SAN PEDRO SULA, Honduras—Nearly as soon as the final whistle blew on the United States national team's disappointing defeat at Honduras on Wednesday afternoon, players on the squad were looking ahead to the next match.

"I can't repeat this enough. This is a long road," Michael Bradley told assembled press after the match. "Sure, is it disappointing on a day like today not to walk away with a point? Absolutely. But we can't lose our heads. We can't let ourselves be thrown off course."

Bradley, of course, has been through the Hexagonal once before. He played a part in the successful 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign and, while he said the Americans would take away lessons from their first-ever loss at Estadio Olimpico, there is little reason to dwell on unchangeable outcomes. At this stage, there's always another match just around the corner.

Geoff Cameron, a newbie to the final round of CONCACAF qualifying, agreed with his teammate.

"I'm disappointed with the result but you gotta keep your chin up. We have big games coming up. You gotta roll with it," he said.

Cameron paired with newcomer Omar Gonzalez and the results were mixed. The duo was at fault for the second goal but had some periods of calm play out of the back. Despite the struggles, it would appear that the pair is the No. 1 center back option in the mind of Jurgen Klinsmann.

"We believe that Omar is ready for the next step. He's ready for the international level. The only way to find that out is to give him a chance and throw him in the cold water. I think overall he's done well," the head coach said after the game. "There were key moments when there might be a misunderstanding between the two center backs or the chemistry with the No. 6 and the two center backs. That takes time to develop."

"The backline was not the reason why we lost that game."

The next step for the U.S. is rebooting and earning three points against Costa Rica in Denver. Despite the loss in Honduras, Americans sound confident about their chances.

"We'll take care of business when we get home," Cameron said.

Klinsmann, ever sunny, thinks his team will definitely qualify for the World Cup. If that happens, and it should, a 2-1 loss in Honduras to open the Hex will be forgotten.

Even after the Catrachos earned three points, there was a sense from the press corp that their squad would be lucky to reach the world's biggest tournament in 2014. One of them asked the American coach for his thoughts on Honduras' chances. "Maybe we go to Brazil all together," came the reply.