Last week, after an especially ugly 3-0 loss to Brazil, I wrote a whiny little kneejerk post complaining about U.S. soccer. This is me:

There was a time, somewhere after the 2002 World Cup and through 2006, when the U.S. was considered a rising national soccer power. As of right now, those days are over. The U.S. Men’s National team is better than it once was, but it’s far from a power. At this point, it’s anything but.

What a whiny little b.

Today, the U.S. showed me, and thousands of HATERZ worldwide, where we could shove our apparently premature evaluations, topping Spain 2-0 in the Confederations Cup semifinal. This is the most unlikeliest of results, considering the following:

A.) Before their final group stage game, the U.S. needed to beat Egypt 3-0 and have Brazil beat Italy 3-0 to advance. This happened. Previous to that 3-0 win over Egypt, the U.S. had been playing sloppy, apathetic soccer not only in cup games but in World Cup qualifiers. There was little chance they’d beat Egypt, let alone Spain, especially because …

B.) Spain is without question the best national team in the world. They’d won gone unbeaten in 35 straight games and won 15 straight; their last loss was in 2006; and they’re the reigning European champions from Euro 2008, the best non-World Cup tournament in the world.

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