The moment has arrived. The first chance for the U.S. men's national team to clinch a berth in its sixth straight World Cup.
Standing in the way is a Honduran team that can also book its place in South Africa with a victory tonight.
I will be doing a live commentary for ESPN.com tonight, so I won't be doing the commentary here. This is still the place to discuss everything going on tonight. Be sure to have your computer opened to SBI and ESPN.com tonight.
If you will be watching the match, please feel free to share your thoughts, opinions and some play-by-play (or game web streams) in the comments section below.
Enjoy the match.
Did he? Blown calls when Davies and Altidore got taken down, a weak foul call against Gooch for the first Honduras goal, and no bad calls in our favor that I saw
Posted by: Joamiq | October 11, 2009 at 12:21 AM
Notice how a said a referee not the referee, I should have said lines man, since he disallowed a goal that wasn’t offside. Karma is a b—-.
I’m drunk and I’m going to sleep but 1 last thing:
What was up with Feilhaber’s schelotto sized shirt?
That thing looked like it was sleeveless.
I had a grainy feed, but who missed that sitter in extra time. US player hit it wide right. Looked like Sir Landonlot or Feilhaber.
“@Andy, I expect Bob to sit out our top players that are carrying yellow card since they will miss the first game in SA if they get book in Wednesday’s game.”
I’m about 99.867754% certain it doesn’t work like that.
Honduras’ players and fans were fairly classy. I’ll be pulling for them the rest of the way.
Great game, they were shelled for the first 25 but then they settled in, I thought the first goal was a dive by Pavon and the ref bought it, but Gooch shouldn’t have given the ball away. The rest of the game was intense, I thought they posessed the ball well in the secon half especially in the waining moments so I don’t understand all the criticism,One thing I thought was this was just like the Brazil game but where I saw a difference was that we relieved the pressure through the midfield instead of just booting the ball up the field we held on to the ball, that was great to see and Benny should have finished it, Great game! I hope Honduras goes through too. Great game thought I’d never say this but thank you al jhazzera!
At this point, who’s carrying a yellow?
Does it help us anymore to beat Costa Rica (beyond maybe a little payback for our first meeting in CR?)
@Andy, I expect Bob to sit out our top players that are carrying yellow card since they will miss the first game in SA if they get book in Wednesday’s game.
a few things to take away from this game:
1. Left back and Right back SUCKS. They are the reasons why Honduras was threatening so much in the first half. they took advantage of them.
2. Holden MUCH better than that punk Dempsey. He provided lots of service
3. As much as we don’t like it C. Casey was on a roll scoring goals in MLS. Altidore has been warming the bench more than scoring goals in England. Get used to seeing more C.Casey
4. Landon is still the man for USA.
5. yep it was a close score. and it was at times frustrating. and it could have gone the other way if Carlos Pavon was not in the game. BUT USA won in Honduras, which no other teams in CONCACAF has done this season. So enjoy this win.
6. USA in SA for 2010.
Where was Davies?
Jozy was more productive in 20 minutes than ChuckDeezy or whatever clown name he calls himself was the entire match.
This game also proved beyond a doubt that Clint Dempsey should not be our starting RMF. Make him a FW beside Jozy and Charlie and let Holden settle on the right. He looks good out there and will get better with exposure.
So what can we expect in the Costa Rica game do you think? I have tickets and I’m pretty much expecting 2nd and 3rd string players getting their asses handed to them by CR.
Yeah, I’m not a Casey lover either. I think he’s a solid choice for the 4th striker, though if Cooper or someone else steps up to take it, by all means, they can have it. But I do think that Casey showed tonight what he can contribute. A guy scoring that many goals in MLS (and who used to score at a pretty good clip in Bundesliga-2) can finish, and he showed that on the second goal tonight. And frankly, his size isn’t fat – he’s pretty strong, and that showed on the first goal tonight. No, he’s not the prettiest player to watch, but he has some tools.
@Brett, I dont think US will be a seed, the formula is not base on qualifying performance.
Anyone else have a hard time choking down their plate of Conor Casey crow?
The whole first half both me and my wife were bashing him. She doesn’t even watch that much football and she could tell how bad he was. Then he scores two goals and we have to just swallow it. Something so shameful never tasted so good.
The funny thing was that Casey’s second was a goal many would have crucified him for missing, yet I bet most people are going to forget Charlie Davies completely missing a sitter.
I still can’t believe we got a goal off the Landon free kick (an undeserved free kick) and then have Pavon miss a penalty.
Nevertheless, the stars aligned and we are through! Now let’s dismantle Costa Rica and make our case to be seeded. USA!
Lando’s freekick was gorgeous! As was Casey putting it in with his large neck and sloting it home off an insane pass.
South Africa here we come! Again!
Disagree on Dempsey-he’s a vital part of the team, and it was too bad he couldn’t play. It was a coincidence that we won and he didn’t play because he’s probably our third best player.
Wolff’s Biergarten in Albany was going off tonight. Standing room only! Great game!
VIVA HONDURAS!
I am a US diehard, but lets help them out on WED!
They will represent CONCACAF well in 2010!
The fans actually applauded USA when they left pitcg, compare that to mucking Fexico!
Damn, I forgot to Tivo the Chivas game. Oh well.
USA wins, and dempsey didn’t play…shocker…
US showed some serious heart today, and I’m real proud of that. They didn’t let up, and while it was quite rocky at times fought for 95 full minutes. I hope we can see the same effort, heart, and 90minute performances in SA next June.
Dempsey should take note. I think he is real talented and has serious skill, but he needs to give 110% going forward to keep a starting slot for next summer
I think Holden played well seeing that our defense was really bad. At least he was backtracking and helping. Some players were invisible, but theres always those.
Hey guys – I was watching Chivas-Kansas City. Was there some other game on tonight?
I really want Honduras to get the third spot. Not only are they more deserving, but I think they have the best fans of the other contenders.
If matches were won on class, they’d beat Mexico by a dozen goals.
WOWOWOWOWOW What a game!
too bad espn wasnt holding rights. we could have heard harkes critique dempsey for not playing.
I LOVE THIS GAME
this just in: a bunch of f-ing idiots post here, and aristotle you are the leader
I AM SO FIRED UP RIGHT NOW. CONOR CASEY IS A GOLDEN GOD.
Crazy game! Casey came out with heart and plowed his way to a very important brace. Donnovan has to be happy with that beautiful spot kick.
I watched about 6 different streams and the 46th thru the 88th listening to some dude translate a spanish feed. it was odd but props to dude for going thru all that trouble removing so many im’s and popups to hook up the action.
I and others predicted that the U.S. would win this game and they did. Honduras is a solid team, but the U.S. showed us why they(“USA”) are the giants of CONCACAF. They will defeat Costa Rica on Wednesday and win the group once again. Like it or not, C.C.was the man.
I haven’t turned into a Casey lover. I just feel that he was getting way too much garbage from some on here. The guy leads the MLS in scoring. That should at least instill some confidence in us.
It was about time a referee helped us a win a game the hex. talk about nerve racking towards the end, great 2nd half.
Posted by: Portugal! | October 11, 2009 at 12:17 AM
Did he? Blown calls when Davies and Altidore got taken down, a weak foul call against Gooch for the first Honduras goal, and no bad calls in our favor that I saw
Well, we are in the cup but we sure don’t look too good. If we could just throw on our most talented players in SA 10 I’d be happy, especially if we could get J. Jones. Some talent and athleticism out there, but mostly a complete indictment of US Soccer coached tactics. Profoundly stupid play. When wit matches athleticism we’ll be alright. Positives: We aren’t pussies. Negatives: We are dumber than a ton a ton of bricks.
And I agree. With apologies to the lovely Costa Ricans I met at the Gold Cup final…I wouldn’t mind seeing Honduras go through. Quality players and fans
Joamiq is right and Ives addressed this in his recent Q&A, sort-of by also pointing out our messed up system where teams aren’t seeded. Jamaica and Canada could have both probably done better than TnT. Remember Mexico tied with Jamaica on points in the earlier group stage and only got past on points.
Teams are getting better…and the best teams don’t always make it through.
At this point I kind-a want Honduras to finish fourth because I think they could do better against the fifth place team from SA.
oops, my bad. crappy live feed went out again at the very end. eating some more crow now 😉
It was about time a referee helped us a win a game the hex. talk about nerve racking towards the end, great 2nd half.
Great win tonight and I thougth they played very effectively. Lets not get carried away with the Casey loving though. He had one good half and I expect him back on the bench after the Costa Rica match. But for tonight, good job Casey.
LD with Bob Ley on ESPN News now
And then a hero comes along
With the strength to carry on
And you cast your fears aside
And you know you can survive
So when you feel like hope is gone
Look inside you and be strong
And you’ll finally see the truth
That a hero lies in CONNOR F’ING CASEY
Posted by: brandon
Greatest song ever!
I couldn’t tell on the steam but I don’t think Casey was fouled for the free kick that gave the goal and I don’t think the offside call that negated their goal was correct.
===
Casey had the back of his foot clipped or raked. It’s a subtle thing, but it throws off your running cadence something awful, assuming you don’t just faceplant because your legs get crossed.
The target of the last pass was beyond the second to last defender (as was the ball), but ran in front of the ball, as well. If he had held his run, he would have been onside.
“why does Bradley so rarely use his third subsitution?”
???
He used all three subs. Jozy, Benny and Dolo came on.
brent mcd, he DID use his third sub at the end of the game to waste time. geez, some people are never satisfied.
I am just grinning… I still can’t believe it. What a game… I think I gained a few gray hairs tonight.
@Rastafari: I’d assumed Ives would be doing some interview with the team atm.
People criticizing the US for taking so long to qualify need to realize that the gap between the top four and the bottom two in the hex has never been this great. It took this long because El Salvador and T&T did not nick as many points from CR and Honduras as the 5th and 6th place teams normally do against the 3rd and 4th. That’s the main reason it took this long.
Is it safe to assume Ives is MIA in San Pedro?
Let’s just enjoy it. We can worry next year.
What an odd game – Honduras dominated the first 50 minutes, then we dominated for 25 minutes, then Honduras again.
But we finished more chances.