FanHouse CONCACAF Gold Cup

The U.S. national team's surprising run through the CONCACAF Gold Cup, its streak of two straight regional titles and its decade of dominance of arch-rival Mexico on American soil all were obliterated Sunday afternoon in just over 10 stunning minutes of soccer engineered by Carlos Vela and Giovani Dos Santos.

The London-based pair destroyed the slow, overwhelmed American defense early in the second half at a packed Giants Stadium, playing key roles in three goals that catapulted the Mexicans to a 5-0 win and a record fifth Gold Cup title.

Freddy Adu was carrying a limp as he made his way through the tunnel beneath RFK Stadium Wednesday night. The 20-year-old midfielder had played 64 indifferent minutes for the U.S. national team in its CONCACAF Gold Cup match against Honduras. It was his replacement, Charlie Davies, who was part of the combination that ultimately unlocked the visitors' defense and helped the Americans to a 2-0 win.

It smelled like a lost opportunity, and in fact, it turned out that Adu's Gold Cup was over. U.S. coach Bob Bradley announced, and Adu confirmed, that he is on his way back to Portugal to join Benfica for its preseason. After a quiet year with the Portuguese power and an anonymous one-year loan with Monaco, one is left to wonder when the former prodigy, now a pro for five years, is going to make an impact.

Tonight, the U.S. national team returns to the scene of the crime. On Sept. 1, 2001, a confident and athletic Honduras side defeated the Americans, 3-2, in a back-and-forth World Cup qualifier played before a raucous, pro-Honduran crowd at RFK Stadium in Washington.

That was the low point. The U.S. went on to qualify and advance all the way to the quarterfinals the following summer in South Korea, while los Catrachos stayed home. And the Nats haven't lost on U.S. soil to a CONCACAF opponent since then, compiling an amazing 44-0-10 record. Even though defender Steve Cherundolo is the only American who played in that 2001 game who's on the current CONCACAF Gold Cup roster, a victory over Honduras tonight at RFK would be pretty sweet, and would put the U.S. in position to win Group B and avoid Mexico in the upcoming quarters and semis.

The 2006 World Cup is remembered as a tournament where key players fell well short of expectations. It should also be remembered for the play of Clint Dempsey and Jimmy Conrad, the two MLS players who arguably were the only members of that U.S. national team who could be proud of their performances in Germany.

Why is that relevant today? Because both Dempsey and Conrad likely cemented their roles on Bruce Arena's World Cup roster with their play at the 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup. Neither was a national team fixture before that tournament, but in helping the Americans to their third title, they established themselves as legitimate World Cup options. The U.S. team that takes the Qwest Stadium field tonight against Grenada in their Gold Cup opener will be composed of players with similar status -- on the outside looking in as the next World Cup approaches. History suggests that two or three of those athletes will play their way onto Bob Bradley's team for next summer.