————————

FINAL- That’s all for tonight folks. Thanks for following along on SBI and please share your post-match thoughts and opinions in the comments section below.

————————

FINAL- And the USA wins the match, 1-0, and finish in first place in Group A. This means the Americans will face either Haiti, Mexico or Canada in the decisive semifinal on Thursday. Charlie Davies comes in as a sub and draws two penalties, missing the first and letting Gaven convert the second.

It was an ugly match but the Americans were never in much trouble against a Honduran team resting its best players.

————————

95th minute- GOAL USA!!!!!. Gaven converts the PK

————————

95th minute- Eddie Gaven to take the PK

————————

94th minute- USA PENALTY. WOW

————————

90th minute- This game is almost over and the USA looks like it will avoid Mexico in the semifinals.

————————

87th minute- Findley with a nice run into the area. He’s been the best of the Findley-Barrett-Davies trio tonight.

————————

86th minute- Davies with another dive. I’m starting to think he’s part Honduran.

————————

85th minute- Nunez fires one off the left post and the Americans dodge a bullet.

————————

84th minute- Yes folks, that was Chad Barrett with a purposeful pass that wasn’t a turnover. So what if he turned it over once he got it back.

————————

83rd minute- McCarty with a foul on former Dallas teammate Ramon Nunez. I can imagine the stories they could tell about each other.

————————

81st minute- A heel flick that leads to nothing is called wonderful. DRINK!!

————————

78th minute- A female streaker halts the game and, yes folks, she wasn’t bad at all. Gotta love FSC showing replays of her streak job, can’t say I blame them.

————————

74th minute- The United States comes close but Chad Barrett’s wide-open header goes wide.

————————

68th minute- MLS washout Ramon Nunez is set to come into the match for Honduras.

————————

67th minute- Some very good stuff from Eddie Gaven tonight. I think you can argue that he deserves to start in the semifinals.

————————

65th minute- I’m starting to think we should have made a drinking game out of Honduran players faking injuries. We would all be drunk by now.

————————

62nd minute- DAVIES MISSES!!!! Charlie Davies wanted the PK and he promptly sailed it wide right by a few inches.

————————

61st minute- USA PENALTY. Davies brought down in the area and Davies has a PK to take now.

————————

60th minute- Charlie Davies and Dax McCarty coming in for Sal Zizzo and Sacha Kljestan.

————————

51st minute- Kljestan with an ugly tackle that earns him a yellow.

————————

46th minute- We’re under way and Honduras gets a good shot on goal just seconds into the match. Cervi with a decent save.

————————

HALFTIME- We’re scoreless at the half. Honduras isn’t really doing much and the Americans have had the better of the play, though they haven’t been stellar either. Nowak has to think about putting Charlie Davies in for Barrett. If he doesn’t bench Barrett I’m afraid some SBI readers might wind up with alcohol poisoning.

————————

46th minute- I’m starting to think the Americans want a tie here. If Barrett stays in the game in the second half then I definitely think that’s the case.

————————

45th minute- Wow, Honduran midfielder Irvin Reyna with a TOUGH tackle on Zizzo.

————————

44th minute- Barrett with ANOTHER turnover. DRINK!

————————

43rd minute- Here’s an honest, CONCACAF-inspired question. What is more annoying, when a player dives badly or when a player lobbies hard for an opponent to get a card? It’s a tough call but I think I’ll go with the card lobbying.

————————

41st minute- Barrett with a horrid turnover. DRINK!

————————

39th minute- Kljestan with a bad turnover that leads to a Honduras break. Has anybody’s stock dropped more from the end of Game two to now than Kljestan?

————————

38th minute- Honduras doesn’t really look that interested in attacking soccer, though it may just be a product of its second team not being that good.

————————

33rd minute- Barrett with a shot on goal, okay so it rolled to the goalkeeper, but at least he kept it on the field.

————————

32nd minute- Sorry Mr. Miles, a keeper punching a ball right to an opposing player 20 yards from goal is NOT punching the ball to safety. Everybody DRINK!

————————

30th minute- Random question: When did the Jheri curl become the national hairstyle of Honduras?

————————

29th minute- Free roam, I believe that’s a cell phone plan, but I digress. Cervi gets a save, even if it was an easy one. For those who forget, Cervi was easily the best goalkeeper at the MLS Combine and has a bright future somewhere. Yes, I said somewhere, he hasn’t signed with the Chicago Fire just yet.

————————

25th minute- Just so you folks don’t think I’m a complete hater I do think Brian Dunseth has done a great job as a color analyst. Though if he says Cruyff one more time I might break my TV. Actually, that’s a drinking game. Anytime Dunseth says Cruyff everybody drinks.

————————

24th minute- Someone should tell the Honduran goalkeeper that Memo Ochoa called, he wants his look back.

————————

22nd minute- Great sequence with Zizzo finding Findley and Findley with a beautiful move in the area. Would have been a goal if not for the Honduran goalkeeper.

————————

19th minute- Okay, I’ve got the second drinking game. Any time Christian Miles praises a play and the play winds up being a turnover or terrible shot you must drink. He does it far too often. Hope you folks have a lot of alcohol available.

————————

18th minute– I don’t know who the Honduras coach is but he’s the best dressed coach you’ll ever see in a U-23 game.

————————

17th minute- For those of you wondering, that awful Chad Barrett cross counts as a turnover, so DRINK.

————————

14th minute- Honduran Daniel Alvarez pretends like Stuart Holden just shot him, but the ref doesn’t bite. I wonder if Alvarez is related to Amado Guevara with that acting.

————————

13th minute- Okay, the first drinking game involves Chad Barrett. Any time Barrett shanks a shot or commits a turnover you must drink. Yes, it’s St. Patty’s weekend, so we’re bringing the heat with the drinking games.

————————

12nd minute- The Americans are passing very well tonight, at least in part because Honduras doesn’t seem too interested in applying heavy defensive pressure.

————————

10th minute- I wonder if Red Bulls fans are involuntarily complaining at the sound of "Reyna" being repeated over and over.

————————

9th minute- Wow. Dom Cervi coming out like a maniac off his line. He got a tad lucky to get an offside call.

————————

8th minute- Since it’s Saturday night and St. Patty’s Day weekend, we must have some drinking games for this match. I’ll have a few shortly.

————————

7th minute- Maybe it’s just me but it’s tough to accept that Eddie Gaven is now a married guy with a beard. Where do the years go?

————————

5th minute- Interesting game tonight for the Americans. They know a tie or loss gets them Guatemala. Do you settle for that or do you still try to win the group and potentially face Mexico?

————————

4th minute- Here’s a question. This game is being broadcast in English. Do we really need Michael Orozco’s name pronounced with the heavy Spanish accenting?

And yes, Mr. Miles is still calling Freddy Adu Freddy Ay-doo.

————————

3rd minute- Good stuff from the Americans early on. Nice passing.

————————

2nd minute- And we’re under way.

————————

PRE-GAME- Here is the US lineup:

———-Barrett————

——Gaven—-Findley—–

Holden—-Kljestan—–Zizzo

Freeman—————–Hill

———-Orozco—Ianni——

————Cervi————–

PRE-GAME– Are we really getting anything from these cliche-filled pre-game interviews?

————————