The United States national soccer [football] team made history today by advancing to the FIFA Confederation Cup final.

The Cup is the precursor to the 2010 World Cup. Both are hosted by South Africa.

[AP.]

The United States went up against Spain in the Bloemfontein’s Free State Stadium. The final score was 2:0 with U.S. Jozy Altidore scoring the first goal [’27] and Clint Dempsey scoring the second goal in the second half [’74]. Altidore was acquired for by Spain’s premier division team Villarreal from U.S. Major League Soccer for $10 million, but has been neglected by the team and even loaned to a second-division team. His fortunes may change now.

After losing two games to Brazil and Italy, the United States only advanced to the semi-final on a goal deferential in a 3:0 victory over Egypt.

Now having secured its position in the final, the United States must await the Brazil v. South Africa game to see who will be its competition for the cup.

The victory, though worthy of great pride on behalf of the U.S., does not mean that the U.S. is now a top team in world soccer. The Confederation is no World Cup. In the 2006 Germany-hosted World Cup, the U.S. did not advance beyond group standing [it lost against Czech Republic, 0:3; Ghana, 0:2; and tied with Italy 1:1]. Advancing to the semi-final in the Confederation only requires being one of two teams out of four to move beyond the group standing. The World Cup has two more stages after group standing before the semi-final match.

Nonetheless, even though European Champions Spain would defeat the U.S. in 9/10 games, the victory is still a genuine one for the U.S. and a boost to the team’s confidence.

Now the final. Clearly, South Africa would be less a challenge. Brazil would seem almost impossible. Whatever the results of the final, the presence of the U.S. may do something to increase domestic interest in the world’s most popular sport.