U.S. Stuns Spain in soccer

Now, President Obama has more reason than ever to visit South Africa.

Having agreed to attend the opening game of soccer's 2010 World Cup, if possible, Obama might want to consider a much earlier trip.

Say on Sunday, for instance.

That's when the United States will play in the final of the FIFA Confederations Cup in Johannesburg, the U.S. having reached the championship game by scoring one of international soccer's all-time upsets Wednesday night.

Goals by Jozy Altidore and Clint Dempsey and a defense that bordered on the miraculous earned the Americans a 2-0 victory over European champion Spain in front of 35,369 at the Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein.

That's the same Spain that is ranked No. 1 in the world, the same Spain that had been unbeaten in a world-record-tying 35 games, the same Spain that had won a world-record 15 games in a row.

It was a watershed moment for the U.S., signaling the team's true arrival on the world stage.

In Sunday's final, the suddenly high-flying Americans will play the winner of today's semifinal game between Brazil and South Africa in Johannesburg.

In the afterglow of an epic victory, even one of the players who made it possible was nonplused.

"I can't explain it any more than you can," goalkeeper Tim Howard told reporters. "Sports is funny sometimes, but when you put your mind to something, you can achieve it."

The U.S. put mind, body and everything else into the game. Word of the colossal upset reverberated around the soccer world.

"To beat an amazing team like Spain and make the final, it's big," Coach Bob Bradley said in the postgame news conference. "We played as hard as we could and that's what it took. Every guy contributed."

The game was played in near-freezing conditions but the U.S. players came out flying, still on the high generated by a 3-0 victory over Egypt on Sunday that earned Bradley's team an unlikely place in the semifinals after lopsided losses to Italy and Brazil.

The opening goal Wednesday came in the 27th minute when Altidore, still only 19, used his strength to hold off the challenge of defender Joan Capdevila, turned and fired a shot at the Spanish net.

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.