The state of USA Soccer shouldn't be judged by this result. Still though, it's clear that Spain were playing an entirely different game than the Americans in this Saturday afternoon international friendly. The goals came fast and furious and before you could settle into a nice "U-S-A" chant, the home team was down 3-0.
Excuses can be made given the short turnaround between this match and the open game of the 2011 Gold Cup on Tuesday against Canada, but still it's disheartening to get beaten this handily. Missing from Saturday's match were Landon Donovan who was scheduled to at least play part of the game but was held out due to illness.
It was the defense though that was most disappointing. Time and again the Spanish had free roam to get umarked shots off on goal. The result was the thumping that could have been worse than the 4-0 final score.
Goals were scored by Santi Cazorla (28', 41'), Álvaro Negredo (32'), and Fernando Torres (73').