U.S.A. 2 - 0 Honduras

I went to my first international soccer match on Wednesday night, watching Haiti dominate Grenada 2-0 and the USA national team defeat Honduras by the same score.  Little did I know how many Hondurans lived in the DC area -- the USA supporters were substantially outnumbered by the blue-and-white Honduran colors and flag.  This reflects just how unpopular even international soccer is here amongst the majority of Americans who watch baseball, basketball and American football in droves.   

Honduras hung with the U.S. for the first half and part of the second.  It wasn't until the USA broke through for the first goal about midway through the second half that things started to slip away for them.  The second goal really broke Honduras' spirit: the team gave up several more scoring chances in quick succession, and their fans started streaming for the exits. 
 
Though there is one African team is my absolute favorite (those who know me should know which African team that is), I love Team USA as well.  Obviously if the USA ever played my favorite team, I would root for the Africans.  But because the U.S. is not dominant in soccer, it's one of the few sports where rooting for the United States doesn't feel like I'm rooting for the house in poker.  It's one of the few sports arenas where nobody expects the USA to be particularly good, so it feels much better when we are. 
I guess you could say soccer is the only sport where I am unabashedly patriotic.

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