I tried to go the entire Confederations Cup without writing about it, and I managed to. Tons of people outside of Africa are complaining about the noise produced by the now infamous vuvuzela horns in South Africa. I'm not going to, it doesn't bother me.

It may be because I'm an American, maybe I'm used to artificial stadium noise. Be it fake crowd noise pumped in by the stadium's PA system (I'm looking at you, Indianapolis Colts), those God forsaken thundersticks, or any number of other things. I guess the fake noise makers are almost a neccesity at American sporting events given that you have to have a hedge fund to attend many of them and people with hedge funds tend to not be as loud at sporting events as people without hedge funds, but ticket pricing is another argument for another day. Back on topic, the vuvuzela doesn't bother me.

In fact the vuvuzela hasn't always been a problem in Europe either as this clip from Espana '82 demostrates... 

Yes, I know, that was 1982 and times change, but the vuvuzela is actually a big part of South African football, they didn't just break it out for this cup, they're often present at PSL matches.

I know, it's noisy, and most of you aren't used to it, but it's part of their culture and this is their World Cup. It's Africa's first major sporting event, and people should allow them to be themselves at the event. Thus far South Africa has done a good job, the Confederations Cup came off very well and I expect the World Cup will go smoothly. South Africa is a country with many problems, but they're doing the best they can.

Remember, the South Africans never complained about your culture.

• Trinidad & Tobago 2 : 3 Costa Rica
• United States 2 : 1 Honduras
• El Salvador 2 : 1 Mexico

The results see regional giants Mexico pushed out of the qualification spots entirely as they were beaten by two goals to one in San Salvador thanks to goals from Julio Martínez and Eliseo Quintanilla. The loss sees Mexico's dire run of form continue as they now sit in fifth place on three points from four matches. Still on the horizon for Mexico are last place Trinidad & Tobago both home and away, Honduras and the United States at home, and table topping Costa Rica away. Mexico tend to be very solid at home, particularly at the Estadio Azteca, but they will have to produce a set of fine performances to regain any pride from what has proven to be a miserable year.

In Chicago the United States beat Honduras 2-1 by putting in a much better showing than they did in Costa Rica just three days ago, but despite the win, the States left a lot to be desired and indeed Honduras could've drawn level late through Carlo Costly who had given them the lead on five minutes only to see a Landon Donovan penalty pull the sides level before Carlos Bocanegra scored the winner with a header after 68 minutes at Soldier Field. The victory leaves the United States 2nd, while Honduras sit in the playoff place.

Despite Carlos Edwards putting them ahead after half an hour, Trinidad and Tobago were unable to hold off leaders Costa Rica. Álvaro Saborío equalized just ten minutes after Edwards' opener to set the Ticos off, Celso Borges added two more goals on either side of an equalizer from Collin Samuel to give Costa Rica a 3-2 win over the Soca Warriors at the Dwight Yorke Stadium. 

American head coach Bob Bradley found out right away that his Beasley at left back experiment is not working out well as the Rangers' man made a mistake which lead to Costa Rica's opening goal just after the first minute in San Jose at Estadio Saprissa. Beasley gave up the ball cheaply and it eventually found it's way to Saborio who with the help of some keystone kops-esque defending placed the ball wonderfully into the top corner of Tim Howard's goal.

Beasley, again playing out of position as a left back, was also responsable for El Salvador's second goal last time the US played a match on the road.

Costa Rica continued to give the Americans a lesson by stringing several passes together and stomping out any US passes near the box save for a few that went on to become wasted corner.

Soon the Ticos would make it two, a well worked move up the left wing lead to a short cross in the box which midfielder Borges had no trouble finishing.

At halftime Bradley brought on Sacha Kljestan for Jose Torres in hopes of creating more (read: any) chances against a solid, yet little worked Costa Rica defense. The switch didn't go as planned and Costa Rica opened with a flurry and didn't relent until they found a third goal to kill the match.

That goal came in the 69th minute up the right hand side as Herrera sliced open the majority of the US defense to slide the ball slowly into Howard's goal. It was a classic.

The third goal put the game beyond doubt for the Ticos who were content to defend for the remaining 20 minutes. In stoppage time Costa Rica committed an infraction in the box which lead to a Landon Donovan penalty, little more than consolation on a bad night for the US, and an excellent one for Costa Rica.

Bob Bradley should expect to have his team selection heavily questioned over the next few days, particularly as he left Jonathan Bornstein on the bench in favor of makeshift defender Beasley, and utility defender Jonathan Spector out of the squad all together.

El Salvador will count themselves unlucky.

Indeed, El Salvador had the game under control for roughly 80 minutes thanks in no small part to some shambolic American defending. Danny Califf and Carlos Bocanegra committing a comedy of errors to allow El Salvador's first goal early in the first half, and it would only get worse.

Landon Donovan managed to turn in a decent first half, but him aside every other American starter displayed the touch of a bulldozer in a ceramics exhibition. Countless times balls were lost cheaply in the midfield leading to El Salvador counter attacks. Luckily for the US, the Salvadorians were unable to convert them.

Following a US change El Salvador was able to skin American left back DaMarcus Beasley (yes, Beasley was playing left back at this point) to go up 2-0. Brad Guzan should have done better, but he should've never been forced into action at all.

The game did change with the introduction of Jozy Altidore (who hasn't played since December) and Jose Francisco Torres. Both players injected life into the game, and Altidore eventually found the American's first after Frankie Hejduk redoubled his efforts and put in a leader's performance late in the match. Indeed, Hejduk's drive and energy played a large role in the equalizer, which he scored.

It was a match that left many with unanswered questions and again exploited the long-time American weakness of lacking a killer striker.

As a sidenote, it was nice to see the Miami FC ad-boards at the match. It appears Traffic Sports will make an effort to market the team this season after it was administered it's last rites barely a fortnight ago. For those that care, it seems the team will play at least some matches at Lockhart Stadium.

Bob Bradley has left himself with some big decisions to make before the team faces Trinidad and Tobago on Wednesday.

The turbulence and uncertainty ahead of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa continues to cast a dark cloud over what should be a nation's coming out party. The latest episode follows a report from the British newspaper The Guardian stating that insurers were fearful about providing coverage for the event amid fears that the stadiums would not be complete on time. This report comes at a time when around 500 workers have gone on strike at the Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit, Mpumalanga. The estimated date of completion for the 46,000-seat stadium is mid-2009 but unless this problem is solved quickly that will surely be pushed back.

It is widely thought that the United States is the stand-by host in case the event cannot go ahead in South Africa. Certainly living in the United States I would be delighted at an opportunity to attend World Cup matches so easily, but I want South Africa to host it, I think South Africa needs to host it. Few nations have had to deal with the hardships that South Africa has and the country needs something that could give it a chance to become the great nation it has the potential to be. I think, and I hope that the 2010 World Cup would do just that. So, I wish South Africa the best of luck

Tomorrow (or today in most places) Arsenal and Liverpool will meet in what will be the second of three matches in one week's time. It's an important match for both clubs, particularly Arsenal who need a win to keep pace with league leaders Manchester United. Despite a recent slide in form Arsene Wenger believes Arsenal still have enough in the tank to capture their first championship since the 2004 season in which the Gunners went unbeaten. The Londoners will need a solid performance from Phillipe Senderos and William Gallas in the heart of defense as it seems likely Rafa Benitez will call upon Peter Crouch who has made it a habit to score against Arsenal throughout his career. Arsenal also announced that goalkeeper Manuel Almunia has signed a new contract. Lots of people question Almunia's ability, while there are many goalkeeper's I'd rather have I believe Almunia has done a respectable job.