(First, I have to call out Mike for not blogging about the Costa Rica game. He said he was going to. But he let all of you Four Guys One Cuppers down, didn’t he? You all should pile on next time he posts. What an asshat.)
Anyway, I got pretty nervous when we gave up a goal in the fifth minute. My friends and I were just saying, “If we can keep this to 0-0 by the half, we’ll be in good shape.” Then bam, goal. Ouch, suck.
Clint Dempsey flubbed a backheel five minutes in, Honduras pounced on it and the United States fell behind early for the second time in four days.
“Here we go again,” U.S. captain Carlos Bocanegra thought.
But as the half drew to a close, a hand ball in the penalty zone by Mario Beata put Landon Donovan on the line for a penalty kick, which he drained. (Although he came scarily close to hitting the crossbar on his shot.)
Donovan played pretty well, all told. Sometimes he seems like he can’t be bothered to be there, or if one thing goes wrong in the early stages it sticks with him like a bad cold and affects his play for the rest of the game. But he was solid, and it was his corner kick that came in and eventually found Carlos Bocanegra’s head for the go-ahead goal in the 68th minute.
So for the first time in 24 years the Yanks came from behind to win a World Cup qualifier, and they did it in front of 55,647 at Soldier Field, itself a former World Cup venue. (Granted, the Hondurans were out in full force. The USA seriously needs some better fans.)
We’re now two points behind Costa Rica and a full five points ahead of El Salvador. Meanwhile, Mexico is in serious danger: They are 1-0-3 in qualifying and have notched only three points, making them fifth out of six teams in CONCACAF. Only the top three qualify, of course. I will laugh if the Mexicans don’t make it.
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