The U.S. men's national team will kick off the new year tonight looking for a win against a familiar foe in Honduras at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California (9pm ET, FSC and Telefutura).
While tonight's match won't have most of the U.S. team regulars, there are potential World Cup spots up for grabs, so it should be interesting to see how the fringe players fare in one of their last opportunities to impress head coach Bob Bradley.
As always, we will be providing commentarythroughout the match so please feel free to follow along here, and as always, you are welcome to share your own thoughts and opinions in the comments section below.
FINAL- That's all from me tonight. Please feel free to share your thoughts on tonight's match in the comments section below, and look for coverage of the game on SBI tomorrow. Good night folks.
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FINAL- Despite the disappointing start to the year, the Americans have a chance to bounce back in the February 24 friendly vs. El Salvador in Tampa, Florida. It will be interesting to see just which of these players return/start.
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FINAL- The U.S. team's attack was much improved once the myriad of subs came in, but by then it was too late. Who didn't look good tonight? Conrad, Kljestan, Marshall and Wynne.
Some of the top U.S. players tonight? Jonathan Bornstein looked good, as did Davis, Bedoya, Findley and Goodson.
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FINAL- Honduras 3, USA 1. The U.S. team's slow start ultimately cost it its first loss to Honduras in the the last five meetings. Jimmy Conrad's questionabe second yellow card in the 17th minute paved the way for Honduras, but Los Catrachos threatened the U.S. backline all night, especially down the Americans' right flank.
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94th minute- A smooth first touch from Pearce helps create some nice build-up play for the U.S., and Casey gets a good look, but he hits his shot wide.
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91st minute- Even though he has spent much of the night playing at center back, Bornstein has played well.
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89th minute- McCarty's corner find Bedoya, who heads it just behind the far post.
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89th minute- Davis hits a potent free kick, but Escober hits it clear for a U.S. corner.
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88th minute- Findley picks up a foul just in front of the 18. Dangerous free kick here.
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87th minute- Perkins keeps the score respectable with a great 1-v-1 save. U.S. caught pushing too far up.
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83rd minute- 18,626 in attendance at the Home Depot Center tonight. What percentage of that would you say was Honduras supporters?
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81st minute- Honduras earns its third corner kick of the night, but nothing comes of it.
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79th minute- Good cross from Bedoya gets punched away by Escobar.
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78th minute- Georgie Welcome is being subbed in for Pavon, who started the fun for Honduras tonight with his goal from the penalty spot.
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77th minute- Feilhaber blasts a shot from distance wide, and that will be his last touch of the game. McCarty coming in for Feilhaber, who was wearing the captain armband for the first time in his national team career.
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75th minute- Some new found life from the U.S. team. They are getting forward much better.
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71st minute- Goodson follows up his second international goal by taunting the Honduras supporters behind goal. Escober is hurting after the collision with Goodson on that goal. A foul could have been called there, but the goal stands and the U.S. has gained some momentum.
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70th minute- GOAL USA! Clarence Goodson climbs up and heads a corner kick from Davis into the back of the net! 3-1.
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68th minute- Walter Martinez in for Carlos Garcia for Los Catrachos.
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64th minute- Wynne with a Stree-FIghter like challenge. No card given. That call's a bit surprising.
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62nd minute- Honduras makes a switch as well. Ramon Nunez for Jerry Palacios, author of today's second goal.
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59th minute- A quartet of U.S. players being subbed in. Pearce comes in for Marshall, Casey in for Beckerman, Bedoya in for Kljestan and Davis comes in for Robbie Rogers. Bedoya earns his first cap.
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57th minute- Kljestan makes a nice pass to Rogers, whose first touch let him down. Still, Rogers looking much better now than in the first half.
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54th minute- Wynne is getting up the touchline well, and his crosses have been decent. His defending? Not so much.
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52nd minute- Espinoza's finish was too easy. Marshall and Bornstein left him onside.
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52nd minute- GOAL HONDURAS!!! 3-0! Roger Espinoza stabs a dagger into the heart of the U.S. by taking advantage of a deep backline, and slotting home a shot from close range.
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51st minute- Rogers clipped from behind by Guevara, who is awarded a yellow card for his troubles. Kljestan takes the free kick from distance, but skies his shot over.
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50th minute- WOW! Rogers unleashes a potent right-footed shot that smacks off the right post! So close.
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48th minute- Some nifty passing from Honduras gets them a shot on goal, but it is a routine save for Perkins.
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46th minute- Second half begins, and the U.S. has made a change. Clarence Goodson comes in, and out goes Jeff Cunningham. Not the best of days for Cunningham, but he was starved of service. Rogers back to left mid, and Findley up top by his lonesome.
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HALFTIME- So what can Bob Bradley do to erase this two-goal deficit? Inserting Alejandro Bedoya wouldn't surprise me. I could also see Casey or McCarty stepping onto the field for Cunningham and Kljestan.
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HALFTIME- Credit to Honduras, though. Los Catrachos have pressed well, and have pretty much stifled the U.S. attack.
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HALFTIME- Archundia blows the whistle to end a relatively miserable first 45 minutes for the U.S. team. Definitely not the first half to the new year that most were hoping for. 2-0, Honduras.
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45th minute- Feilhaber looking sharper now. Touch and passes look better.
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44th minute- Guevara with a foul on Feilhaber. That should have been a yellow.
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42nd minute- And as I say that, Kljestan makes a nice move around a defender.
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40th minute- Not much from Kljestan today. With six subs available tonight, maybe Bradley replaces him at half-time.
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37th minute- Espinoza lays a ball out to the left, and Pavon has all day before picking out Jerry Palacios with a pinpoint cross. Palacios with a nice diving header to double the lead. Looked to me like Marshall got caught ball-watching there.
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37th minute- GOAL HONDURAS!! 2-0! Jerry Palacios with the finish!
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36th minute- A shot from Palacios goes just wide! Honduras almost made it two.
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33rd minute– Feilhaber sends a good ball to switch the point of the attack and Wynne makes a run down the flank before hitting a wayward cross. Not the dream end result, but much better build-up there.
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32nd minute- Findley and Cunningham have been starved for service so far, and Rogers has not look too sharp. Have to give Rogers some leeway since he is playing basically two positions.
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28th minute- Honduras is pressing well. And they force a Feilhaber turnover deep in the U.S.'s half, which almost results in a second goal.
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25th minute- Perkins sends a free kick out of bounds. Ugly, ugly, ugly.
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24th minute- Honduras asking for a penalty kick after a shot in the box hits Wynne on the arm. Archundia says no and it is the right call. Wynne's arm was stuck to his body with no intention of handling it.
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23rd minute- Bornstein makes a nice slide tackle to prevent a shot.
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22nd minute- Bornstein is now playing center back and Rogers has turned into a left wing back. Rogers shouldn't feel too unfamiliar with that spot. He played there in the final Olympic group stage match against Nigeria in 2008 when Michael Orozco was awarded a red card.
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21st minute- The U.S. gets a corner and Marshall gives the U.S. its first good chance of the day with a header that goes just a bit high. Close, though.
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19th minute- GOAL!!! Honduras is up 1-0 as Pavon beats Perkins from the spot. The U.S. is trailing with a man down.
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17th minute- Conrad given a second yellow for a foul off the ball, and he is sent to the showers early. Not sure about that one.
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17th minute- Some quick passing creates the first opportunity of the night, but now Archundia has awarded a penalty kick to Honduras! WOW.
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14th minute- Guevara with some nice vision to send in a long ball behind Wynne, but it bounces out of bounds. Honduras is taking advantage of the spaces behind the back four.
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11th minute- Wynne almost springs Findley with a long pass. Findley showed a good burst there.
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10th Minute- Good move by Bornstein to create some space for himself, but his cross is a bit weak.
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9th Minute- Jerry Palacios is given a yellow card for diving in the box. Each team with an early yellow.
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8th Minute- Honduras with some nice possession, and the team's supporters begin to shout "Ole!"
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6th Minute- Yellow card on Conrad for a foul on a would-be breakaway. Kind of harsh by referee Armando Archundia.
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4th Minute- U.S. earns its first corner kick of the game, and it gets cleared away.
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3rd Minute- Honduras looked poised to punish the U.S., but Perkins comes out and collects a dangerous-looking cross.
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2nd Minute- Marvell Wynne sends a long ball to no one. Wynne may have rushed himself there.
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1st Minute- And we're off. The fifth encounter between these two teams in the past year begins.
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PRE-GAME- Jimmy Conrad with the captain's armband tonight. Hard to argue that decision.
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PRE-GAME- It's Saturday, how about a drinking game? Drink for every time Christopher Sullivan makes up a word throughout the broadcast. Hope you guys have enough.
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PRE-GAME- Much has been said about Jonathan Bornstein's goal that saw Honduras qualify for the World Cup. Wonder if the Honduran attack will be kind and just attack down the U.S. team's right flank. Kidding…
PRE-GAME- How the U.S. defense can cope with Amado Guevara's attacking prowess could be a major key to tonight's game.
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PRE-GAME- FSC talking about Kljestan right now and how he impressed in last year's January friendly vs. Sweden, where he scored a hat-trick in the 3-2 win. It can be argued that that game was probably his last impressive match in a U.S. jersey.
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PRE-GAME- Here is Honduras' line-up: Escobar, Norales, Pavon, Palacios, Martinez, Espinoza, Turcios, Guevara, Palacios, Izaguerre, Sabillon.
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PRE-GAME- Still waiting for Honduras' starting XI.
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PRE-GAME- The forward pairing of Cunningham and Findley will be interesting to watch, as will the performance by Sacha Kljestan, who is starting in his first international match since the Brazil blunder in the group stages of the Confederations Cup.
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PRE-GAME- No Omar Gonzalez on the bench may come as somewhat of a surprise to U.S. fans, but to be fair, he was not going to surpass Goodson on the centerback depth chart before this World Cup. Gonzalez is one to look out for next cycle.
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PRE-GAME- U.S. team's subs: Rimando, Goodson, Pearce, McCarty, Bedoya, Casey, Davis.
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PRE-GAME- Here is the U.S. team's starting XI:
————————Perkins———————–
–Wynne——–Conrad——Marshall—–Bornstein–
-Kljestan——-Feilhaber—Beckerman——Rogers-
—————Cunningham——-Findley—————
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PRE-GAME- It's Franco Panizo and I will be providing tonight's commentary and observations. Still awaiting the U.S. team's starting XI.
You guys don’t get the joke? Losing here is all a big ruse. Bradley’s getting your expectations so low, that when we go out in 3 in SA that you’ll be happy little clams that “gosh golly, we went in there and gave it our all!”.
Wake me when it’s over.
bigdeadbat really didnt know what he was talking about, but there talent would be a tough argument to make against Clint Dempsey, Landon Donovan, Steve Cherundolo, Tim Howard, Jermaine Jones, Maurice Edu, Damarcus Beasley, Ricardo Clark, Michael Bradley, Jozy Altidore, Jonathan Spector, Brad Guzan, Charlie Davies, Oguchi Onyewu, and Carlos Bocanegra
thats 15 atleast ok european players for the US, when they can name two good EPL players and an okay left back in figueroa
still has alot to learn, wynne, alston, delagarza will probably fight for back up roles in 2014 to Spector
just because a player doesnt have a good touch or skill does not mean he has a bad IQ
what leads you to say something so dumb?
he contains in the right areas usually and stabs in the right conditions as well(usually), he is very good at Overlapping the right mid which is what most of the IQ is for a right back……
no, i know it sounds odd, but we are The United States of America
epic fail
there is something called a mouth that a referee can use…..all he had to do was talk to Conrad, onrad has always beeen a bit immature but if the ref actually talked to him and warned him it would have been fine
THERE IS NO REASON for a ref to give two back to back yellows to a player in a FRIENDLY without warning
oh yea and to reply to Jags98,
yea because Jimmy Conrad is the most mature player in MLS and should be an ambassador for the rest of his life right? wrong, he is experienced yes but possibly could have been the worst player BB could have ever given the armband to…..i wouldnt put it on Bradley to exactly know that however, he wouldnt think Conrad would be so foolish in a friendly
I didn’t think Wynne was anywhere near as bad as most people are saying either. Granted he started very rough, but as the game wore on I thought he improved greatly. Playing a man down, considering all the runs me made & how much added 2 way responsibility fell to him, his job was not easy. I thought he handled it admirably & showed enough physical AND mental toughness to deserve a bit of praise. Or at the very least not get bashed to the tune of “worst defensive performance ever” comments.
My 2 cents:
Bornstein(not a fan but): looked solid all night, was all over the place.
Wynne: FAST!!! but feet like sledgehammers, not just a bad first touch all hi
Beckerman: has the worst first touch ever, every pass to him bounces off his feet 5 to 20 feet away, he then has to run down the ball before he can even think to pass, i never seen a professional player look down at his feet more. hes ok for MLS, but not on this stage.
Sasha: ever since the non-transfer has not been the same, done for WC2010.
Rogers: seems to make some ok plays(great shot on goal), but really turns it over alot. he always does the same moves, fakes right, tries to burn them up the left, then either is dispossed or hits a weak cross.
Conrad: um…yeah.
Benny: most skill on the squad today, had an ok game but did not live up to potential.
The 4 subs that came on were night and day from the “starters”.
Davis: on field play was good had a couple good passes to spring people, assist on the set piece, and set piece punched over by keeper.
Bedoya: good pace, nice passing, good crosses, and mixed up his direction of attack. brought in a great creative presence, was impressed.
Casey: looked strong, not the best touch, but easily was best forward out there tonight.
Pearce: looked ok, not great but definitely plugged some holes.
The rest not listed didnt stink it up, but not much to brag about either. Friendlies are for seeing what new players can do, or maybe not do.
Ok…now we know that Bob Bradley is not a good coach…he still has not learned…always outcoached.
Things we know for sure…Sasha should not even be invited back…stop wasting time and let others get their true chance…rogers is still in the hunt…beckerman is out…finley is in..just get somebody to pass to him…bedoya needs more time but the next game should include only those that have a serious chance..no has beens please…
I dont think Evans played tonight.
who says that?
beckerman is dog-sheet!
agreed probably the worst player on the field!!!!
sorry, i have a correction….brad evans was my surprisingly good player, not davis…i guess i was venting too quickly…
*bradley
also conrad made the biggest mistake by getting a second yellow, so that certainly didn’t help…but it also didn’t help that some of the players just didn’t know what to do in the first half being a man down and that isn’t good either…
also, i wonder if honduras gets the second goal if bradly subbed in goodson sooner, but i won’t get upset about that because at least it was a friendly and not a world cup match
this match was awful, well the second half was better after the mass substitutions….
anyone saying that beckerman was the best player is smoking something….he clearly only knows how to dribble with one foot, he has difficulty making a simple pass and keeps trying to pass the ball 30-40 feet over the midfield to the strikers and is not accurate….
wynn….AWFUL!!!!! just because the guy was able to chase down the wingers doesn’t mean he played great…in fact, if a back has to constantly chase the winger it means the back was not in proper position to start….he was constantly beaten on the flank, luckily he is fast because he was able to catch up, but wynn is awful…his positioning has not improved at all over the course of the mls season…..
benny, i like benny, but it clearly was not his best game…but for the few minutes he was in there after beckerman left, he played a little better…
borny, not a fan, but he was the player that played with the most confidence and thus was the best US player….
casey, had the best game when we needed it, the one qualifier in which he scored two goals….other than that, he is not international quality and sadly because of injuries, we will have to see more of him…
sasha, awful, don’t know why bob continuously comes back to him, he is not good enough.
i was impressed with davis (to my own surprise) and bedoya…the second unit had much more chemistry and much more understanding of how to move the ball….
honduras played with pretty much their world cup squad…and the 3 or 4 that are in europe, are very good and get more plenty of quality PT….
very disappointed today, but it is a friendly…i am very worried about the striker position because no one else on this current team can score….
Findlay rocked, just never given a real chance. Casey sucked!!!! He’s to slow, he subs in and walked half the time, Findlay was still running around after playing most of the game. I agree, where are all these Honduras supporters for MLS games??? Conrad blew it for us early! What an idiot, that man needs to quit soccer and go into real estate like Scott Garlick did. I will boo that moron anywhere from here on. What a dink!!!
Archundia ruined this game for both sides. This is not how a friendly should be officiated. Even though Honduras won the game, by playing one man up, they really will not know how certain players would have performed if it were 11-11. The U.S. should also feel cheated on Archundia’s penalty call. 11-11 certain U.S. players would have performed differently as well. Despite being one man down, the U.S. had some good momments in the second half. The U.S. should not be proud of their performance but neither should Honduras. They could have let this game slip away to a U.S. C team one man up.
4th string? if thats our 4th string, who are the second and third string? and against their 1st string? how do you figure? their best three or four players didnt even make the trip.
I’m a USA fan everything sucks rabble rabble rabble
Yeah, it was a bad night. The red card was unfortunate and made it difficult to learn much. And few players were anything resembling stellar. But we did learn some things:
– Wynne is a fast runner but not very good at soccer.
– Bornstein is less shaky than he used to be.
– Marshall is not there mentally right now.
– Goodson is dangerous in the air, on offense and defense.
– Perkins is not a bad option for 3rd keeper.
– Even when he’s having trouble totally running the show, Feilhaber still plays with a touch of class.
– Kljestan still makes some good decisions and some boneheaded ones.
– Beckerman is a useful reserve center mid, but he’s not very high on the depth chart.
– Rogers is a useful wing player.
– Cunningham and Findley have difficulty creating things on their own.
– Bedoya has some grit.
– Casey really isn’t good for much unless we’re holding a lead and need a big target striker to slow things down.
– Our starters better get/stay healthy.
Now, everyone calm down and step off the ledge…
agreed. the people on here are out of their gourds.
RSLFan, don’t deceive yourself. That wasn’t Honduras’ A team. Maybe half those guys tonight will play in South Africa. They were missing a bunch of Europe based players who are even better than the guys they fielded tonight.
Let’s not look for excuses. Most of the US players aren’t good enough for this level. I like Bob Bradley a lot, but he needs to take some gambles on players outside the obvious ones, because most of the guys who played tonight proved they don’t belong in an international game.
Just got home from the game – thanks to my boy Nick Rimando for the killer seats next to Bedoya’s mom and dad and behind Findleys family. The result was to be expected as we fielded a 4th string team against Honduras’s 1st stringers. Feilhaber stood out in a group a USA players who are just too you or inexperienced.
The Red Bulls need to take a hard look at getting Wynne back…. him and richards on the same side would be out of control…..
You MUST be a Toronto FC Homer. Or a close Wynne relative.
Chad Marshall and Jimmy Conrad suck they have no business going to S.A. unless they are going to take in a safari and a game.
There was nothing questionable about the PK. Conrad grabbed him from behind. If the last WC is any indication that absolutely would be a PK in the WC (with Amercian hating refs). Conrad’s always is foulingand if hes too stupid to realize we dont need stupid fouls than we dont need him.
Also I’ll add a couple more things…
I don’t like BB but I’m not gonna slam him for this game. The starting lineup was adequate and the red card pretty much screws up everything you set out to do. Saying that though…this is another in many many many recent games where the team has come out and looked completely flat as soon as the whistle blew…thats on the coach.
As for these CONCACAF refs…theses guys are jokes. It’s an absolute shame watching them influence matches as much as they do. I’m not blaming our loss or poor performance on them but there are way too many times when these refs cross your train of thought while watching the game and that should never be the case…
Gotta say I’m dissappointed just like the other fans. If they get blown out again so help me.
Sickening…
Wynne: There were times when I questioned if he had ever played the game of soccer before let alone defense
Conrad: Seriously why is he still getting called in?
Marshall: His stock just plummeted…
Bornstein: I don’t like Bornstein at all but I’ll admit he was our best player on the field (all though thats not saying a lot if you look at the rest of our players)
Rogers: I’ve said it a hundred times…not good enough! He is the epitome of soccer development in this country…kick, run, cross. No skill, no soccer IQ.
Benny: Clearly he has the most technical ability of anyone on that team but he needs to influence the game much more than he did
Beckerman: I like him as a player and I like his style unfortunately he lacks that special quality that you need at the international level
Klejstan: Sucks…if he delivered that free kick in Scotland for Celtic he would have been boo’d off the pitch, then boo’d while he got in his car by fans leaving the game, then turned on the radio and been boo’d by the dj
Findley/Cunningham: Umm did anyone tell those guys that the game started? For two guys with a serious shot to make the WC squad their play was insulting. Show up and work…god please we need a miracle…get Davies healthy!
So, the El Salvador game is a week before the Netherlands game, when are the regulars allowed to be released?
Wynne is beastly athletic……….. he needs to find a crossing coach and he would be the perfect wingback in a 3-5-2
Just got back from the game. When did Carson get annexed by Honduras? Seriously, 90% of the fans there from Honduras. I don’t think any of them has seen a match either. Every time one of their player got the ball across midfield, they all stood up and cheered like he was going to score. The fans were pretty cool. Hats of to the few USA supporters that stood up to yell at them.
Um, he was playing out of position…
Um, Beasley back there didn’t work out so well before…
Yes he was the most interesting player. Why? Because he was able to move from the first third of the pitch to the last. There is not a single U.S. defender who has demonstrated this ability. In fact, excluding Beasley, we don’t have a single half-wise legitimate winger. The real HA HA here is relying on the counterattack for offense without wing play, be it from the midfield or the back.
Again, I cannot believe you are saying that was a bad call.
Amen. That was a ridiculous, blatant, unnecessary foul. In a country with a history of committing stupid fouls, that was one of the stupidest. To blame the ref is just plain silly. Way to ruin the match, Conrad.
I’m honestly surprised so many of you keep trivializing these performances. It’s less than 5 months to the England match and obviously NONE of these players are candidates for South Africa. Outside of the “starting eleven” this program is in disarray. Hell, with all the injuries even the “starting eleven” is in disarray.
What’s supremely disappointing is that none of these players are stepping up.
You gotta stay away from the stadium nachos next time!
I felt like throwing up after the game my stomach really …… hurtsss.
US played much better in 2nd half. Interesting note, one of the better players tonight was an MLS player. Roger Espinoza played 16 games for KC last year.
Wynne the most interesting player!? You must have one of them newfangled 3-D televisions and were watching it without the glasses…
lol did you use a translator for that?
“potent”
he hit at the keeper’s face.
sigh.
what about “predictable”
??? agreed the ref was poor, but i didn’t think the play was especially dirty
I’ll have what your having, then.
gross
I think someone at Conrad’s experience level HAS TO KNOW that a grab at a central American attacker when they’re running is going to lead to a dive…
…and in the two positions that he grabbed, he HAD TO KNOW that a yellow was coming.
I’ve always liked Jimmy Conrad. Literally came from nowhere to play in the ’06 World Cup. Sadly, I believe that was his last cap for the US.
I also think the opinions of Sacha are harsh. He was not a world beater out there, but he found space, made a few decent moves, and didn’t turn the ball over as much as in games past. He’s making progress, I think.