Second-half goals from Landon Donovan and Michael Bradley completed a remarkable comeback for the U.S. men’s national team as it drew with Slovenia, 2-2, on Friday in World Cup Group C play.

A poor first half from the Americans saw them go down early and then watch deficit double close to the half. 

A spirited effort from the Yanks brought the match level and even saw a supposed match winner hit the back of the net, only to be denied by a mystery call.

Valter Birsa let loose a 13th minute strike to the upper right corner of the goal, leaving U.S. goalkeeper, Tim Howard, motionless at his six-yard box.

A 37th-minute free kick from Jose Torres got the attention of Slovenian goalkeeper, Samir Handanovic, but the surprise attempt was saved wide for a corner.

Momentum began to build for the U.S., who were a questionable Robbie Findley hand ball away from equalizing.  Protest from the Findley and the rest of the Yanks was ignored as the referee deemed the hand ball yellow card worthy.

Shortly there after the Americans were back on the attack again, but the Slovenia defense denied Landon Donovan an opportunity at Clint Dempsey’s cross.

Slovenia punished the Americans with a quick counter-attack.  Zlatan Ljubijankic calmly placed his shot under the outstretched arms of Howard, replays later showed the stricker onside, contrary to the appeal of the U.S. back line.

The U.S. went to halftime down 2-0.

Looking to shake up  a poor first half, coach Bob Bradley inserted midfielders Maurice Edu and Benny Feilhaber for Findley and Torres.

But it was the U.S. all-time leading goal scorer, Donovan, who brought the Americans back into the match.  A long ball down the right flank to Donovan eluded the clearance of Bostjan Cesar.  Searching for a teammate at the back post, Donovan then fired a shot high past the helpless Handanovic, cutting the lead to one.

Again momentum was wearing the blue shirt of the United States, as the Yanks looked much sharper and composed to start the second half.

The U.S. were off on the break again with Donovan leading the way, a lead pass to Jozy Altidore was forcefully stopped as the 20-year-old striker was brought down just outside the box.  Defending on the play, Marko Suler, was booked for the foul.

Attempting to soften the American comeback effort, the Slovenia defense stepped up its physicallity, but also accumulated several yellow cards in the process.

In the 82nd minute, Donovan sent a ball into the box searching for Altidore.  The ball was too high to be directed toward goal, but instead was sent to the front of the goal where an oncoming Bradley half-volleyed the game tying goal past Handanovic.

With the difficult task of drawing even complete, the U.S. were out to do the unthinkable and comeback from down two goals and defeat Slovenia.

A golden opportunity presented itself when Altidore drew another foul outside the box.  The resulting free kick from Donovan found the boot of Edu, who smashed home the ball.  But before the U.S. could begin it’s celebration, the referee called Edu for a foul.

Much to the protest of an emotional Yanks team, the goal was disallowed and the match remained even at two.

After three minutes of extra time, the match finished two all.

Both sides will now wait to see the outcome of the England and Algeria match, to be played later on Friday.

The U.S. will next face Algeria, on June 23, at 9:30 a.m., while England and Slovenia will meet on the same day, at the same time.

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Remember to check back with World Soccer Reader during the World Cup as we will be holding live match chats, and hosting a live call-in radio show following each days final match.

Roster Numbers By Position

Goalkeepers
Brad Guzan – 18
Marcus Hahnemann -23
Tim Howard – 1

Defenders
Carlos Bocanegra – 3
Jonathan Bornstein – 12
Steve Cherundolo – 6
Jay DeMerit – 15
Clarence Goodson – 21
Oguchi Onyewu – 5
Jonathan Spector – 2

Midfielders
DaMarcus Beasley – 7
Michael Bradley – 4
Ricardo Clark – 13
Clint Dempsey – 8
Landon Donovan – 10
Maurice Edu – 19
Benny Feilhaber – 22
Stuart Holden – 11
Jose Francisco Torres – 16

Forwards
Jozy Altidore – 17
Edson Buddle – 14
Robbie Findley – 20
Herculez Gomez – 9

Growing up I was the kid that could never sleep the night before Christmas.  The anticipation of knowing that, in the very next room over, there was a butt load of presents with my name on them tore me up inside.  It was like I was Franc Ribery getting assigned the hotel room next to a high school cheer-leading team.  I just had to get in there.

When I was 11 I got a scooter for Christmas.  To be more precise I got a scooter with a flat tire for Christmas.  Nothing seems worse when you are 11 years old and the Big Toy you get is broken and you can’t take it out to play.

You see in my family every Christmas Eve our close family friends John & Charlotte would come over as my brother and I went to bed and then sit with my parents and help them put together our “big toy.” You know the one.  The Big Toy is the one your Christmas is built around, the one that won’t fit under the tree.  Well the scooter was my Big Toy.  And on that particular Christmas Eve John and my Dad over inflated the tire and blew the damn thing all to hell.

At the time nothing could have been worse to a young kid.

So when I say I know exactly where I’ll be in the wee hours of June 12th I’m not kidding.  Because the World Cup has that ability to rekindle my childish anticipation.  It makes even my bitter, jaded, adult self feel optimistic again.  It’s basically adult Christmas.  And England is our Big Toy this year.

Yes, we know there will be at least two other toys to play with, but there is nothing like the big one.  While the others may be fun we know they won’t give us the same sense of satisfaction.  And even worse there is a decent chance we may wake up that morning and our scooter has a flat tire.

Which brings me to the point.  As cheesey as it may sound, like Christmas, the World Cup is more about the feelings it invokes from you.  And the memories made that you will carry with you for a lifetime.  You see four years ago my Dad passed away and two weeks ago so did John our family friend.  And now when I think back on the story of the scooter with the flat tire, I can barely remember the feeling I felt when I saw the broken toy.  Now all I can think about is how great of a memory they gave me and how I much I wish I had seen they look on their faces when that tire exploded.

I guess what I’m saying is, enjoy the tournament as much as you can.  It only comes every four years.  Try your best to feel like a kid again, because it is a game and a beautiful one at that.  And if your team doesn’t win, yeah it sucks, but the month long experience we are all about to go through should be about so much more than just whether our team wins or loses.

That being said, let’s all hope we are riding our scooters around the neighborhood in two weeks as we tell all the English kids to piss off.

Sinkers And Floaters:

- Remember the time that Jrodius cat got all sentimental and homo-like about the World Cup?  Someone should kick that dude in the junk and laugh.

- Watching the American Idol final last night I couldn’t help but think that Hall & Oates are the Collective Soul of the 80’s.  That band whose music you always recognize but you cant always think of who sings it.

- So glad Jonathon Bornstein made the World Cup squad, cuz that equipment isn’t gonna move itself.  Here’s my thing, obviously Bornstein has to be the third left back option after Bocanegra and Spector.  If the pecking order is that deep and you are unlikely to really see significant time, why not take a locker room presence like Frankie Hejduk?  As it stands now there will be a noticeable lack of Peter Tosh as dudes suit up.

- Caught a lot of flack yesterday for saying I thought that Johnathon Spector looks like a “poor man’s Ryan Phillippe.”  Seriously?  Am I the only a-hole that sees this?

- If I was a member of the World Cup squad I would pray that we could fly over Arizona so that I could pay a stewardess to ask Herculez Gomez for “his papers.”  What?  I’m the only one that thinks that would be funny?

- A personal thought from me to Michael Bradley: “Hey Mike, wassup?  It’s yer boy The Rodius.  Hey congrats on being named to the 23 man roster, saw you on ESPN yesterday in the lineup.  Just to let you know you don’t have to look like a soulless prick when it’s time to announce your name.  I know you knew you’d be on the squad the moment yer pop’s got the job, but at least look like it is an accomplishment.  Thanks dude, forever yours… Jrodius”

Borussia Monchengladbach 5 – 3 Hannover 96

This was a game that should, I repeat should have gone the other way. Seeing the score by itself shows that this was an incredibly exciting game that saw 8 goals scored! However, three of the goals were own goals from Hannover 96. It tends to take away the excitement when a team beats themselves. The mistakes committed in this game were too many to report all of them.

Without going into too much detail, I’ll show you a quick little scoring summary that may explain things better.

Scoring Summary:

15th Minute: Karim Haggul (Own Goal)
22nd Minute: Rob Friend (Goal)
36th Minute: Didier Ya Konan (Goal)
58th Minute: Constant Djakpa (Own Goal)
68th Minute: Michael Bradley (Goal)
69th Minute Didier Ya Konan (Goal)
87th Minute: Christian Schulz (Goal)
90th Minute: Karim Haggul (Own Goal)

It took only 15 minutes for Hannover 96 to offer the game to Borussia on a silver platter. A clear mistake from Hannover Goalkeeper Florian Fromlowitz gave Borussia the lead when he rushed out to clear a ball at the edge of the area. Instead, this saw him hit it into his own Defender Karim Haggul and bounce back into his own net. Just 7 minutes later, M’gladbach made it 2-0 with a nice header from Canadian striker Rob Friend.

Hannover seemed to begin clawing their way back in the 30th Minute with a powerful shot from Arnold Jan Bruggink, but it was deflected off the post. Finally, the 36th minute saw Didier Ya Konan, the only real positive talking point of the Hannover performance, capitalize on the confusion in front of the Gladbach goal to knock it in past Logan Bailly.

Hannover seemed determined to give this game away in the 59th Minute as Constant Djakpa scored an own goal to give Borussia a 3-1 lead. Trying to make a simple pass back to his Goalkeeper, his terribly poor placement instead saw the ball hit the back of his own net. Borussia’s Michael Bradley made it 4-1 just a few moments later with a beautiful Free Kick from 18 yards out that went through the Hannover wall.

Didier Ya Konen scored his second goal of the game when he fought past two defenders to get the ball past Logan Bailly and give Hannover a fighting chance to maintain some dignity from this game. That was not to be. Just moments from time, he was shown a Red Card for receiving his second Yellow within 13 minutes. This took Hannover down to Ten Men.

Soon after they were knocked down to ten men, Hannover’s Christian Schulz scored a goal to mount what seemingly might be an incredible comeback. Again, not meant to be.

As they made the effort, Borussia again took complete control and this led to Karim Haggul committing his second Own Goal of the Game to give the final 5-3 Result.

Attendance: 43,528

Mainz 05 1 -1 VfB Stuttgart

In yet another “are you kidding me game” from the weekend, VfB looked to seal the deal early, but they literally gave away the game in the 90th Minute with a huge mistake from, who else but the Stuttgart man of the week, Jens Lehmann.

Pavel Pogrebnyak gave Stuttgart the lead in the 11th minute when Boka crossed nicely into the area and Pogrebnyak knocked it in with his thigh.

Earlier this week, Stuttgart beat Unirea Urziceni to surprise everyone and reach the knockout stages of the Champions League. Their Champions League performances this year have shown absolutely no sign of how they are doing in the Bundesliga, and that point was driven home, quite literally in this game. Their poor League performance thus far led to the dismissal of their Coach Markus Babbel last weekend, and led to some regrettable comments from Jens Lahmann. They have now made it 9 winless games in the Bundesliga.

Continuing the downward spiral, although they had a slim 1-0 lead going into the 88th Minute, Lehmann stepped on Aristide Bance’s foot with two minutes to go and was shown the red card. Polanski stepped up and struck home the equalizer for Mainz.

Attendance: 20,300

In Other News:

Oliver Kahn has told Stuttgart goalkeeper Jens Lehmann that he should retire in the wake of his recent escapades.

It’s already a guarantee that Lehmann will miss Stuttgart’s final Bundesliga fixture of 2009 against Hoffenheim due to suspension, but he also may still be further suspended for up to three matches.

Boenisch out of action

Sebastian Boenisch is to miss the final games of 2009 after sustaining a knee injury during the clash with Schalke 04 on Sunday.

Werder Boss Thomas Schaaf also wished the fullback a speedy recovery. “At the moment we have to just wait and see how the operation goes and then assess the damage. I hope that it’s not too bad and that Sebastian can make a full recovery early in the new year. We wish him all the best.”

All the Scores from Week 16:
Hertha Berlin 2 – 2 Bayer Leverkusen
TSG 1899 Hoffenheim 1 – 1 Eintracht Frankfurt
VfL Bochum 1 – 5 FC Bayern Munchen
Borussia M’gladbach 5 – 3 Hannover 96
SC Freiburg 0 – 0 FC Koln
FC Nurnberg 0 – 4 Hamburger SV
Werder Bremen 0 – 2 FC Schalke 04
FSV Mainz 05 1 – 1 VfB Stuttgart
VfL Wolfsburg 1 – 3 Borussia Dortmund

Updated Table:
1. Bayer 04 Leverkusen – 32 points (+21 Goal Difference)
2. FC Schalke 04 – 31 points (+12 Goal Difference)
3. FC Bayern Munchen – 30 points (+16 Goal Difference)
4. Werder Bremen – 28 points (+17 Goal Difference)
5. Hamburger SV – 28 points (+14 Goal Difference)
6. Borussia Dortmund – 27 points (+5 Goal Difference)
7. TSG 1899 Hoffenheim – 25 points (+12 Goal Difference)
8. FSV Mainz 05 – 24 points (0 Goal Difference)
9. VfL Wolfsburg – 23 points (0 Goal Difference)
10. Eintracht Frankfurt – 23 points (-2 Goal Difference)
11. Borussia M’gladbach – 21 points (-4 Goal Difference)
12. SC Freiburg – 18 points (-13 Goal Difference)
13. Hannover 96 – 17 points (-5 Goal Difference)
14. FC Koln – 15 points (-8 Goal Difference)
15. VfB Stuttgart – 13 points (-9 Goal Difference)
16. VfL Bochum 1848 – 13 points (-16 Goal Difference)
17. FC Nurnberg – 12 points (-17 Goal Difference)
18. Hertha Berlin – 6 points (-23 Goal Difference)

Hours after the United States confirmed the Mexico bogey, Richard Farley and Dave Topp broke down the results from Estadio Azteca and evaluate where Wednesday’s loss leaves the country’s program. In the show’s final segment, Richard is joined by Jeff Kassouf, owner of Equalizer Soccer, a site devoted to promoting the women’s game. They talk about the recently finished WPS season and the upcoming playoffs. All that, and Richard gets you up-to-date on Wednesday’s World Cup Qualifiers, the important international friendlies, action from Brazil and the world’s football news. It’s all on Episode #11 of Inside the Six.

To download the show, right click here to save the file.

The episode also features WSR’s men’s national team correspondent Dave Topp who, in what will be a reoccurring segment, goes down his men’s national team depth card, giving us his views on where the contenders for South Africa lie in the wake of the Confederations and Gold Cups.

Also, updates on South American football, the European transfer season, and Major League Soccer.

But yet again, the Americans silenced their critics.  This time to the tune of a 2-0 victory over Spain, in Bloemfontein, South Africa.

A first-half goal from Jozy Altidore put the U.S. up mid-way through the half.  Clint Dempsey all but sealed the win for his team with a second-half goal of his own.

The Americans, who had been written off by most of the media prior to Sunday’s match with Egypt; are now headed to the Confederations Cup final to face the winner of the Brazil and South Africa game on Thursday.

Altidore got the scoring started with a 25th minute goal.  A lofted pass from Dempsey found Altidore at the top of the box, holding off Villareal teammate Joan Capdevila, and his shot ricocheted of the spanish goalkeeper, Iker Casillas, to put the U.S. in front.

It was the 19-year-old forward who,in preperation for the match, told Capdevila in a message “to be careful”, meaning watch out for the Americans.  Altidore was given a yellow card for unsportsmanlike conduct for removing his jersey in celebration.

The teams went to the half with the score 1-0.  The U.S. were determined to hold the 1-0 lead, having lost a similar 1-0 halftime lead to Italy earlier in the tournament.

The U.S. defense was tested early and often, by the powerful spanish attack.  Yet, the efforts of David Villa and Fernando Torres were rendered useless.

The American line-up featured Carlos Bocanegra, making his tournament debut after injuring his hamstring versus Honduras; as well as Tim Howard, who sat out the Egypt match.

Still the Americans held together, sliding infront of the oppositions shots in an effort to try and preserve the lead.

Dempsey gave his side some breathing room with a 73rd minute goal.  A low cross from Landon Donovan landed at the feet of defender Sergio Ramos, who was unaware of Dempsey’s presence.  In one motion, Dempsey slid, taking the ball from the feet of Ramos, from six-yards out, and beat Casillas to his right to put the U.S. up 2-0.

Spain put on a late charge, but again the U.S. was up to the defensive task.  A late red card to Michael Bradley did not help the mounting pressure, but Spain could not capitalize even with the man advantage.

It was the third U.S. red card in four games thus far.

The victory ended a 15-game winning streak for Spain, along with their record tying 35-game unbeaten streak.

Brazil will play South Africa in the other semi-final of the Confederations Cup on Thursday at 2:30 p.m. (EST).

The winner will play the U.S. in the final, Sunday, June 28, at 2:30 p.m. (EST).

As always World Soccer Reader will be doing live updates during the game on twitter, you can follow them at twitter.com/wsreader.

For the U.S., advancing out of Group B involved not only a win, but a multitude of goals and the reigning world champions falling in their final match as well.

But after an inspired performance against Egypt, coach Bob Bradley and his team completed the unthinkable. A 3-0 victory over Egypt, along with some help from the Brazilians and the U.S. are moving on to play Spain in the semi-finals of the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup.

Charlie Davies capitalized on an Egyptian defensive-miscue, scoring in the 21^st minute from inside the six-yard box.

Michael Bradley took a pass from Landon Donovan for a second half goal, while Clint Dempsey headed in another to solidify the win.

Before a less-than capacity crowd, the Egyptian squad, who had been the surprising team of the tournament so far, looked tired and marred from their previous matches against Brazil and Italy.

Still, the Egyptians were all but set to advance towards a match-up with Spain. With an American win and Brazil defeating the Italians, this would put the U.S. in a three way tie for second place in Group B. A 3-0 victory coupled with Italy falling 3-0 to Brazil sent the Americans into the semi-finals based off of goals scored differential throughout group play.

Looking noticeably sluggish compared to their two prior matches, Egypt failed to clear an early ball inside their own six-yard box and Davies put his team up 1-0 with the close range goal. Egyptian goalkeeper Essam El Hadary was injured on the play, and looked only a shade of the player who helped preserved a 1-0 win over Italy only three days before.

The teams went to half time with the Americans up 1-0. At this point Brazil was already leading Italy 3-0 at half time of their match as well. Hoping that the Brazilian lead would hold up, the U.S. needed to score more goals for any shot at advancing.

A second half counter-attack found Bradley streaking down the middle of the field, he found Donovan, who fed the suddenly open Bradley for the second goal of the match. Bradley slotted the ball into the right corner of the goal, in the 63^rd minute , putting the U.S. up 2-0.

After a pair of lackluster performances in the tournament, Dempsey found his scoring touch once again. Off a cross from Jonathan Spector in the 71^st minute, Dempsey redirected the header for the 3-0 lead. It was Dempsey’s first goal in his last eight international appearances.

The Egyptians who needed to manage only one goal to advance at this point, kept up the late game pressure on the American defense. Wael Gomaa missed a certain goal scoring opportunity as his header in the 90^th minute skied above the crossbar.

The American defense, included Brad Guzan, who started for Tim Howard and was still without captain Carlos Bocanegra, performed well against the late Egyptian heat.

The U.S. will now prepare for the top ranked team in the world, Spain. The match will be Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. (EST).

It took Giuseppe Rossi all of two minutes to make his presence know against his former country.

Under the lights of a cool South African night, Rossi lead the Italians in a second-half comeback win over the U.S. Rossi tallied two goals, and Daniele De Rossi added one of his own in a 3-1 victory in the first match of the FIFA Confederations Cup for both teams.

After a questionable red card to Ricardo Clark in the 33^rd minute, the U.S. found itself forced to play a man down versus the world champions.

As he has done in the last three matches for the U.S., Landon Donovan converted a penalty kick; this one coming in the 41^st minute, after Jozy Altidore was taken down in the box.

The Americans were able to contain the Italian attack in the first half, spreading the field and slowing the game down. After Clark’s foul on Gennaro Gattuso, resulting in his dismissal, the U.S. still displayed the kind of pressure and pace that it will need to succeed in South Africa.

While the Italians were able to test Tim Howard minimally, misplayed chances from Michael Bradley and Altidore in the first half could have changed the whole flow of the match, but both were unable to finish.

Jonathan Bornstein gave his side a scare in the 40^th minute as his pass back to Howard in defense of a De Rossi pass for Mauro Camoranesi, rolled passed his goalkeeper for what appeared to be an own goal. Cameranesi was the ruled offsides, disallowing the goal.

Altidore did make up for earlier his missed opportunity, earning a foul in the box as Giorgio Chiellini pulled him down.  The foul resulted in a penalty kick for the U.S. and Donovan beat Gianluigi Buffon to his left, just before the teams went to half with the U.S. leading 1-0.

Although down a man, coach Bob Bradley declined to make any halftime substitutions as the second half began.

Marcello Lippi did not hesitate to empty his talented bench, bringing on Rossi and Riccardo Montolivo for Gattuso and Camoranesi respectively in the 57^th minute.

Rossi, a dual citizen of the United States and Italy, was born in Teaneck, NJ; has long been criticized by American supporters for his decision to play for Italy over the U.S.  It was the same kid from New Jersey, who in the 59^th minute, then took the ball from Benny Feilhaber at midfield, in route to an impressive strike from 30-yards out that beat Howard to bring the match to 1-1.

De Rossi would give the Italians the lead for good in the 71^st minute as he drove a low-lying shot from 30-yards plus, into the far corner giving his team a 2-1 lead.

The Americans were able to muster a few chances that gave Buffon a little trouble, but the draw was unreachable.

Rossi struck home the final goal of the night after a cross from Andrea Pirlo beat Howard near post in the fourth minute of stoppage time.

Italy now sits atop group B with Brazil who beat Egypt in the early game, 4-3.

The U.S. will now have three days to prepare for Brazil on Thursday, in their second match of Confederations Cup.

The atmosphere in preparation to this match was the same as it was down on the field, pressure-filled. Coming into their match with Costa Rica, the U.S. men’s national team had never won a World Cup qualifying match in Saprissa Stadium.

On a humid night in Costa Rica, in front of a lively and boisterous, the U.S. looked tired and sloppy at times. From the start, Costa Rica appeared ready with an attacking force that overpowered an undermanned U.S. defense. And with an oppressive attack, Costa Rica handed the U.S. a 3-1 loss in front 18,000 fans.

The scoring started almost immediately; in the 2^nd minute Alvaro Sobario split two defenders on his way to placing a shot in the upper left-hand corner past the outstretched arms of Tim Howard.

Again it wasn’t much longer before a Costa Rican attack down the left side by Esteban Sirias found Celso Borges wide open in front of the net to place the second goal of the night in the 13^th minute.

The victory gives Costa Rica a two point lead in the CONCACAF qualifying table, with three games still remaining on the schedule.

Down early just like the recent match against El Salvador, the U.S. looked to play catch-up once again. But quality attacking chances were rare, as Costa Rican goalkeeper K Navas was rarely tested throughout the match.

Every time it seemed the U.S. was able to string a few quality passes together, it seemed the ball was misplayed or stolen by a defender.

Forward Brian Ching sat out the match with a hamstring injury. As a result, coach Bob Bradley decided to start three forwards in an effort to create an offensive spark. Objective failed. Neither Jozy Altidore, Landon Donvan nor Clint Dempsey were able to create much of anything.

After being down 2-0 at half, coach Bradley surprisingly decided to pull Jose Torres, who seemed to be one of the only Americans with some composure this night, for Sacha Kljestan.

“We were under pressure from the start and we didn’t control the game. They took advantage; I just don’t think we were good enough,” coach Bradley said in his press conference after the match.

Hoping for one of the veteran leaders to ignite the U.S. for a second half comeback, Bradley’s team again took the field flat.

With Frankie Hejduk out due to a groin injury, Marvell Wynne started at the right back position and was active all night but still failed to create much of anything offensively with his speed and looked like a player making his qualifying debut, which he was.

Across from him was DeMarcus Beasley, making his second start at the left back position. After a somewhat successful first start versus Trinidad and Tobago, Beasley especially looked timid against the Costa Rican attack. Many of his passes were squared to Carlos Bocanegra or Oguchi Onyewu, or dropped back to Howard.

With question marks on the outside of the American defense, Costa Rica continued to attack there all night. In the 69^th minute, Pablo Herrera Barrantes beat a noticeably tired Michael Bradley off the dribble and beat Howard low to the near post. Bocanegra was slow to step up to the attacking Barrantes.

Bradley, who also picked up a yellow on the night, will miss the next match against Honduras.

In an effort to create a little more attacking flare, coach Bradley subbed in Freddy Adu for Pablo Mastroeni. Charlie Davies later came on for Dempsey with about 10 minutes remaining.

Davies took advantage of his opportunity, playing with a pace that the rest of his teammates lacked for the most part.

The U.S. would not be denied a goal though, as Davies drew a late foul in the box during stoppage time. Donovan calmly stepped up and beat Navas for the loan U.S. goal on the night.

“We need to learn from tonight, but the most important thing is getting over it as quickly as possible, and taking what you can from it,” Donovan told espn.com. “We have three days physically and mentally [to prepare] for Honduras, who is a very good team that has been rested and preparing for this game.”

The U.S. will now travel to Soldier Field in Chicago for a match against Honduras on Saturday.