USA Defeat, Mexico Draw, England Victory, African Cup of Nations Semis, Carragher to Retire

There's only once place to begin today and that's in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. Team USA lost after some poor defending allowed the hosts a late goal. It looked set for a draw, which would have been a good result for the Yanks, but it wasn't to be. The game featured two lovely goals, though. The first a glorious volley by Clint Dempsey from a Jermaine Jones pass, and the second a spectacular bicycle kick from Juan Carlos Garcia. Grant Wahl says the pressure is now on Klinsmann big time. And we agree. There's been nothing to indicate any improvement from the previous regime.

Here are the U.S. Player Ratings. And Grant's Three Thoughts. And more U.S. Player Ratings.

Little Boy Jamie...

There was a bit of a shock at the Azteca last night as Mexico failed to score and drew with Jamaica. We were already in bed so didn't se the match. Apparently Los Tri were booed heavily. Good. Wankers.

And then there were two. Nigeria and Burkina Faso will battle it out for the African Cup of Nations title. Nigeria began the day by defeating Mali. Later, The Fasos (?) ousted Ghana in a shootout. The final is set for Sunday at 1pm EST. It'll be streaming on ESPN3.

Meanwhile, there were enough decent match-ups in the world of friendlies yesterday to warrant a wrap-up. Here's a nice one with some video highlights of the bigger clashes such as France/Germany, Netherlands/Italy, and Sweden/Argentina.

Jamie Carragher. Love him or hate him he's had quite a career. We feel like he's been playing forever. Well, he announced this will be it for him once the season is complete. He's 35 and it's certainly the right decision. He tackles are getting later, and later, and later...

Right! That's your lot for the day. More tomorrow when we conclude the week with a bang!

Wait! Beckham is back in his briefs for H&M! Here you go!

Onward!!

-SSN