I'm picking Spain

In the World Cup final this morning/afternoon.  Just wanted to go on record before the match.  I think it should be entertaining soccer, with two national teams who have never won the whole thing going for goals and not sitting back in a defensive posture.  The last few World Cup finals I've seen have been pretty defensive affairs, but I'm hoping this one will be different.  Spain seems to have more weapons and excellent ball control across the board.  The Netherlands can be inventive, too, but I think Spain will be able to out-shoot the Oranje.

World Cup 2010

I've been watching the World Cup the past couple of weeks, and I have to say I'm a little disappointed in the U.S.'s loss to Ghana in the Round of 16 -- I thought team USA would do better against the African team, and they had their chances to score, but they were fighting from behind for almost the entire game, and I think the strain of pressing for so long was too much to overcome at the end.  The U.S. had a great goal at the end of the game against Algeria, but in the end it wasn't all that great of a tournament for the U.S. team.  I was hoping for a deep run into the quarterfinals or semifinals, but it wasn't to be.  I 'm still interested in the soccer matches, and will probably have to root for Argentina to beat Brazil, but that's not the most interesting match-up I can imagine in the finals.  I'd love to see the U.S. reach its potential in soccer, but I'm not sure we're there yet.

Brazil bests US -- the one that got away

This could have been the day that the U.S. broke through as a force to be reckoned with in international soccer. Brazil was just too tough, though, in the Confederations Cup final. Here are some photos from the match and an article in the Times that details the drama of the match.