USA lands crucial tie vs. Honduras
Americans’ chances in qualifying improve after Wood’s late goal
SULA, SAN PEDRO HONDURAS The current version of the U.S. men’s soccer team is not the greatest in the program’s history, is not packed with world-beaters and is not especially confident right now.
But it has one critical and unshakable thing going for it. It doesn’t give up. Against Honduras on Tuesday evening, the Americans were outplayed, outbattled and, with five minutes to go, all but beaten. Until they weren’t.
With time running thin and Honduras deserving of its 1-0 lead, things suddenly fell into place in such a way that might have saved the U.S. team’s World Cup qualifying campaign.
Chrsitian Pulisic, the 18-yearold jewel of the squad, won a free kick after 85 minutes. Kellyn Acosta, another youngster, drilled it on goal and produced a desperate save. Defender Matt Besler hooked the rebound back into the middle, Jordan Morris headed it onward and Bobby Wood flicked it home with the outside of his right foot.
Make no mistake, things are far from ideal, yet for much of this sweltering late afternoon they were positioned to get so much worse.
A point gave the USA nine in eight matches, remaining ahead of Honduras on goal differential, and still in third place in the group — though Panama had the chance to leapfrog from fifth with a victory against Trinidad and Tobago later Tuesday.
The group’s top three finishers qualify automatically for Russia next summer and a fourth goes into a playoff against Syria or Australia. The USA has reached the last seven World Cups but now might have to win both of its final two games — at home against Panama and at Trinidad and Tobago next month — to extend that streak.
“Getting a point was huge for us today,” coach Bruce Arena said. “I am proud of how we battled. They were tough conditions. With two games remaining, we have everything to play for.”
There is no single culprit that contributes to a troubled campaign. Jurgen Klinsmann, despite overseeing two defeats to begin the final phase before being fired and replaced by Arena, is not entirely responsible. Yet that dismal opening did give the USA a sense of vulnerability it is still struggling to shed.
Honduras sensed it here, attacking from the outset and spurning chances for Alberth Elis and Romell Quioto before its opening strike, through Quioto, after 27 minutes. Quioto pounced on a ball forwarded from Alex Lopez, Omar Gonzalez was slow to cover and could not flick the ball away with a sliding tackle, and the Honduras forward fired in off Brad Guzan’s post.
The U.S. federation’s clumsy decision to host last Friday’s de- feat to Costa Rica in a part of the country — New Jersey — where vocal support for the visiting team was guaranteed is not the sole reason the Americans have found things tough, either.
It is a combination of factors, and it has all added up to a situation that could scarcely be more tense. The USA is not in the clear, but at least it has kept things in its own hands.