United States Vs. Honduras, 2011 International Friendly: USMNT Win 1-0 Thanks To Clint Dempsey Goal

That ended up being relatively easy for the United States, whose greatest challenge in beating Honduras came from the conditions rather than the opposition. Driving rain made for some incredibly sloppy play, with the midfield having major problems linking up throughout the first half, but eventually a Brek Shea cross found Clint Dempsey and the Fulham forward slammed a shot into Donis Escober's top corner to give the hosts a 1-0 lead.

The second half was... odd. Honduras had a few chances, but the USMNT should have scored three times. Jose Altidore's square pass to Shea found the FC Dallas star alone just a few yards from an open goal, but instead of scoring Shea's course of action was to completely miss the ball and fall down. Late, substitute Oguchi Onyewu made contact in a similar position, only to blaze over the bar. Finally, Dempsey got the ball into the back of the net again after a wonderful header with the game winding down, but the goal was called off for reasons nobody can really fathom.

Honduras did make a fighting effort to score a goal, with Tim Howard called into action several times, but ultimately it was a fairly comfortable win for the USA. It's actually head coach Jurgen Klinsmann's first victory with the national side, which means... well, it doesn't really mean very much, but it's a nice bridge to have crossed.

Fiscal Orozco was substituted at halftime with an acute case of being terrible, but his replacement, Oguchi Onyewu should really be off the pitch after obliterating Carlo Costly on a tackle that sent the Honduran striker tumbling through the air and writhing on the ground in pain. That should probably have been a straight red. Instead, a foul wasn't even given until Maurice Edu made a similar (but less ugly) tackle with Costly still on the ground. He received a yellow. Go figure.

If Onyewu had gone off, of course, he wouldn't have missed an open goal just now - it wasn't quite as embarrassing as Brek Shea's ludicrous attempt a little while ago, but when you're six yards out with nobody anywhere near you you should probably score. Since that Shea miss, actually, the game has been going very much in Honduras' favour - it wouldn't come as any sort of shock if they grabbed an equaliser sometime soon. Still 1-0 in Miami, though.

You can tell that Maurice Edu has been playing in Scotland on account of him kicking people in the head today. Ok, it's only one person, but still - it's generally considered rude to kick the goalkeeper in the face during an international friendly, and that's exactly what Edu's just done to poor Donis Escober, who'd spilled and then recovered a rebound before the United States midfielder barrelled into him. Both players went down for a little while, but a couple of minutes later they were each able to continue and we got back onto the game. Interesting start to the half though.

Things got more amusing a few minutes later after Honduras's defence abandoned ship, allowing Jose Altiodore to wander into the penalty area and square for Brek Shea, who was six yards from goal with Escober out of the picture. It was a certain, certain goal, except for the fact that Shea completely missed the ball and fell over. Whoopsies. It's still 1-0 to the USA, but ... yeah, it shouldn't be. That's one of the worst misses this team has ever seen.

I'm pretty sure EA is sponsoring this game. Why's that? Because, like in FIFA 12, nobody has any clue at all how to defend. A low cross goes through at least three pairs of legs before falling at the feet of Clint Dempsey, who is given one, two, three touches by the Honduran defence(they appeared to be too busy running into each other to intervene). The Fulham forward then curls the ball - a very nice strike - into the top corner, giving Donis Escober no chance.

So that's 1-0 to the USMNT, then, although that lead nearly didn't last very long - Carlo Costly was set free over the top for a shooting chance on Tim Howard's goal (if you want a picture of the USA's defending on this one, I would recommend Edvard Munch's seminal work The Scream). His shot from a very tight angle went straight forward, which was pretty suboptimal from a Honduran point of view. We're only a few minutes from halftime now, so it looks as though we'll go into the break with the hosts ahead.

It's still going all Noah's Ark on us in Miami, and the weather's definitely having an effect on the match. Besides all of the misplaced passes and general slipping over, the wind is having a huge impact and may well have foiled Honduras in the visitor's best chance on Tim Howard's goal. A through ball was played over the top for Jerry Bengston, who was forced to check back when the wind stopped the movement of the ball. That let the defence get into position, and while the striker's shot was on target there was enough pressure on the ball to force Bengston to shoot straight at Howard.

There's been a chance at the other end of the pitch, too. Jose Altidore won a free kick which Timothy Chandler flung in at a crowd of red shirts. Somehow, three United States players completely failed to make contact, and Honduras goalkeeper Donis Escober flung himself to his left to tip the ball around the post. Had anyone in a red jersey touched that ball, the USA would be celebrating a goal. Odd. Still 0-0 here.

We've had 15 minutes of USA vs. Honduras at the Sun Life Stadium in Miami, and mostly we've seen rain and fouls. It is absolutely pouring down in Florida, and that's made for a sloppy game that's seen the USMNT (especially Real Salt Lake's Kyle Beckerman) forced into committing a series of fouls to slop Honduras breaking past them. The MLS midfielder is probably lucky not to have already gone into the book for two professional fouls, as is Orozco Fiscal, who virtually ripped Roger Espinoza's shirt off as the winger scampered past him early one.

Neither side has had a great chance yet - Honduras settled for a long range shot after Clint Dempsey gave the ball away 30 yards from his own goal, while Brek Shea has nodded a Timothy Chandler delivery wide. Other than those two opportunities and the fouls, not much has happened - not exactly a great sign that this game is going to be really interesting. It is, of course, still 0-0.