USA 3-2 Honduras – US Men’s Soccer Qualify for 6th Consecutive World Cup

See you in South Africa!

Landon Donovan celebrates his goal which was also the US's 3rd and decisive goal of the match.

The US Men’s National Soccer Team qualified for their 6th consecutive World Cup by defeating Honduras tonight in San Pedro Sula, Honduras.

We did a good job tonight. We’re going to South Africa!
Landon Donovan

Defeating Honduras away is no easy task but it took most of the game for the US to break the Catrachos down. The US went into the game sitting 1st place in the standings in their CONCACAF qualifying  group and Honduras was trailing by only 2 points and in 3rd place behind Mexico.

“This isn’t an easy place to play,” Donovan said. “No one else has won here in qualifying and we just did.”

Conor Casey was an unlikely hero tonight for the US, scoring 2 goals. Landon Donovan again was the team leader getting an assist on the 2nd Casey goal and notching the 3rd US goal himself on a beautifully taken free kick in the 71st minute of play.

The first goal came on a bogus free kick awarded to Honduras in the 47th minute of play and given just in front of the US penalty box. Julio Cesar de Leon stepped up and hit a curling kick the cleared the wall and beat US goalkeeper Tim Howard to the left side of  goal.

The first US goal came in the 55th minute on a ball that was played high into the box. The speedy Charlie Davies got to the ball first which then was played up and toward the Honduran keeper Noel Valladares. Casey went in high and strong beating Valladares to the ball and playing the ball off his face and into the goal.

Casey’s second goal came in the 66th minute of play as Donovan slotted a perfectly weighted throughball to Casey who was making a run. Casey beat his defender but still had some work in front of him. He took a touch and then calmly curled the ball around Valladares, slotting it past him low on the right side and just inside the post. It was a world class finish for Casey and gave him a brace for the evening.

Donovan finished the evening’s scoring for the US after a questionable free kick was awarded to the Americans. Donovan bent the ball around the right side of the wall and just inside the post to put the US up 3-1.

But Honduras did not go down without a fight. In the 78th minute Julio Cesar de Leon scored in an odd set of passes that seemed to leave the US confused and calling for an offside. But the goal stood and it drew Honduras within one.

Then just to make things interesting, Jonathan Spector inadvertently handled the ball while defending in the box. A spot kick was given in the 87th minute and Carlos Pavon stepped up to be the hero. But Pavon blew the ball high over the goal and a relieved Tim Howard to save the win for the US.

“We’re very proud,” U.S. coach Bob Bradley said. “We understand the responsibility we have every time we step on the field for our fans, for our country.”

Mexico also won tonight with goals by Cuauhtémoc Blanco, Francisco Palencia and Carlos Vela. Tres Colores defeated El Salvador by a score of 4-1 which also booked a trip for our southern neighbor to the big show in South Africa in 2010.

Scoring Summary:             1              2              F
USA                                        0              3              3
HON                                       0              2              2

HON – Julio Cesar de Leon (unassisted)     47th minute
USA – Conor Casey (Charlie Davies)             55
USA – Conor Casey (Landon Donovan)         66
USA – Landon Donovan (unassisted)            71
HON – Julio Cesar de Leon (David Suazo)   78

Lineups:
USA:  1-Tim Howard; 2-Jonathan Spector, 5-Oguchi Onyewu, 3-Carlos Bocanegra (capt.), 12-Jonathan Bornstein; 7-Stuart Holden (6-Steve Cherundolo, 90+3), 13-Ricardo Clark, 4-Michael Bradley, 10-Landon Donovan; 9-Charlie Davies (17-Jozy Altidore, 79), 8-Conor Casey (16-Benny Feilhaber, 84)
Subs not used: 11-Kenny Cooper, 14-Jose Torres, 15-Jimmy Conrad, 18-Brad Guzan
Head Coach: Bob Bradley

HON: 18-Noel Valladares; 16-Mauricio Sabillon, 2-Osman Chavez, 3-Maynor Figueroa, 12-Emilio Izaguirre; 17-Edgard Alvarez (11-David Suazo, 64), 6-Hendry Thomas (7-Ramon Nunez, 75), 8-Wilson Palacios, 10-Julio Cesar de Leon (15-Walter Martinez, 80); 13-Carlo Costly, 9-Carlos Pavon
Subs not used: 1-Ricardo Canales, 5-Erick Norales, 14-Boniek Garcia, 4-Melvin Valladares,
Head Coach: Reinaldo Rueda

Stats Summary: USA / HON
Shots: 16 / 13
Shots on Goal: 7 / 5
Saves: 3 / 4
Corner Kicks: 5 / 5
Fouls: 12 / 16

Other countries qualifying for a trip to South Africa today were: Italy, Germany, Denmark, Serbia, Chile and the Ivory Coast.