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.