Brazil vs USA....who would have seen this final??

So the US will face Brazil tomorrow for the Confed Cup champions, who would have ever expected these two teams to face one another in the finals? The US has found itself on cloud 9 for the past 2 games - after being left for dead after being trounced the opening games against Italy and Brazil they did the necessary versus Egypt and received help from Brazil to move on to the semis. Where we all know they posted one of the biggest upsets in international footie beating the FIFA #1 team - Espana. But now they face Brazil, in a final, and regardless of the world rankings it is Brazil.

The US has only beaten the SambaBoyz once, over 10 years ago during the Gold Cup semi finals. Earlier in the Confed Cup they were outclassed by Brazil losing 3-0. The US will also be without key midfielder Bradley. So does Sam's Army have a shot?



Surprisingly I am going to say yes, and I am one of the hardest critics on US footie. However, the US seems to not fear the Brazilians (granted the series would dictate otherwise) they played them tough years ago during the World Cup in the US. They have played Brazil tough in the other matches during past Confed Cups as well. Also, the US is on a roll, realizes they are heavy underdogs, and should be the fan favorites. The US will have to play a similar style as to the one against Spain - back 4 needs to defend in unison, midfield needs to be highly active closing down Kaka and Robinho, the stikers will need to take chances on the counter and Howard will need to be solid as a back stop. Oh one more thing, Brazil needs to take the US for granted, much like Espana did for the first half of the game...and it would be nice if the US could score an early goal. Will all this happen? Can it happen? Maybe.

Here is what I see unfolding - Brazil will come out fast and furious, the US will stem the tide and Howard will make some big saves. Dempsey will find a way to score on the counter. Brazil will equalize midway in the second half. The game will go to extra time where the US will defend like a the Alamo and we will end up in PKs....where Howard will make some big saves to give the US an improbable Confed Title. This will unleash a deluge of American pundits predicting the US will do the same next year during the real tourney....ok this might be fantasy. But more fun to predict an improbable US win than another Brazil victory (which is really more likely to happen...how is that for covering all my bases)