Soccer : US shows it can compete with football's elite

JOHANNESBURG — The United States should remember the 2009 Confederations Cup as the first time it truly showed it was capable of competing with football's elite teams.
After stunning European champion Spain 2-0 in the semifinals, the Americans' were in a position to do the same to five-time World Cup champion Brazil in the final, only to throw away a two-goal lead to lose 3-2.

"We've shown we can play with these teams. Sometimes that shows for a lot, like in the semifinals, and sometimes that counts for little, like tonight," goalkeeper Tim Howard said after the loss to Brazil on Sunday in the first FIFA final at any level for the American men.

"We can compete, we fight, we can score goals, we defend really well. We just need to start getting the small, little things right. If you look at Brazil, Italy, Spain, they got 11 guys who do a lot of the little things right for 90 minutes, and that creates a heck of a problem. We need to get better at that."

Fortunately for the Americans, time is on their side. The U.S. was the youngest team at this tournament, with an average age of just under 25.

source : usatoday.com