Soccer Buzz

I’ll get to Beckham, MLS, and European transfer news later this week, but today, I’ll look at international competition.

The United States was upset in the U-20 World Cup 2-1 by Austria in the quarterfinals on Saturday. The Americans looked set to dominate in the early going, but they relinquished control, which Austria was more than happy to seize upon. Austria finally broke through in the extra time after Anthony Wallace was sent off for a second yellow card.

I thought the United States was suffering from their extra time win over Uruguay only 3 days prior, which could explain why Austria controlled the last 75 minutes of the game. Still, I thought they could have shown better than they did. Their tactics seem a bit static, especially with Danny Szetela not playing his best game. They seemed to miss his marauding runs forward to support Freddy Adu and Jozy Altidore.

I’m disappointed in the result, but there is plenty of talent on that team that can have a solid career with the senior team.

In the Copa America final, Brazil pulled off an upset of its own by defeating Argentina 3-0. This was supposed to be Argentina’s tournament. They brought their big guns to this tournament, determined to win their first international competition in 14 years. Brazil, on the other hand, left Kaka and Ronaldinho at home and looked shaky at many times in this tournament.

However, it shouldn’t totally shock anyone that a Brazilian team managed by Dunga would have a game plan to shut down creative players like Riquelme and Messi. After all, Dunga was the defensive midfielder and captain of the 94 World Cup winning team, a Brazilian team that was criticized for being too tactical and playing enough of the beautiful, free-flowing soccer that Brazil is famous for. On Sunday, Argentina could not get their attack going with Riquelme and Messi constantly being hounded (and often fouled) by the Brazilian midfield. Brazil was willing to concede possession, but they certainly capitalized on their forays into the Argentine half with great goals from Julio Baptista and Daniel Alves.

Brief highlights are featured below. Click here for an extended highlight reel of the match.

U-20 World Cup, Freddy Adu, Jozy Altidore, Danny Szetela, Copa America, Juan Roman Riquelme, Lionel Messi, Dunga, Julio Baptista, Daniel Alves