Confederations Cup Semifinals

Who: United States vs. Spain.

Where: Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein, South Africa.

When: 2:30 p.m.

TV: ESPN, Univision (live), ESPN2 (taped at 11 p.m.).

At Stake: Winner will play Brazil or South Africa -- who face each other tomorrow -- in Sunday's championship match in Johannesburg. Loser will play in the third-place game Sunday in Rustenburg.

U.S. Probable Starters (club in parentheses): GK Tim Howard (Everton, England); Ds Jonathan Spector (West Ham, England), Jay DeMerit (Watford, England), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard Liege, Belgium), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA, MLS); MFs Clint Dempsey (Fulham, England), Michael Bradley (Moenchengladbach, Germany), Ricardo Clark (Houston, MLS), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles, MLS); Fs Jozy Altidore (Villarreal, Spain), Charlie Davies (Hammarby, Sweden).

Outlook: After playing global titans Italy and Brazil in the group stage of this eight-nation tournament, the Americans confront a Spanish team that has won a world-record 15 consecutive matches and is unbeaten in 35 straight, tying Brazil's international mark. Last summer, in a friendly in Santander, Spain, the United States was even until Xavi Hernandez's goal in the 79th minute of a 1-0 decision. The Americans appear badly outmanned against the reigning European champions, but Sunday's 3-0 victory over Egypt was a confidence-booster after two dreary performances. Spain breezed through the group stage, scoring eight goals and conceding none. Brad Guzan, the U.S. team's back-up goalkeeper, started against Egypt, but Coach Bob Bradley is likely to return to Howard. Defender Carlos Bocanegra, a usual starter who has not played in this tournament after injuring a hamstring in a World Cup qualifier two weeks ago, is questionable. Spanish forwards David Villa and Fernando Torres have scored three goals apiece, tying them with Brazil's Luis Fabiano for the tournament lead.

-- Steven Goff