El Tri: Francisco 'Maza' Rodriguez Shoots the Bird

While Mexico did not lose in its opening match of The Hex, a 0-0 draw against Jamaica at the Estudio Azteca in Mexico City was not the way that El Tri wanted to start the last stage of qualifying for the 2014 World Cup Finals in Brazil. But not only were the Mexican players frustrated by the Reggae Boyz on the pitch, but they were frustrated by the boos emanating from the Mexican fans filling up the stadium.

It seems that the frustration took the better of Mexico's captain Francisco 'Maza' Rodriguez, who shot the bird at a live television camera as he left the pitch after the match. Today Maza is trying to claim the gesture was a result of a "finger injury," well I call bullshit on that. Was that scowl also a result of an injury, huh Maza? I don't mind when athletes let their emotions get away from them and they make an obscene gesture or hurtle some foul language, but I do hate when they try to cover it up with lies. Be a man Maza, admit you were pissed off and you weren't thinking straight.

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The United States Drops It's First Hex Match to Honduras, 2-1

The Hex, the last stage of CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying for the 2014 World Cup finals in Brazil, began on Tuesday February 6th, and the United States got off to a bad start with a 2-1 loss to Honduras at the Estadio Olímpico Metropolitano in San Pedro Sula, Honduras.

Due to the fact that I don't have beIN Sport on my provider and the fact that the match occurred while I was at my day job, I was not able to watch the match. I did listen to the radio feed out of Honduras, but my Spanish is far from adequate to fully understand what was going on. But, based on the comments and accounts of people who did watch the match, here is my impressions:

- The United States played like a team made up of players who played for their clubs over the weekend; flew to Miami; then flew to Honduras on Tuesday; barely had time to train and bond; and underestimated their opponent.

- The United States is striker deficient and Jurgen Klinsmann should have played Herculez Gomez.

- The existence of MLS has helped develop soccer talent across the CONCACAF region.

I did see a fair share of knee-jerk the sky is falling the US isn't going to qualify tweets yesterday, but let's be realistic here, this was the first match of the Hex, odds are the US was going to lose a couple road games. The hopes of reaching the World Cup finals in Brazil are not dashed for the US, there's plenty of time and matches left in this process.

Before some video from and after the match, here's the other CONCACAF results:

Panama 2 - 2 Costa Rica

Mexico 0 - 0 Jamaica

Highlights from the match:

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The Hex Starts Today - Prepare with a Look at the American Outlaws & USMNT Presser

The Hex, the last stage of CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying, begins today for the United States National Team with a match at Honduras in San Pedro Sula. The match begins at 3:00 p.m. central time this afternoon and will be aired on beIN Sport.

To get you ready for today's match, here's a story Fox Soccer Channel did about the American Outlaws, the newest group of US Soccer supporters:

As you can see, that piece was filmed in Houston in late January 2013 when the USMNT hosted Canada in a friendly, a rather uneventful friendly that ended in a 0-0 draw.

Here's a bonus video of a Jürgen Klinsmann press conference down in Honduras: