The United States qualified for its sixth straight World Cup, winning 3-2 away against Honduras.  It was an awesome sight.  It would have been significantly more awesome had I not had to watch on a grainy Internet feed half-obscured by a Honduran chat room.

Qualifying was successful, but was at times uneasy.  There were highs.  Landon Donovan has matured into a genuine creative threat under Bob Bradley.  He is consistently effective going forward and occasionally brilliant.  He deserves praise.  Hopefully, he maintains this form through next summer.

There were also lows.  American players appear panicked when holding a result.  They were a missed penalty away from coughing up a 3-1 lead on Saturday.  They blew matches against Mexico at Azteca and against Brazil in the Confederations Cup.  It could be tactical.  It could be a mental block.  Whatever the reason, it does not bode well.

The U.S. team also needs to improve tackling.  American defenders are slow.  They compensate with rash challenges, conceding goal scoring chances.  The first Honduran goal came from a free kick surrendered by Oguchi Onyewu.  The yellows given at home by lenient CONCACAF referees could easily be reds in South Africa.  It’s too late to introduce technique.  To progress in the World Cup, the U.S. must cover their defense better to minimize this deficiency.

How far the U.S. goes depends on the draw on December 4th.  The top seven teams and South Africa are seeded into eight groups.  The past formula has been performances at the past two World Cups combined with the FIFA ranking.  Though, FIFA reserves the right to include whatever nonsense they wish at the last second.

Brazil, Spain, Germany, England and Italy should join South Africa.  Assuming they qualify, two of France, Argentina, and Portugal should fill remaining the two slots.  The Dutch miss out on seeding because they did not qualify in 2002.  Given the current formula, it’s extremely unlikely the U.S. would be seeded.

The ideal draw will be South Africa’s group, ducking a top team.  Though, the U.S. could end up stymied in a group with Brazil, the Netherlands and a tough African team.

Sunil Gulati believes the U.S. can win the World Cup.  Him using a loss to Brazil to argue his point suggests we should probably temper our expectations.  The U.S. will play a friendly with Denmark on Nov. 14.

Starting to Believe in Voodoo: Cristiano Ronaldo will miss a month after aggravating his ankle injury against Hungary.  The injury is insignificant for Portugal.  Their final qualifier is crucial, but against Malta.  Malta have not scored a goal in qualifying.  They have played 78 World Cup qualifiers in their history, and won one.  It will be very significant for Real Madrid.

Wisdom Teeth: Marouane Fellaini has a bitchin’ afro.  He could also be suspended for Everton’s match Saturday against Wolves.  The Belgian midfielder agreed to be available for his country’s meaningless qualifier on Saturday, but wants to skip the one tomorrow to have his wisdom teeth removed.  The Belgian FA reportedly threatened to have FIFA invoke the “five day rule” preventing a player from appearing for his club within five days of missing an international match due to injury.