USMNT

England may not have qualified for the World Cup in style, but at least they qualified.  That can't be said for the US - who somehow contrived to mess things up and not qualify, much to the embarrassment, shame and chagrin of a lot of people here.  Coming in to the last round of games they were third in their standings, only needing a draw against Trinidad & Tobago to secure a spot.  That is Trinidad & Tobago ranked about 100 in the world and bottom of a qualifying group that included Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama, Honduras and the US.  The top 3 qualified automatically, and 4th place went into a playoff.  The US lost 2-1.  A disastrous result.  But even more unlikely, Honduras managed to beat Mexico (top of the table) and Panama managed to beat Costa Rica (second in the table) with a goal 2 minutes from time, which meant that they both overtook the US who consequently finished 5th and didn't qualify.  Shocking!  But then not really that shocking when you consider the US managed to also lose to Mexico and Costa Rica twice in qualifying.  A big wake up call for the lack of advancement in US soccer and all that totally unrealistic talk of them being World Cup winners one day. I only hope this doesn't affect the American coverage of the World Cup on tv!