that clearly should be let go, especially if FIFA is trying topromote attacking football and looking for more goals during games.

The USA will now sit and watch the other semi final between Brazil and hosts South Africa on June 25th, to see who they’ll play in the final on June 28th. It’s the USA’s first FIFA final ever for the men’s senior team.