The USA Men's National Team defeated Honduras last night in CONCACAF qualifying 3-2, to cap off a thrilling second half of end-to-end football that saw both five goals scored as the Americans "made the cut" for their 6th straight World Cup.
This was a crazy match, surrounded by upheaval before it even began, as Honduras is suffering through an internal political crisis that added extra angst to the proceedings along with the fact that (bizarrely) US soccer fans were left with no way to watch the game on TV. FIFA, in their infinite wisdom (you'll note my sarcasm), gifts the hosting country of WC qualifiers the broadcasting rights of their matches to sell on the open-market. Unfortunately and annoyingly, the rights were sold to a crappy Mexican broadcasting corporation, that refused to allow the game to be seen on anything other than a few closed-circuit outlets. Most US fans were forced to watch via online feeds like JustinTV just to get a glimpse of this critical game.
And what a game it was, as scrappy Honduras, surely the surprise shock of CONCACAF's qualifying campaign, threw their heart and soul against the occasionally shaky back four of the United States. Starting out with a powerful and perfectly placed free kick to net their 1st goal (by Julio Cesar De Leon) in the 47th minute, the Hondurans surely felt the match was headed their way until surprise starter Connor Casey muscled his way above both a Honduran defender and the keeper to powerfully head home the equalizer only 8 minutes later in the 55th minute. The goal seemed to shock both the home team and its fans as the US began to build up attack after attack and finally cracked the scoring sheet yet again in the 66th after an inch-perfect pass by Landon Donovan gave Casey his second goal of the night. To its credit, Honduras continued to attack with abandon, causing constant difficulties down the right flank but it was the USA who would strike again on a beautiful Landon Donovan free kick from the left-side of the box after Connor Casey was tripped up.
US fans must have breathed a sigh of relief at that point only to watch in agony as the Hondurans nearly scored their second only to have it over-turned due to offsides. Unfortunately, for nerve-wracked Yanks everywhere, Julio Cesar De Leon finally scored the Honduran's second goal at the 78th minute ratcheting up the pressure ten-fold. After another near-miss from a flubbed Bicycle-Kick attempt, Hondurans everywhere erupted in excitement as a hand-ball foul by Jonathan Spector had the referee pointing to the spot for a PK attempt. Carlos Pavon lined up and promptly skied his kick over the crossbar. Pavon was gifted another chance to equalize for the hosts but his close-range header again sailed harmlessly over the bar.
After about 3 minutes of intense injury-time play, the US had weathered the storm and booked a position in the upcoming World Cup.
A few observations from this match from a US fan's perspective:
The Good - The US played much better in midfield for large portions of the game, something we've not seen from them with any consistency, Good finishing with the sole exception of Benny Feilhaber's missed 1v1 with the keeper around the 90th minute that could have put the game away, and finally, the team maintained its composure despite the intense circumstances
The Bad - Momentary lapses of concentration on defense are still a major cause for concern.
The Ugly - With this loss, a hard-working, talented, and very deserving Honduras side's chances for a World Cup spot are in serious jeopardy. Here's to hoping that the US will put forth a strong effort against Costa Rica enabling Honduras to qualify. Their fans were classy and respectful during the US National Anthem and after the match, actually applauding the US for its success. This was a bit of a shock coming from the classless Mexican team and fans in Azteca - they could learn a thing or two from the Hondurans.
No comments:
Post a Comment