It’s always nice to be taken lightly. Just show up and the U.S. team will fold like a carelessly assembled stack of cards. Egypt paid the price, and now Spain. Against Spain, the U.S. strategy was simple: keep the defense organized in two tight lines of four and give Spain the flanks, because Reira, Xavi, Fabrigas, Torres, and Villa prefer to come inside. Stand there and let them flounder against superior, compacted numbers. Only Sergio Ramos overlapped in the first half, but not often, though Torres had an amazing chance on the right side after leaving Bocanegra for dead.

I think Spain really missed Iniesta, who personifies the receive, pass, move philosophy of Barcelona so well. What I couldn’t figure out was why Spain didn’t adjust right away. If it was obvious to me, it should have been obvious to the players on the field. Play from width and stretch the United States across the field.

I found Altidore’s first half goal interesting. When he turned inside against Capdevila, he had a free shot on goal. The two central defenders were busy attacking Dempsey, whom they perceived as the real threat, and Sergio Ramos was still tracking back after making an overlapping run. It was the kind of mistake that no U.S. central defender would make.

In the second half, Spain did attack from the flanks whenever possible with Riera, Ramos, Torres, and the substitute Cazorla constantly making runs. Not only that, they upped the tempo and attacked on every possession, knowing they might actually lose if they didn’t. Tim Howard in goal was huge. Ricardo Clark in midfield was a revelation. Oneywu and DeMerit in the middle were solid. Donovan never stopped running, and Charlie Davis’ speed up front bothered Puyol.

Of course, John Harkes, the color commentator, continued to trash Clint Dempsey the entire game, and was left speechless when Clint scored the second goal for the U.S. I loved how Dempsey shut him up with his brilliant play on the field. When Harkes finally found his voice again, instead of complimenting Dempsey, he praised a pass given by Feilhaber, who had one of the assists. His final comment was that Clint had gotten lucky.

Oh John! Hey Harksie! I hear Kearny, New Jersey is looking for a soccer coach and they’ll take anyone.

As American football (soccer) fans, we have the dubious honor of listening to JP Dellacamera call important national games and John Harkes provide color commentary. JP (no periods), as he is called, has no idea what’s happening on the field and spouts the first cliche that pops into his head. By the law of averages, his comments sometimes hit the mark, but not through intelligent observation or real experience. He is a far cry from English commentators who actually describe the action on the field, including what’s difficult at first sight to fully comprehend, because goal mouth action can be a blur on television. JP’s ignorance is an insult to American fans.

Interestingly, while watching the United States beat a very tired and battered Egyptian team 3-0 in the Confederations Cup, I found Harkes, the first American midfielder to play in the English Premier League, to be worse than Dellacamera. He spent the entire game criticizing Clint Dempsey, the midfielder who starts for Fulham. He was lazy, didn’t track back, couldn’t pass, needed to be replaced so someone better could be in there, was slow, gave the ball away, and generally stank. When Dempsey scored the most important goal of his international career to put the U. S. through to the next round, Harkes complimented the cross, but not the header until JP prompted him to do so. He then mentioned how bad the defender had been. Is Harksie somehow threatened by a player who has skills he never possessed himself?

In any case, I find it hard to believe how stupid the American media (ESPN) and soccer federation believe we are as fans. Neither of these guys would last one game in Europe or Central or South America before they’d be yanked (no pun intended), never to be heard from again. If JP and Harksie can’t add anything to our enjoyment and understanding of the game, why are they broadcasting?