With much huffing and puffing and groaning and grimacing the old order of world soccer was restored in South Africa over the weekend. In the Confederations Cup, Spain put down the upstarts from South Africa, while Brazil took care of the even more uppity United States.

Bob Bradley is definitely the man of the hour here - but hold on, Bob - let the man you so soundly beat have the first say: "They had huge energy, were very quick in attack, and caught us by surprise," - the words of Spanish coach Vicente del Bosque.

Stunning is the word, I think, for the USA's rebirth at the Confederations Cup. Did I think the USA could beat Egypt? Maybe, but certainly not by 3-0.

There are, I suppose, a whole bunch of different reasons for enjoying a soccer game -- but aside from the obvious one of seeing your own team win, they probably all boil down to one thing: exciting action.

What on earth is FIFA waiting for? The reports out of Nigeria make it alarmingly clear that to stage the Under-17 World Cup there Oct. 24-Nov. 15, as currently scheduled, would be exposing the young players to considerable risk.

So the Confederations Cup got itself moving -- rather sluggishly -- with a 0-0 tie, a scoreline that is now virtually traditional for opening games at international tournaments.

Brazil, of course, will qualify for the World Cup in South Africa. Of course -- for a whole bunch of reasons: because it's Brazil, because it has been present at every World Cup so far played (and no other country can match that), and because a World Cup without Brazil is simply unthinkable, it wouldn't be a World Cup at all. And then, Brazil will be there on merit, because Brazil has more of the world's great players and plays the sort of soccer that everyone loves to watch.

It would seem that, with the USA's 2-1 victory over Honduras on Saturday, sanity and justice and decency and common sense have returned to the soccer world.

Uncertainty would seem to be the only certainty on the soccer scene as I write this. The doubts start at the very top where the normally confident Sepp Blatter has reluctantly admitted that the plans for his treasured 6+5 scheme will have to be put on hold for the moment.