Quick! Grab the film rights! U.S. 2, Spain 0!!!

Here are some of the subjects I have never broached on this blog: Kumquats, breastfeeding, the Bee Gees, ingrown toenails, Anopheles quadrimaculatus, Bill O’Reilly, and tofu. I prefer, of course, to stick to what GITS is supposed to be about: screenwriting, movies, Hwood, and helping to make you millions of dollars by selling a spec script, leaving me in abject poverty, and a lonely, broken old man (I still haven’t figured out the business model for this blog). 

But I have to break with decorum just this once and talk about something no one in this country cares much about or understands — and that is soccer. To wit:

The U.S. men’s national soccer team today defeated the world’s #1-ranked team Spain 2–0 in the Confederations Cup in South Africa.

It is a stunning result. And having been a fan of soccer and in particular U.S. soccer since 1990 — which translates into a long-suffering fan — it’s time to celebrate. The photo above is the squad who took the field today. All hail ye conquering heroes!

For those who care about such things, Jack Bell of the NY Times has a great post to put today’s game in historical perspective, including video from previous U.S. shockers such as the 1–0 victory over England at the 1950 World Cup, the 1998 1–0 victory over then #1 Brazil, and the 2–0 win over Mexico in the 2002 WC.

NOTE: The “Story Behind Script Coverage” series will resume tomorrow. Now I’m off to celebrate!

UPDATE: To really understand the nature of this game, Spain had won their last 15 international matches — a world record. They were unbeaten in their last 35 matches — tying a world record. They hadn’t been scored on for over 450 minutes. And the U.S. has had a poor run of late in both WC Qualifying and the first two matches of the Confeds Cup. The match today is full of high drama — and it’s being rebroadcast tonight at 11PM PDT / EDT on ESPN2.

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