The Hanover Collaboration

I didn’t get to watch the game, but the US men’s soccer team beat Honduras over the weekend by a score of 3-2, which assures their participation in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Color me unimpressed. Honduras, media outlets are quick to point out, has been tough to beat at home. Of course, they really only play CONCACAF opponents, particularly at home.

And judging by the highlights, the US only barely edged out a win. Honduras should have tied the game in the 87th minute, but instead sent a PK over the cross bar. Not to mention the fact that Casey’s first goal looked, well, pathetic. For Honduras, that is.

It is stunning to me how much denial exists regarding the quality of soccer among CONCACAF nations relative to the rest of the world, Europe in particular. One really needs to keep in mind that Honduras (indeed, even Mexico these days) is just not a very strong force in international soccer.

This is perhaps an unfair comparison, but the Honduras men’s Olympic team lost all three of its games in 2008 (3-0 to Italy, 1-0 to Cameroon and 1-0 to South Korea). And this is the country we are excited about barely beating on the road?

Perhaps the most distressing fact about the team? Their midfield is so shitty, a player who has logged zero minutes with the US team, indeed hasn’t (to my knowledge) even practiced with the US squad, or any squad because he’s still rehabing from surgery is generally considered a likely starter as soon as he’s available, and has effectively been penciled into the lineup for the World Cup.

And this fact is referred to as a positive sign for the US squad going forward. Good grief.

Don’t get me wrong; if Jones is what people say he is (I’ve never seen him play) then he will surely help. But doesn’t this suggest something about the level of player we have right now? That some guy we’ve never seen play on our squad and is currently injured is considered a potentially massive upgrade in player quality?!

If I were Ricardo Clark, or Michael Bradley, or Benny Feilhaber or Sacha Kljestan, I’d find this situation fairly embarrassing.