First, I watched Eric Wynalda on the Fox Football Fone-in show, but didn’t understand the context.  It sounds like the US had it’s own scandal analogous to the one that England is going through with the situation where Captain John Terry has been reported to have had an affair with the girlfriend of teammate Wayne Bridge.  It seems that the US dealt with a similar situation for the 1998 World Cup:

Breaking more than a decade of silence, former U.S. soccer coach Steve Sampson said Tuesday he dropped John Harkes from the national team roster two months before the 1998 World Cup because the American captain was having an affair with the wife of teammate Eric Wynalda.

Second, Match Fit USA has an interesting proposal for setting 8 fixed locations for the US to play CONCACAF opponents in order to maximize home field advantage.

Jamaica- Sandy, Utah: An overwhelming majority of the Jamaican population in the United States is split between Florida and New York. So, let’s go a couple of thousand miles west of both of those places and play the Reggae Boyz in picturesque Sandy. The fans in Utah have supported the Yanks well in the last two qualifiers there (though their showing at Rice-Eccles Stadium in 2005 was much more impressive than last year’s match), and the location would make it very difficult for hordes of Jamaican fans to support their team in person.

Findley did little in the first half, but helped to create some dangerous moments late in the match including drawing a free kick from just outside of the penalty area, and providing a perfect opportunity to Conor Casey via a headed pass.  Unfortunately Casey’s shot went wide to the right.  The team really failed to use the speed of both Findley and Jeff Cunningham who started up top alongside each other.  Both were playing well back toward the midfield line, with a number of defenders behind them.

Beckerman on the other hand played fairly well throughout.  It took him a few minutes to get his rhythm, but he soon began to spread the ball around the field, and had good composure on the ball.  Prior to being yanked midway through the second half, Beckerman also managed a shot from 25 yards out.  He had plenty of space, but didn’t strike well and it didn’t have the pace to challenge the keeper.

The game started off in miserable fashion as captain Jimmy Conrad picked up his second yellow card, earning him an ejection before the midway point of the second half (19th minute).  The play was a foolish tug on a Honduran attacker inside the area.  The ball wasn’t anywhere close to the action at the time.  Carlos Pavon put in not one, but two penalty kicks, as the first one was waived off due to encroachment into the area by Honduran players.

Honduras went on to score a second before the half, and a third goal in the second half.  While the US managed to get a single goal courtesy of a Clarence Goodsen header late in the match.

Three players stood out as particularly disappointing:

• Marvell Wynne: I’ve never been a fan.  He was continually getting beaten on the right side of the defense.  He made numerous forays forward, but as usual he tried to run at several defenders and lost the ball, or put a cross into row 15.
• Jimmy Conrad: Before his boneheaded move, he looked old and slow (wait!  he is!)
• Robbie Rogers: I know this is going to be unpopular, but he was awful, especially in the first half.  He has a lot of skill, but rarely seems to put it together.  He made horrible passes.  He left his team exposed defensively on the left – both before and after Conrad’s exit.  And he has no business standing over the ball on set pieces – his corners were pathetic.

Hopefully this isn’t a sign of what’s to come this summer.  I realize most of these players will not be on the roster in South Africa, but I’m starting to get that sinking feeling that was largely buoyed by last summers success in WC qualifying, the Gold Cup, and at the Confederations Cup.