US Begins World Cup Year With Familiar Foe

Bob Bradley and the U.S. national team will conclude their traditional January camp in Southern California with a Jan. 23 match against fellow World Cup qualifier Honduras, an all-too-familiar opponent that will have to suffice because the date is not on FIFA's match calendar.

In fact, March 3 is the only day prior to the start of the tournament on which full national teams will take precedence. As nice as it would be to play a couple of friendlies against European or African qualifiers before heading to South Africa, FIFA is afraid to disrupt the influential European leagues as they try to cram in their schedules ahead of next summer's tournament. The UEFA Champions League final is scheduled for May 22, just three weeks before the World Cup kicks off.

So, other than a trip to Europe in early March (a game against the Netherlands is rumored), it looks like the U.S. and other CONCACAF qualifiers will be left to prepare amongst themselves in early 2010. More friendlies may follow as the World Cup approaches, but at this point, the Americans and Hondurans could play each other in their sleep. They met four times in 2009, the most the U.S. has played one team in a single year since 1973. The U.S. won all four--both World Cup qualifiers, highlighted by the stunning 3-2 victory in San Pedro Sula, and two games in the CONCACAF Gold Cup--outscoring Honduras by a combined 9-3.

Of course, the Hondurans will have forgiven the U.S. for the sweep since it was the Americans' refusal to accept defeat in the otherwise-meaningless qualifying finale against Costa Rica that opened the door for Los Catrachos' qualification. So Honduras surely will be very gracious guests at the Home Depot Center next month, and familiar ones as well. The U.S. has finished up their January camp in the past few years with games against Sweden, Denmark and Norway, but was unable to schedule European opposition this time around.

Bradley attempted to put a positive spin on the fixture: "Obviously we know the quality of the Honduran team very well and we think the match is a great way to start the year as we commence preparations for the World Cup. With both teams working toward finalizing their rosters for South Africa, we expect it will be a very competitive game."

The January camp will comprise MLS players and those who compete in the Norwegian league, which doesn't play during the winter for obvious reasons. Bradley got a good look at most of those athletes during last summer's Gold Cup, although neither Real Salt Lake forward Robbie Findley nor FC Dallas' Jeff Cunningham were on that roster. It seems more and more apparent that at least one of them will have the opportunity to step into a key role in South Africa in the absence of the injured Charlie Davies. The search for another goal-scoring threat must be the key preoccupation for Bradley and his staff over the next few months, and there may not be many games left to test different combinations. Cunningham scored in the 3-1 loss to Denmark last month.

"We certainly feel that, especially in the past year, that we've had many opportunities to be together and the foundation I think is strong," Bradley said after the World Cup draw. "We've talked to the players about how next year will work, and the need when we come together in May to get right back to it. So it's something that we've known about all along, and I think we'll put a good schedule together to handle it."