The loss dropped the U.S. into second place with seven points

FIFA World Cup

USA tries to recover from Costa Rica loss; Honduras wary of wounded giant
U.S. manager Bob Bradley
6/5/2009 - By Michael Lewis

It won’t be a must-win situation for the United States against Honduras on Saturday, even it may feel that way.

Coming off a 3-1 loss against Costa Rica in which the U.S. players admitted they were outplayed, the Americans return home to Chicago, with coach Bob Bradley juggling his lineup to account for missing regulars in the CONCACAF World Cup qualifier.

Colorado Rapids forward Conor Casey, named Major League Soccer player of the month for May (four goals in as many games), was called to replace Brian Ching, whose ailing hamstring kept him out of the Costa Rica defeat. Central midfielder Michael Bradley, the coach's son, will serve a one-game suspension after accruing his second yellow card of the final round. The Houston Dynamo’s Rico Clark is a candidate to replace Bradley.

On Wednesday, the U.S. fell behind two goals within 13 minutes and played arguably their worst qualifier in years.

The loss dropped the U.S. into second place with seven points, two behind Costa Rica after four games. Honduras comes in with a win, a draw and a loss and in fourth place. Only three teams are guaranteed places in the 32-team World Cup field. The fourth-place finisher earns a playoff against a South American side for another berth.

The U.S. must recover quickly or face a rare two-game qualifying losing streak entering its participation in the FIFA Confederations Cup later this month, and its August 11 encounter at Mexico.

"We need to learn from [Wednesday]," said Landon Donovan, whose penalty in stoppage time accounted for the United States’ only goal against Costa Rica. "The most important thing is getting over it as quickly as possible and taking what you can from it. We have three days, physically and mentally, to turn it around against a very good team that has been resting and preparing for us all week."

Goalkeeper Tim Howard realized the U.S. needed a strong and quick turnaround.

"No one is going to feel sorry for us," he said. "We've taken our lumps now. We cruised in the semifinal round and we're no longer at the top of the group. We've got our work cut out for us."

The Americans have to be wary of Honduras, which trained in Florida for a week and arrived in Chicago on Thursday. The Hondurans were the last team to defeat the U.S. at home, 3-2, at Washington, D.C., behind midfielder Amado Guevara in September 2001. Since then, they have won four consecutive games against their Central American rivals in either friendlies or the Gold Cup. The U.S. prevailed in the 2005 semifinals, 2-1.

Honduran coach Reinaldo Rueda doesn’t expect to see the same team that faced Costa Rica.

“After the Costa Rica game, the United States will be a totally different side against us,” Rueda said. “They’re playing at home, they want to capitalize on their field, with their fans. They’re coming off a loss and will not want to lose the direction they are going in the qualifying.”

The match will be a reunion of sorts.

U.S. coach Bob Bradley brought Guevara to the New York MetroStars when he coached the MLS team in 2003. A year later, he guided Guevara to a season in which he was named the league’s best player. Now, he must devise a way to negate his talent, while Guevara will try to beat his former mentor.

Instead of using a more intimidate stadium in smaller city as in past qualifiers, U.S. Soccer has opted to play the game at the voluminous Solider Field, and has sold more than 50,000 tickets for the match. Some early reports say the crowd could be a partisan atmosphere for Honduras, helping the Central Americans and adding to the U.S. challenges.