Interesting couple of games for the U. S. at Confederations Cup. Against Spain, they are out-chanced 25-11 but come away with a 2-0 win. Then, against Brazil, they give up 39 scoring chances while mustering only 13 and nearly escape with another win, falling 3-2.
A "scoring chance" is defined as a ball that goes over the end line (goal kick, corner, kick, or goal), a PK, or play called back as offside. At the Confederations Cup, scoring chances turned into goals about one time in 10. (41 out of 416, with stats not available for Iraq-New Zealand and USA-Egypt).
4 goals on 24 chances is quality finishing. Only giving up 3 goals against 64 chances is solid defense and breath-taking goalkeeping. The problem is in the midfield, where those chances are created and allowed. If you're giving the two best teams in the world 64 chances to score, the odds of holding them down for two games are slim indeed. If the U. S. wants to compete seriously for the World Cup, the midfield is where they will have to get better. A lot better. And fast.
And yes, USA fans, the ball off the underside of the bar was all the way in before Howard cleared it. That's a goal Brazil should have had.
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