Can the US defense hang tough in South Africa?

Defense seems to be the big concern with only a week left before the opening of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.  Even overshadowing the lack of a second forward to compliment Jozy Altidore. Can the American backline keep opposing offenses in check during the tournament?  The only thing a pair of friendlies brought about last week was more questions.  The team allowed 5 goals in the two matches and was continually ripped apart by opposing attacks.

Will Gooch Onyewu be able to give the team valuable minutes at the high level needed after the long injury layoff?  Can anyone man the outsides and get forward without getting killed in the counterattack?  No question Tim Howard is one of the best goalkeepers in the world, but if teams are ripping through the defense for point blank shots, even a worldclass keeper can only hope to survive.

"The thing that sticks out to me just at the moment is to be a bit better defensively and solid, have a better team shape from the back towards the front," said captain Carlos Bocanegra, who started at left back against the Turkey.

"You're talking about an exercise that takes a whole lot of time, and we don't have a whole lot of time to do it," goalkeeper Tim Howard said. "A lot of it is body language. A lot of it is timing and familiarity, and it's just something that you don't do overnight,"

The US will play a friendly with Australia this weekend in their final tuneup before opening play against England.  Hopefully they can get things right in the back as England will throw more firepower at the Amercians than they have faced since lat summer's Confederations Cup.