The United States scored one of the most memorable victories in the nation's soccer history today, defeating European champion Spain, 2-0, in a semifinal of the Confederations Cup in Bloemfontein, South Africa.
Goals by Jozy Altidore in the first half and Clint Dempsey in the second half earned U.S. Coach Bob Bradley's squad a place in Sunday's final, where it will play the winner of Thursday's semifinal between Brazil and South Africa.
It was a watershed moment for the U.S., signaling this team's arrival on the world stage.
The win was every bit as big as those by previous American squads -- the victories over Colombia in the 1994 World Cup, over Brazil in the 1998 Gold Cup and over Portugal in the 2002 World Cup.
It took a team effort for 90 minutes, but the American players who stood out were goalkeeper Tim Howard, central defenders Oguchi Onyewu and Jay DeMerit, and midfielder Landon Donovan.
Spain came in is as the top-ranked team in the world. The Spanish had won a world-record 15 games in a row and had tied Brazil's world record by going unbeaten in 35 consecutive games.
All that turned to dust in front of 35,369 at the Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein.
The U.S. players came out flying, still on the high generated by their 3-0 victory Sunday over Egypt which, combined with Brazil's 3-0 victory over Italy, earned Bradley's team an unlikely place in the semifinals after earlier lopsided losses to Italy and Brazil.
The opening goal came in the 27th minute, when Altidore, still only 19, used his physical strength to hold off the challenge of defender Joan Capdevila, turned and fired a shot at the Spanish net.
Spain's goalkeeper, Iker Casillas, who was wrong-footed on the play, managed to get a hand to the ball, but succeeded only in turning it against the left post and it rebounded into the net.
Spain then mounted wave after wave of attacks, but the U.S., packing its defense, held firm. Time and again, shots were either saved by Howard or blocked by defenders and midfielders hustling back to help.
Spain outshot the U.S., 29-9, including 8-2 in shots on target, and also had 17 corner kicks to three for the U.S., but it was thwarted by a resistance seldom seen from an American squad.
The killer blow came in the 74th minute. Benny Feilhaber sent a through ball to Donovan, who cut a pass back across the face of Spain's goal. The ball deflected off the ankle of defender Gerard Pique and fell to teammate Sergio Ramos, but before Ramos could control it, Dempsey came in from his blind side and swept the ball into the net from close range.
Despite intense pressure, the U.S. held on for the final quarter of an hour plus stoppage time to secure a memorable triumph.
The only negative in the performance was the red card issued to Michael Bradley, the coach's son, for a late, two-footed tackle. The ejection will cause him to miss Sunday's final.
The U.S. has twice finished third in the Confederations Cup, but this is the first time it has reached the final.
Jones reported from Los Angeles.
grahame.jones@latimes.com
