Better, But Not Out Of The Woods Just Yet
In a critical game (been a while since we had one of those, no?), the US Men’s National Team came back to defeat Honduras 2-1 Saturday night in Chicago, salvaging a rough week. With the win, the US has 10 points through five hexagonal matches (two fewer than at the same point last time around) and keeps them just two points behind group leader Costa Rica. With Mexico losing at El Salvador, things are very interesting now as final qualifying for South Africa 2010 reaches the halfway point.
The performance against Honduras was much better than the one in Costa Rica. The US players, some of whom were inserted into the lineup after the poor showing in San Jose, were livelier and more aggressive. They caught a break with the handball call late in the first half that led to Landon Donovan’s penalty, but a foul in the box could have been called a penalty not long before that. The result was gritty but deserved and now it’s on to the Confederations Cup.
In a related story…if I asked you which nation, over the course of the last three World Cup qualfiying cycles in CONCACAF, had the best overall record (W-L-T% and Points Per Game) and which had the best road record, what would you say?