You Have to Love Goal Difference

Let’s be honest, the United States had no business making it out of the group stage of the Confederations Cup. In what universe should losing to Brazil and Italy and then beating Egypt be rewarded with a place in the semi-finals? (At Italy’s expense, no less.) But such is the nature of the four-team, six-game groups of international competition.

And it’s fantastic.

This is exactly what the Confederations Cup needed. For those of you who may not have been glued to your television sets and computers Sunday afternoon, here’s what happened:

At the start of play, Brazil led the group with six points. Italy and Egypt were tied with three. And the U.S. was sitting with a big ugly goose egg after losing both of its opening games. But there was still one scenario that could see them through. Essentially, Italy had to lose to Brazil by three goals and the U.S. had to beat the plucky Egyptians by the same margin. (Goals scored could have also been a factor, but that would have required absurd scores in both games.)

Sure enough, by the end of both games, which were played simultaneously, the seemingly impossible had become reality. The U.S. had won 3-0 and Brazil had bailed them out by slamming Italy by the same score.

It now means that the U.S. will play Spain and that Brazil will play the hosts, South Africa, in the semifinals. Italy will hardly be upset by their elimination, but the U.S. is ecstatic that it’s through. And that is exactly what the Confederations Cup is about — providing meaningful competition for the second-tier nations against the best in the world while offering a summer workout for the top tier.

Sure, a Spain-Italy semifinal is a mouth-watering prospect on paper. But when the Confederations Cup is the setting, it seems set to be disappointing. Neither one really has anything to play for. And besides, we’re bound to see that caliber of matchup at the World Cup and the Euro.

But throw in an upstart with the drive to prove itself, and suddenly we’ve got a game on our hands. Just look at Egypt beating Italy the other day! (A note to the commenters: I did watch and wasn’t it great?)

Now, admittedly, a South Africa-U.S. final is unlikely. Brazil will probably be just too strong for the South Africans, though Egypt put up an impressive fight, and Spain could outclass the U.S., having not lost in over 30 matches. But if you like underdogs, these are perfect scenarios. Where else could you see these happen in international semifinals?