U.S. national soccer team looking to build on its success

Expectations are high for the U.S. men's national soccer team as it begins play in the CONCACAF Gold Cup tonight at Qwest Field, and Charlie Davies knows it.

Davies is one of a few players now in Seattle who was with the team for its unprecedented run to the championship match of the Confederations Cup tournament last month in South Africa. The forward from Manchester, N.H., scored a goal in the U.S. team's 3-0 win over Egypt that catapulted it into the tourney semifinals.

An upset of Spain sent the U.S. to even further heights, but it fell 3-2 to Brazil in the championship. Still, the match was one of the most widely viewed soccer games ever in the U.S., and boosted publicity and awareness of the team and the game among fans.

"If we can continue to play well and develop as a team, I think a lot more people will follow us and really support us," Davies said.

Coach Bob Bradley said that the key to the Americans' success in South Africa was learning from the first two games, both losses, and then being the aggressor in the Egypt match. And he seemed to take offense at the notion that the U.S. showing was a miracle, calling it a "great performance."

"It was tremendous. The atmosphere was amazing," Davies said. "They treated us first class, and everything we did pretty much gave us a good expectation for the 2010 World Cup [in South Africa]."

After the Brazil game, Bradley had to turn his attention to the Gold Cup. He chose Davies as one of a handful of holdovers from the Confederations Cup.

The Gold Cup has no bearing on World Cup qualification, but the tournament is for the national team championship of North America, Central America and the Caribbean, and the U.S. is defending its 2007 title.

The U.S. opens Group B play with Grenada and also will face Honduras and Haiti in the group stage.

"This is an important tournament, the championship of our confederation," Bradley said. "We are excited about defending our title."

The U.S. roster for the Gold Cup will include several players who weren't in South Africa, including Brian Ching, a former Gonzaga and United Soccer Leagues Sounders standout, and a number of Major League Soccer veterans, including Sounders FC midfielder Brad Evans.

"Everyone has the sense that we have to keep on going," Davies said. "A lot of these guys want to prove themselves."

Notes

• In Gold Cup Group A games Friday in Carson, Calif., Canada defeated Jamaica 1-0; and El Salvador topped Costa Rica 2-1.

• Sounders FC announced the signing of midfielder Michael Fucito, whom the team selected in the fourth round of the MLS college draft this year. Fucito, who attended Harvard, was immediately placed on the disabled list with foot tendinitis and is not eligible to play in MLS games until Aug. 15.

José Miguel Romero: 206-464-2409 or jromero@seattletimes.com. The Associated Press

contributed to this report.