Confederations Cup preview: Spain – United States

The first of two semi finals at the 2009 Confederations Cup has European champions Spain take on the United States, whom not many expected to get this far at all.

The Spanish didn’t have much difficulties in their group phase, beating New Zealand, Iraq and South Africa by a total goal record of eight scored and none conceded. Against more defensive teams, Spain seemed to be struggling a little more but the USA may be the type of opponent they like to face at this point.

After losing their first two games by two and three goals respectively, the USA were practically out of this tournament. But the 3-0 win over Egypt while Brazil beat Italy by the same margin was enough for Bob Bradley’s men to secure a spot in the semi’s. Whether the final is a realistic target remains to be seen, as bookmakers don’t seem to give the Americans much of a chance.

Spain manager Vicente del Bosque should be sticking to his usual line-up while Bradley has to decide whether to field some of the players he also selected for the match against Egypt.

The senior teams of Spain and the USA have met three times before, most recently in a friendly last year. Spain won that match 1-0. The most important meeting was in the group phase of the 1950 World Cup, where the Spanish beat the Americans 3-1.

The match starts at 8:30pm local time and is to be played at the Free State Stadium of Bloemfontein. Spain haven’t had to travel since their last match, which was also played at this venue. Uruguayan Jorge Larrionda is the referee for this game.