Honduras Recap

Hi! We’re the Red, White and Blues Brothers and this is our color-coded U.S. Soccer blog. Chip writes in red and Danny writes in blue. We cheer for the U.S. and you better too!

On June 18, the Red White and Blues Brothers attended the U.S vs. Honduras World Cup Qualifier in Salt Lake City where the Yanks came up victorious 1-0 to that pesky Honduras team.  Now let's go to Chip with the game recap...  

A win is a win they say. It was a big win for the USA MNT for sure and it solidifies us as a team to be reckoned with. However, we still have a long way to go to be ready to WIN a World Cup. Keep in mind my review is from ground level BEHIND the goal which is a little different perspective than watching on TV. 

It felt like we had little or no flow in the game. Bradley controlled the midfield as usual, but other than that if felt like we were kicking the ball around a bit. We did play nice defensively in my opinion. Honduras only had one or two real chances at goals. Tim Howard stepped up both times as expected. And not to pat myself on the back, but it does reinforce my belief that Beasley needs to be used as a midfield substitution (instead of Castillo) and not as a starting defender. I guess we will see how Jurgen feels come September. I don't think we need to wait that long. The Beas was just appointed Captain of the U.S. squad during the Gold Cup for the month of July! Our offense did have some superb attacks and we could have had 2 or even 3 goals with a little luck or a little NO OFFSIDE call. (Minutes before the U.S. scored their real goal, a U.S. goal was waved off with a controversial-for-us offside call.) Jozy (Altidore) came thru once again and Clint (Dempsey) was a bit unlucky not to head one in. Unlucky? It was beyond that. It was surreal! I’ve never seen anything like it. Dempsey hit a nice full-extension header that went off the post and it bounced back directly over his diving body. If he was able to bend his leg up he might have scored the most amazing forward-heel shots ever scored!  Bradley even had his opportunity to score, but it sailed just over the crossbar. Overall it was nice to see the attacking mindset. I still wish we could do it with a little more fluidity and I wish we could counterattack better.  Counterattacks are some of the most dangerous plays in soccer, and Honduras almost proved that on Tuesday night. Luckily they had a miss dribble to ruin one and a misfire to ruin another. Our counterattacks look like we are setting up for a tea party or something... We are not the British National Team, we are the US Men's National Team!!

I feel Graham Zusi is one of the most under appreciated players on our team. Well I appreciate him if that helps. Why does Jurgen always sub for him? I need to know these things. Now, I was really impressed with the way Brad Davis played when he came in for Zusi, but what if Zusi stayed in and Davis came in for Eddie Johnson? That might just be dynamic! In an earlier post I had mentioned Eddie might be in top form since he scored a couple of goals and yes he scored against Panama in Seattle, but I retract that statement. He hasn't impressed me much personally.

Again, overall I am pleased with our progress and look forward to seeing how we improve over the next few months and into next summer. Danny and I will be in Columbus to see the HUGE game against Mexico. Come on out and meet and greet with us!

I almost say here that it didn't help that the officials insisted on taking away all the streamers that the fans were throwing towards the field and the goal. Don't they watch any soccer games in Europe or Brazil? There are always streamers along the field and the goal. It seemed to take away some of the enthusiasm from the crowd and it showed how little America really knows about the passion and fun of the game.

Wow, I’m glad you ALMOST said that, because if you really said that, it might be taken a little harsh!

Read about our fan experience in the next blog and as we get ready for the Gold Cup... Let's Go USA!