Spain vs United States of America | FIFA Confederations Cup | Semi-finals | Preview

Spain will attempt to claim another spot in the record books and clinch their place in the final of the Confederations Cup when they take on surprise qualifiers the United States in Bloemfontein.

The European champions have already broken one world record during their stint in South Africa, with Saturday’s 2-0 victory over the host nation not only seeing Spain progress through Group A with a 100% record but also extending their run of successive wins to 15. That saw them move one clear of Brazil, France and Australia, who all jointly held the former record along with the Spanish. Saturday’s win also extended Spain’s unbeaten run to 35 matches, drawing them level with Brazil’s world-leading mark that was set between between 1993 and 1996, and Vicente del Bosque`s side can take that record for their own tomorrow as well.

Spain are huge favorites to continue their remarkable form against a United States side that created a big stir in battling back from the brink to qualify from Group B, but midfielder Xabi Alonso is not taking anything for granted. Alonso, who was part of the Spain side that ground out a hard-fought 1-0 win over the US in a friendly last year, Xavi scoring the only goal 12 minutes from time, said:

If they are here it’s because they have deserved it. Before we went to the European Championships we played against them and it was not easy at all. They are going to wait for us, they will be together. Their approach will not be much different to that of Iraq or South Africa. We cannot think that it will be easy. They are a physically strong team, well organised and very rapid on the counter-attack. Also, they have players who play in the Premier League and we already know them.

If Spain get through then it could set up a mouth-watering final against mighty Brazil, who will play host nation South Africa in the other semi-final on Thursday after comfortably finishing top of Group B with three wins from three. Alonso admits that would be a special match but the Liverpool man is determined to take it one step at a time. He said in Marca:

It would be spectacular, but first we have the semi-final and then we’ll see. We cannot think of anything more than that.

Few expected the United States, who have lost all three of their previous meetings with Spain, to progress out of a group that included Brazil and Italy, especially after losing to both those sides in their opening two matches and conceding six goals in the process. However, Sunday’s 3-0 win over Egypt, combined with some favorable results in the other group games, left Bob Bradley’s side in second place in the pool, pipping Italy to a place in the last four thanks to having scored one more goal than the world champions.

The US will know they have their work cut out to make it through to the final though against a Spain side that has only conceded two goals in 13 matches since Del Bosque took charge last summer. Bradley believes they can cause an upset, though, saying:

We came up against Spain before Euro 2008 and we played a great game. We’ve been watching them during this tournament and we’ve been taking note of their style. We know how to stop them and we are very confident.

Teams:

Spain: Iker Casillas, Diego Lopez, Pepe Reina; Raul Albiol, Gerard Pique, Carlos Marchena, Carles Puyol, Joan Capdevila, Sergio Ramos, Alvaro Arbeloa; Pablo Hernandez, Xavi, Cesc Fabregas, Sergio Busquets, Xabi Alonso, Santi Cazorla, Albert Riera, David Silva, Juan Mata; David Villa, Fernando Torres, Fernando Llorente, Daniel Guiza;

U.S.A: Tim Howard, Brad Guzan, Luis Robles; Jonathan Bornstein, Carlos Bocanegra, Oguchi Onyewu, Heath Pearce, Marvell Wynne, Jay DeMerit, Danny Califf, Jonathan Spector; DaMarcus Beasley, Michael Bradley, Ricardo Clark,Sacha Kljestan, Freddy Adu, Jose Francisco Torres, Benny Feilhaber; Conor Casey, Clint Dempsey, Charlie Davies, Landon Donovan, Jozy Altidore;

Played at: Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein.