U.S. mauls Honduras in must-win

SAN JOSE, Calif. — You never would have been able to tell the dire state of U.S. Men’s National Soccer team by the atmosphere at Avaya Stadium on Friday night for its critical World Cup qualifying match against Honduras or by the Americans’ performance in a stunning 6-0 annihilation of the visitors.

Spirited chants of “USA, USA, USA’’ and “I believe we will win’’ rang though the parking lots hours before the match despite spitting rain and raw temperatures.

The vibe completely belied the grim state of the team the fans came out to support.

Then the match started. And the way the U.S. played, one would never have thought the men’s national team was in a 2018 World Cup qualifying bind in the first place.

The Americans played confident, organized and aggressive soccer in a match they absolutely had to have.

The most significant element to come out of the match was a hat trick by Clint Dempsey, who was playing for the first time since the summer because of an irregular heartbeat. Dempsey is the most danger- ous goal scorer for the U.S., which has little chance of getting to Russia for World Cup 2018 without him.

Midfielder Sebastian Lletget gave the U.S. a 1-0 lead with a goal in the fourth minute, poking in a rebound of a Christian Pulisic shot that initially was saved by Honduras keeper Donis Escober.

Michael Bradley gave the U.S. a 2-0 lead in the 26th minute with a great individual-effort power move from the midfield and a whistling left-footed blast past Escober. Minutes later, Dempsey got his first goal.

Pulisic gave the U.S. a 4-0 lead with a goal in the first minute of the second half and, three minutes later, Dempsey made it 5-0 with his second of the night. Dempsey completed the hat trick with a 30-yard missile in the 53rd minute.

The victory lifted the U.S. into a tie with Honduras and Trinidad and Tobago with 3 points, behind Mexico (7 points) and Costa Rica (6 points).

Since the Hex format was adopted in 1998, only one team has lost its first two matches and gone on to qualify for the World Cup — Trinidad and Tobago in 2006.

The next qualifying match the U.S. plays is Tuesday at Panama, a match that like Friday night’s, will be a must-win.