Mexico 2 USA 1

Well that was monumentally disappointing.

At just about every level, the US failed on Wednesday. The gameplan was horribly flawed, the execution (with a couple of exceptions) was poor, and the result was negative.

The gameplan was terrible. I don't know why Bob Bradley decided to have his central midfielders (Clark and Bradley) give up so much ground and set up so close to the 18-yard line, but that gave Mexico, a team that wants to possess the ball, free reign to do just that. A big part of the reason the US was able to beat Spain is they forced Spain to push out wide, they didn't concede the middle of the field. Against Mexico, they inexplicably yielded the middle. The only reasoning I can come up with is they weren't afraid of Mexico hurting them with long shots, and wanted to make sure they couldn't dribble or give and go the ball into the penalty area without a lot of traffic. Either that, or it was an attempt to lessen the effects of the altitude and environment of the Azteca. If it was the former, that's at least defensible. If the latter played any part in Bradley's thinking, then he had to get the players back early to train at altitude.

So yes, the players entered the match with an arm (or a leg) tied behind their backs, but then they went out and played flat for the better part of 90 minutes, and pretty much the entire first half. With the excpetion of lone goal scorer Charlie Davies, always stout goalkeeper Tim Howard, and man of the match Oguchi Onyewu, no one else played anywhere close to well. All 4 midfielders were awful. Donovan had the pass to Davies for the goal, then disappeared. Dempsey was one of the only players willing to try and make something happen with the ball, but he failed do convert on most of his attempts. Bradley and Clark brought nothing to the table offensively, as their play was frought with quick turnovers right back to Mexico. And worse, they did nothing to stall Mexico's possession in the midfield. Bocanegra didn't seem ready to match the pace of Mexico, and Cherundolo was terrible.

By the way, that was Bradley's most indefensible lineup gaffe. Jonathan Spector impresses the heck out of everyone at the Confed Cup, and he gets benched for this game? Seriously?

The result, while disappointing, isn't the problem. The US could have come out of this game with 0 points and still maintained the momentum of the Confed Cup. The problem is the team came out flat, whether they were cowed by the atmosphere or simply didn't get up for the game, it was a horrid display, given how far they had come earlier this summer.

Like was said before the game, this wasn't a deathblow to the USA's qualifying chances. However, an unexpected wrinkle was thrown into the mix when Honduras smoked Costa Rica 4-0. That means the top 4 teams are separated by just 3 points (remember, top 3 go on and 4th has to win a play-in contest with a South American team). Mexico was in a much more dire position back in June, they needed wins at home against Trinidad & Tobago and the US to get back into things. They got both wins. The US now needs wins at home against El Salvador and at Trinidad & Tobago. They SHOULD win both games, and if they take care of business, they should be good to go for 2010. A win and a draw, and they'll face some pressure, but they still should be okay. Any less than 4 points, and all of a sudden things start to get a little dicey.

The US had a chance to make history and prove they were a force to be reckoned with, but it was not to be. Now they have to lick their wounds and focus on being a better team (maybe even one that can possess the ball and hold onto a lead) going forward.