Five Predictions [10.8.11, vs. Honduras] (GRADED)

1. Much like the Project 2010 Blog, Oguchi Onyewu will rise from the ashes today, getting a rare start. He won’t quite look like his old self (see: Oguchi Onyewu, Confederations Cup 2009), but it will be promising. He’ll get beat where he shouldn’t on a couple of occasions, but he’ll show some ability to recover, which he’s been lacking for a while. He’ll also do pretty well in the air, clearing out several crosses, corners, and set pieces.

Well, Gooch didn’t start, so it’s hard to give myself a good grade on this one. He looked competent defensively, in the little time he had. But man, oh man, that miss in front of the open goal was something special. GRADE: D

2. The US will score three goals in a game for the first time in over a year. (For those of you wondering, the last one was June 5th, 2010, vs. Australia — 22 games ago.) Goals will come from red-hot Jozy Altidore, Brek Shea, and Kyle Beckerman, who will hit an absolute screamer from 30 yards out.

No, the US didn’t score three goals, but I can’t be alone in thinking they should have. I mean, Shea and Gooch both missed clear opportunities. On another day, this could have been a 5-4 affair. Sadly, I took three stabs at goalscorers, and the guy that scored the lone goal wasn’t one of them. GRADE: F

3. Michael Bradley has finally found some playing time after moving to Chievo Verona. A couple games don’t change everything, but much like Onyewu, you’ll see a much fresher, more confident player on the field today. Even though he won’t contribute on the scoresheet, his possession and distribution in midfield will be key to the win. Speaking of phoeni (which I assume is the plural of phoenix), DaMarcus Beasley will not only see the field in the second half…he will actually look kind of…good. Amazing!

Again, doomed from the start — Bradley was on the bench. He looked ok during his time on the field. I think I was spot-on with the Beasley half of the prediction, though. GRADE: C+

4. With Eric Lichaj struggling for playing time at Aston Villa (one Carling Cup start), Timmy Chandler emerges as the new first-choice at left back. OK – you say that’s a little obvious, when his main competition is nearly unanimous never-again, Edgar “New Bornstein” Castillo? Alright. I’ll say Chandler gets an assist on the Jozy Altidore goal.

Finally! I think Chandler played pretty well, especially getting forward — good enough to pull ahead in the who’s-our-left-back race. Came so close on the assist, too. He set up Dempsey’s goal, but Orozco Fiscal got a touch to the ball, robbing Chandler of the assist. GRADE: A-

5. USA 3-1 Honduras. As stated above, Altidore, Shea, and Beckerman will be the goalscorers. Honduras will score early in the second half, after Altidore and Beckerman have made it 2-0. However, the US will look the better team the whole way, and Shea will put the game out of reach around the 70th minute. While we’ll argue Man of the Match is Michael Bradley, the official honor will go to Jozy Altidore. This will be Klinsmann’s first win, and will give the fan base a glimpse of what the more attack-oriented future might bring.

Wrong, wrong, wrong on goalscorers. Honduras never scored. The US looked better most of the time, but Honduras had a boatload of chances. Man of the Match was Tim Howard, and we have a hard time arguing with that, considering you couldn’t really blame him, had he let in a few goals on the night. Honorable mention to Shea, in spite of his miss. The only thing we really got right here: it was Klinsmann’s first win as USMNT head coach. GRADE: D+

OVERALL GRADE: D+. Took a lot of shots here…and missed by a mile. Oh, well. We’re just happy to see the US are still capable of winning.

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