How To Shoot Yourself In The Foot In German

I don't think I've ever seen anyone take themselves out of the running for a spot on a World Cup roster as quickly as Gregg Berhalter did yesterday as the U.S. came undone in the second half against Germany. Wow. The same might be said of fellow defender Jimmy Conrad, as the two of them totally lost the thread in very abrupt fashion.

Steve Cherundolo's silly foul at the outset of the second half probably didn't hurt him at all. He's still in the final 23. Brian Ching, however, probably played himself out of contention as well, mostly for his lack of defending on the resulting set piece. An interesting juxtaposition was Taylor Twellman in the 88th minute or so, on the exact same play, getting a foot on the ball and getting it out of danger.

Bobby Convey, I thought, looked good, but I would have liked to have seen him in the spot that Josh Wolff was in to start the match. Once Chris Klein came in for Wolff, the top of the midfield was sorta weird and sorta fluid, with Klien, Convey and Cherundolo all floating around a bit.

Carlos Bocanegra's cause may have been helped in absentia, as Berhalter and Conrad getting knocked down a peg means he's up at least one spot on the depth chart by default. And if Bruce Arena is still looking for a potential backup to Brian McBride, could that mean renewed interest in Nate Jaqua and maybe even Conor Casey in the final four friendlies?

I do have to add that, for a match being so heavily downplayed by Arena going in, he sure seemed pissed at the outcome.