The U.S. lineup looked pretty good on paper, much less so on the field. Hard to say that anyone improved his standing in this one, as the U.S. never recovered from the one-two punch of Conrad’s red and the penalty that put Honduras up 1-0. As for Conrad’s sending off, hey, Backpost did not jinx him, really!
That’s it; 3-1 Honduras.
Not the best showing for the U.S. We didn’t get a glimpse of much new blood, outside of Bedoya, who looked okay, and the team looked listless. The red card obviously didnt help, but still, the U.S. was substandard in this one.
96:00 Free kick U.S., after Bedoya is fouled down the right side. Feilhaber over the kick—it’s loose in the area briefly, then partly cleared by Honduras, and then … the referee’s whistle. Game over.
95:00 Not a bad buildup from the U.S. Bedoya over the top looking for Casey, it’s deflected to Findley, he heads it back….Casey in the box! … Just rolls it wide of the far post.
90:00 Five minutes of stoppage time announced. Honduras banging the ball out of its own end.
88:00 After Perkins stops a Honduras break, the U.S. makes a break of its own and Findley is taken down just outside the Honduras box. Brad Davis takes the free kick. Rockets it on frame, but it’s parried away. Corner kick follows…U.S snap-down header goes wide.
85:oo Honduras playing keep-away. This has got to be a big confidence-builder for them.
79:00 Bedoya takes a pass from Davis, sends in a decent cross, punched away by Honduran keeper.
78:00 Carlos Pavon is coming out for Georgie Welcome.
77:00 Feilhaber, after a nice touch into space and long-distance strike that sails wide, comes out for Dax McCarty.
75:00 Findley taken down, free kick U.S., 45 yards out…Brad Davis sends it in. Findley collects on the right…repelled by Honduras.
73:00 Feilhaber steps up and intercepts, flies forward, lays it off for Bedoya…Bedoya loops a poor ball into the box….Honduran keeper claims.
70:00 GOAL! U.S.! Clarence Goodson! Brad Davis swings in a corner to the far post and Goodson beats the keeper to it. 3-1 Honduras.
69:00 Conor Casey, who has looked okay since coming on, taken down outside the box….no call.
64:00 Honduras knocking it around, possessing the ball until a run down the left against Wynne ends in a corner. It’s cleared but not out, and Honduras swings in another cross. Cleared, but Honduras looking like a team that could surprise people at SA 2010.
60:00 U.S. subs four players: Conor Casey in for Beckerman. Heath Pearce in for Marshall. Alejandro Bedoya in for Kljestan. Brad Davis in for Rogers. All righty then. Let’s see what they can do.
59:00 Christopher Sullivan wonders aloud where Benny Feilhaber has been for the U.S. all night. Fair point. And here come some subs for the U.S. Why not?
56:00 Toronto F.C.’s Amado Guevera coming out for Honduras, Melvin Marias(?) will take his place.
53:00 GOAL! Honduras! Guevera, Palacios, and Espinoza skillfully dissect the U.S. backline. Just slice it open with a great sequence of one-touches ending in a nice finish to the far post by Espinoza. 3-0 Honduras.
51:00 U.S. plays it well through midfield, and Kljestan slips past a defender in the final third, taken down! Yellow card for Honduras. Free kick for the U.S. 35 yards out. Kljestan(?) skies it well over the bar. Wasted opportunity.
50:00 Robbie Rogers tries from distance—hits the post! Oh, that would have been just what the doctor ordered for the U.S.
49:00 Honduras with another nice buildup ending in a shot by Martinez. Perkins handles it easily.
46:00 Fox is late getting back. Cunningham has been substituted; defender Clarence Goodson comes on in his place.
Halftime: Not a great first half for the Yanks. The forwards have been invisible, the midfield ineffectual and the backline under siege, not to mention missing its most experienced member due to his … momentary lapse in judgment.
Jonathan Bornstein is auctioning off the boots he was wearing when he scored the header that tied the U.S. with Costa Rica in its final World Cup qualifier this past fall, and sent Honduras to South Africa 2010. The proceeds will got to Haiti earthquake relief.
First-half stoppage time: Rogers on the left looking skilled but also lax….Ball rotates over to the right….and there is the halftime whistle.
43:00 Findley on the left–first time we’ve mentioned him, we’re pretty sure–nice move, slings it to Kljestan in the middle. Great move by Kljestan but it ends up with him sliding for 50-50 ball with the Honduran keeper, and the U.S. attack dies.
41:00 Rogers crosses from the left….right to Honduras keeper.
40:00 They just showed the replay of the Conrad incident. He pulled down Palacios in the box, while carrying a yellow. Maybe Palacios went down easy, but there was no pressing need to collar him there.
38:00 GOAL Honduras! Palacios diving header off a great cross from Pavon. 2-0 Honduras.
37:00 Nice buildup by Honduras, they surge down the left, ball cut back to the middle to Palacios, who whistles one wide to Perkins’s right.
35:oo Wynne takes a nice, switching-the-field ball from Feilhaber, steams down the right and…balloons his cross out of bounds.
33:00 U.S. wins its third corner of the game, Rogers sends it in…poorly. Headed away by first Honduras defender.
32:00 Wynne with a nice move on the right, gets the cross in…headed away by Honduras.
29:00 Honduras dominating. Martinez again down the right, cuts it back…stopped by the U.S. But Honduras comes right back! Shot just wide to Perkins’s left. U.S. on its heels.
26:00 Honduras has another appeal for a penalty as Wynne blocks a shot from the top of the box. Might’ve hit his arm.
25:00 U.S. not finding their footing in this one. Findley and Cunningham have not seen much of the ball at all, and the midfield is scrambling, not winning the battle there.
22:00 Chad Marshall header off a corner goes just over the bar…..Moments later Robbie Rogers skies a pass into the seats from midfield, looks at the turf.
18:00 Pavon hits the penalty, but must re-take! Ref tells him to line it up again…He hits it again, 1-0 Honduras. What happened with Conrad and the Honduran striker in the box? Nice pk by Pavon; Perkins guessed the right way, and nearly got it, but it was well tucked into the corner.
17:00 Penalty for Honduras! Jimmy Conrad getting a second yellow and ejection! We missed the incident, maybe an elbow off the ball.
16:00 Nice sequence from the U.S.: Beckerman to Rogers to Findley to Feilhaber…..and then a ballooned cross by Wynne.
14:00 Great touch by Martinez of Honduras to keep possession in midfield. He plays it to the middle, it’s swung out to the left and…out of bounds. U.S. throw.
12:00 Beckerman steps up and intercepts a pass in midfield, gets it to Cunningham, but the speedy striker loses it.
8:00 A through ball to Pavon, who curls back and starts a good long sequence of possession for Los Catrachos. They surge forward again, but their forward () dives in the box. U.S free kick.
6:00 Kljestan picks a pocket on the right, drives down the wing, lays it back for Feilhaber, he’s tackled in the box. U.S. corner kick. Honduras clears it and tries to break out but Conrad fouls to stop the counter. Yellow card for Conrad.
4:00 Honduras attacks well down the left side, decent cross in…Perkins claims it.
2:00 Frenetic beginning, players flying around, high-energy, but no coherent attacks yet.
U.S. Lineup:
Perkins
Wynne Marshall Conrad Bornstein
Kljestan Beckerman Feilhaber Rogers
Findley Cunningham
FSC announcers Christopher Sullivan and Mark Rogondino just talked to Bruce Arena about his induction into the U.S. Soccer Hall of Fame as a “Builder.” Nice moment.
Pre-game: We wouldn’t ordinarily live blog a January friendly between the U.S. and Honduras, but this is a World Cup year, and the list of young players U.S. coach Bob Bradley called into camp this month is pretty interesting, so here we are. Maybe we’ll catch the first flash from a previously uncapped player who ends up being a factor in South Africa 2010. It’s more likely that these guys would factor in later than that, but….you never know.
Former New York Red Bull striker Jozy Altidore is back from compassionate leave and will be eligible to play for Hull City when the Tigers host U.S. keeper Marcus Hahnemann and Wolverhampton on Saturday in a key game for both relegation-battling clubs. Altidore is still looking for his first Premier League goal.
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