Is it too early to say? USA has only played 4 games so far out of a total of 10. I guess the fact that we’ve only played 1 home game generally bodes well for qualification?
You want to talk about a tough qualification path for the World Cup?
In 1993 I was in the crowd as Australia took on Argentina in Sydney in the first leg of a playoff for the last berth in the 1994 World Cup. Australia had won Oceania and narrowly defeated Canada in a playoff in order to get to that final playoff.
There was just the small matter of facing Argentina - who had been in three of the last four World Cup Finals - to overcome. That is about as hard a qualification path as I can imagine.
The match finished 1-1, and Argentina won the second leg in Buenos Aires 1-0 thanks to possibly the flukiest goal (I can’t find it on Youtube, but basically a cross attempt hit the defender’s leg near the corner flag, looped up and fell almost vertically just under the far corner of the goal) I’ve ever seen.
On the plus side I got to see a resurgent Maradona (he’d been brought back into the Argentinian side after Colombia flogged them 5-0 in the last match of the South American qualifiers, and he later got thrown out of the 1994 World Cup for using ephedrine) and Gabriel Batistuta play.
And I was at the Olympic Stadium in Sydney in 2005 when Australia qualified for the first time since 1974. Great night.
Brad Evans, who normally plays midfield but is playing right back for the national team. He has 14 career goals for the Seattle Sounders FC since joining in 2009, but yes is essentially a more defensive-minded midfielder, albeit an effective one.
Anyway, his winning goal was far better than “a bit of a deflection off a corner kick.” He caught it, controlled it, spun it around like lightning and fired it in. It took a bit of deflection after he pulled the trigger, but was always on target. It was as cool a strike as you could ask for.
Hmm, maybe it just came off looking awkward from the camera angle I saw, because while I agree with the caught, controlled and spun, it sure looked like a bit a slow moving chip rather than a rifle to the upper corner. Got the job done certainly, so good on Brad Evans.
Next game is Tuesday, I think, on ESPN.
Considering how quickly he got it off, and that the ball was sitting at his feet (pass from Bradley), it was as fast and direct as anyone could hope for. Definitely quicker than a mere chip. ETA: if he had tried to set it up to hit it any harder, I expect the “opportunity would have gone begging.” His instincts were right on.
Here’s a link to the match highlights. The quick corner leading to Brad Evans’s goal is at 4’05.
What’s sad by the way is how Tim Howard was so caught off guard on Jamaica’s equalizer. I do think he’s a great keeper, but that moment of inattention or uncertainty or whatever it was, I hope won’t be happening again.
Yes indeed, vs. Panama. Expectations are high! Wish I was going to be there! (It’s in Seattle.)
Obviously, Brad Evans’s goal has attracted some attention. I enjoyed this article in the NY Times.
I’m a Sounders FC fan, so I’ve liked Evans for awhile, and was happy to see him to get the nod to play for Team USA.
We missed Evans and Eddie Johnson last night versus the Whitecaps, but were fortunate enough to come from behind to win 3-2, mainly through the heroics of Lamar Neagle.
The rule of thumb for qualifying is to win at home and draw on the road. The US, with three road games and one at home, would expect (hope) to have six points according to the rule of thumb. They have seven, so they are ahead of the game. The group numbers look like this:
USA (+1)
Costa Rica (-1)
Mexico (-2)
Panama (-4)
Honduras (-4)
Jamaica (-9)
Tuesday’s game against Panama is very important. Panama may be the most improved team in CONCACAF and the US midfield will be without Zusi (suspension) and maybe Jones (concussion.)
And Jones is out for tomorrow.
Save and bottle that stuff for next June! 
No kidding! This is looking to be a much more promising squad than many people had suggested.
16 points has been enough in the past to qualify from CONCACAF, so needing just 6 points from 5 games, of which three are at home, the US is looking pretty good. Mexico on the other hand, their next two games are versus Honduras (who is 1 point behind them with a game in hand) and the US in the US. Mexico will desperately need to beat Honduras to ease the pressure. Normally I would say it should be easy at the Azteca, but that certainly hasn’t been the case this year.
Congratulations to Japan for being the first team (after the hosts) to qualify for 2014.
New Zealand has to play the 4th placed CONCACAF team to qualify. At the moment it looks likely to be either Honduras or Panama. Are they any good?
That was about as good as the U.S. has played in a while. Sure, it was only Panama, but I’ll take it.
It was a great atmosphere and fun game if you were a USA supporter. Well worth the trip across the country to Seattle.
USA vs Honduras, tonight, 9 p.m. ET, 6 p.m. PT, live on ESPN. (Match is in Utah.)
Can’t wait!
DeMarcus Beasley is out due to yellow card accumulation. Graham Zusi sat out the last game due to his second yellow. He got the first one over a year ago in the previous round. Nine U.S. players face a suspension because they are sitting on one yellow card.
This has to be the dumbest rule in sports. If Clint Dempsey scores a key stoppage time goal to defeat Costa Rica and pulls his shirt over his head, he’ll be suspended for a home game against Mexico that could clinch a berth in the cup for the US. If Jozy Altidore slips on wet turf and accidentally cleats an opponent, he’s gone.
At the very least they should have a rule that a standing yellow gets erased if you go two games without another.
Do all Confederations use this same silly rule?
Yes, I believe it is actually a FIFA rule.
In the World Cup, and in most similar tournaments, the yellow card accumulation is reset after the quarter finals. In some cases, I think, it’s after the group stage.
What FIFA is trying to avoid is for players to think that they have a “free” yellow card. Having a free yellow card every game might lead to a great deal of unsportsmanlike behavior.
Of course, this has led to people going for ‘safety yellow cards’ - for instance this year during Champions League group stages, Madrid was sure to proceed to the next round some games before the end. One player deliberately went for a yellow card against some worthless Dutch team, so that his suspension would be for one of the group stage games, not for one of the knock-out round games.
That said, I don’t think the rule is ‘silly’, and I certainly don’t see how it qualifies as ‘the dumbest rule’ in all of sports - but perhaps that was just hyperbole. It’s hard to know. In any case, I suggest that Clint Dempsey keep his shirt on in the event of his scoring a goal. It’s not that hard.