[Icy]

Just got back from watching it with some friends. I'm really really disappointed as you can imagine, Spain has again underperformed in an important game, always the same story. We thought that things would change after the Euro Championship, but did not.

About the game itself:

USA played a PERFECT defensive game. In FM terms, they played a narrow 4-4-2 with very high closing down and direct/long passing with counter-attack checked.

USA started really well since minute 1, putting really high pressure against our creative guys, and killing us with speedy counter attacks. In the mean time, Spain started so slow, like sleeping and probably full of overconfidence.

Then the first goal came after a big mistake from our left wingback Capdevilla, that was marking Altidore from the front, that is against the rule number one for a defenseman, you must be always between the forward and your keeper. Capdevilla should be really ashamed today, he is the starting wingback in the Euro champion team, and a 19 years old kid that is a backup in the Spanish 2nd division, schooled him in that play.

After that goal and seing the first 20 minutes, i knew the game was lost. The only hope was that USA players would get exhausted in the second half and wouldn't be able to keep the pressure and the compact 4-4-2 lines, but they didn't. USA players showed great stamina, of course the huge motivation boost of the first goal helped a lot. They played PERFECT defense, PERFECT team work and totally deserved the win.

On the other hand, Spanish players lost the ideas too early. Our usually creative midfield played really bad today (Xavi, Fabregas and Xavi Alonso).

Then our team decided to play to the wings and crossing the ball instead of our usual slow and creative play building. That was a huge mistake, Torres and Villa were totally lost in the battle vs the tall and strong defenders, and to make things worse, our defense was sleeping and having more newbie mistakes, that with a touch of good luck and a couple of rebounds, gave the second goal.

On the top of that, our coach was too conservative, not recognicing what the problem was, and doing a couple of conservative lineup changes instead of going for the game taking more risks with an extra forward like Guiza or Llorente, that are both tall and excellent headers. He also removed Fabregas just when he was getting hot and creating good chances.

But that is why our current coach is known for since his R.Madrid days, he just puts the best players there and hopes for the win, but has zero tactical iniciative. He has inherited the Euro Championship team and both the fans and the Spanish press are afraid of him ruining this incredible generation of players with his poor, conservative and slow reaction coaching.

I really hope this loss will move things here. This has been terrible for us. Soccer is our sport, this is like if we won USA in baseball.

Anyway, congrats for the really deserved win and i'll root for USA vs Brazil. I'm sure tomorrow Brazil will show that they are BIG when needed, while Spain has a huge problem under high pressure.

I go to bed now, have a terrible headache.