By 5 pm EST Wednesday afternoon, the biggest win you didn’t hear about was in the books with the winning team celebrating on the playing field. Chances are you had no idea that it happened and once you did or do, it won’t really matter to you.
Yesterday, by 5 pm EST, the United States had defeated Spain in a soccer match. That’s it. Disinterested now? Read on.
It was the Confederations Cup semi-finals. The Confederations Cup, for newbies out there, is a tournament of soccer national teams that have won FIFA (the governing body of international soccer) confederation championships. There are eight teams in all: six FIFA confederation champions, the most recent World Cup winner, and the host country. The tournament is held every four years, like the World Cup.
Still yawning? What if I told you that Spain was ranked #1 in the world? What if I told you the United States had only defeated the #1 team in the world on one other occasion in its soccer history? What if I told you Spain was unbeaten in its last 35 matches? (tying a world record) What if I told you Spain had won 15 straight? What if I told you the US shut out the Spanish?
If this doesn’t matter to you, it probably should. This is a HUGE story in American sports. I know that Americans don’t really care about soccer, but the rest of the world does and perception is important to a lot of people. The US has long been a laughingstock in international soccer and this win gives us a big boost going into the 2010 World Cup.
