June 24, 2009: The day USA upset European Champions, Spain
During the 2009 Confederations Cup, Spain suffered one of the biggest upsets in football history when the US national team beat them to reach the tournament finals.
June 24, 2009 saw one of the biggest upsets in football history, when a dream year for the Spanish national team - that saw them become European champions by beating Germany during the 2008 Eurocup - came to an end.
Spain led by Luis Aragones, become European champions with a 1-0 win over Germany at the Ernst Happen Stadium in Viena thanks to a Fernando Torres' goal after a wait of 44 years.
But that magical year that saw them go top of the FIFA national rankings for the first time ended at the 2009 Confederations Cup.
In the semi-final match, Spain faced the United States Men's national team, and despite the Spaniards being the firm favorites to reach the final and win the tournament the North Americans had something else in mind, and with goals from Jozy Altidore and Clint Dempsey, the USMNT beat Spain to reach the final of the tournament while causing one of the biggest upsets in football history.
With the defeat to the United States in the sem-ifinals, Spain saw its 35-match unbeaten streak come to an end, with Jozy Altidore's goal being the first goal against 'La Roja' in 451 minutes of play, and just the third goal Spain conceded in 17 games.
That night Vicente del Bosque, who took charge of the Spanish team after Luis Aragones, said "this is an accident, a little step backward... we have to look forward with optimism," and they did indeed move forward with Spain becoming World Champions in 2010 and European Champions again in 2012.