The US scored a famous victory over the Brazilians in the final group game of the U20 World Cup. I would argue that this one of the United States best wins at any level of international football. However, I would hope for a degree of sanity when it comes to the reaction from the US pundits. This was an upset, yes....and could have been a Brazilian route had they been more clinical in front of the US net.

To set up the situation - going into the final group game the roles were reversed, the US did not need the victory sitting at 4 points with a strong goals against while Brazil needed at least a point if not the full 3 points to move to the knock out stages. The ability of the US to defeat a global footballing power in a crucial game will go a long way for the confidence of the players that participated in the win.

So here are some thoughts...

• The Brazilians were clearly the class on the pitch. They moved the ball around with ease and at times made the US look like a JV team...at best. The Brazilian strikers and midfielders gave fits to the US defenders, at times there appeared to be 2-3 defenders chasing the yellow jersey on the ball only to be easily split by either a dribble or a pass. Even thought they gave up 2 goals, for the most part they were not placed under tremendous pressure from the US strikers. But the Brazilians were not clinical when given opportunities to finish and did give up 2 opportunistic goals to the US.
  
• The US defended admirably, while they were outclassed in talent they appeared to be able to bend but not break. The keeper made some key stops, on two attempts by Jo in the second half. The US was dominated during many spells of the game, showing how much more needs to happen for the team to continue to progress.
  
• Altidore is the best player for the US. With all the hype around Freddy Adu, and I have made it very clear as to what I think of the Real Salt Lake midfielder, the New York RedBull striker is the best player wearing red white and blue. It is not solely because he scored the 2 US goals, but due to his innate ability of a goal scorer. The first goal was came after a questionable no call on Adu's challenge on the Brazilian where the ball found itself fortuitously on the feet of Altidore. The youngster showed his true striker attitude by taking on two Brazilian defenders, resisting passing to Adu and rather took his chance from 18 yards out. By no means did he unleash a world class strike, but like true goal scorers he hit it just well enough to beating the Brazilian keeper for a 1-0 lead. The second goal also demonstrated his goal scoring ability. Adu, for once, showed the talent that has some folks raving (more on him in a second), took the ball in the deep corner and acting Brazilian himself beat two defenders. He looked to challenge the keeper from the closed angle only to have the ball deflect across the goal mouth to a completely unmarked Altidore who calmly put the ball away into the open net for the 2-1 victory. Now you might argue that all he did was tap the ball in...but as a true striker he anticipated a potential miss from Adu. Altidore could have checked too Adu, only drawing defenders closer to the Ghanian, Altidore could have drifted back to the PK spot hoping to get a pass from Adu, but Adu looked determined to challenge the keeper. Instead Altidore held his ground, realizing that if Adu took his chance 1 on 1 with the keeper a deflection would either go out for a corner kick or to the weak side...exactly where he was camped out. He is still a youngster, so much more will need to happen for Altidore to develop into a world class striker, but he should become a solid replacement at the senior level for another US goal scorer, Brian McBride.
  
• Adu, first let me make the disclaimer that I am not a Freddy Adu fan, I think he is completely over hyped, which is not his fault...well not 100%. He has done very little to live up to all the accolades showered on him. Every time I hear folks say he will become the greatest player in football it makes me cringe...have any of these folks heard of a player name Lionel Messi who is the same generation? But I digress......here is what I say from the young Ghanian. He showed some flashes of brilliance. In the second half he made a lightening quick turn outside the 18 and was brought down for a direct kick. On the second goal he beat two Brazilian defenders with a sombrero move worth of Pele or Zidane. Unfortunately he went long spells where he was completely marked out the game and there were long spells where you did not realize he was on the pitch. Players that are suppose to be the next coming of Pele need to show more, they need to be a constant worry for the other team, working off the ball to threaten and put themselves in positions to strike. I never felt Adu was doing that. Altidore was always camped deep, ready to pounce on any deep ball or mistake by the Brazilian back line. Adu...well he just seemed to disappear. Finally, Adu will need to learn that he has a huge target on his back due to all the hype he received when, as a 14 year old, he broke into professional soccer. The fact he is playing for a second class world power and receiving all this press makes him more vulnerable to the thuggery that is common on the international level. If he is to in fact live up to 50% of his hype he will need to control himself in these situations. It appeared that too many of the school ground tactics the Brazilians used on him threw him off his game. What would happen if he were playing in the Premiership it rather than some 19 year of Brazilian defender it was Michael Essien or Joey Barton that were introducing Freddie to their boots?

Yes the US should be proud of this victory.
No the US should not start patting themselves on their backs.

This will go a long way in terms of confidence for the young US team, but I am not ready to coronate them U20 World Cup champs, let alone world beaters on the senior level.