Saturday + Sunday = USA! USA! USA!

WOOOOOOHOOOOOO!! It was a World Cup qualifying weekend, so there wasn't a whole lot of soccer other than that, but it was still the best damn soccer weekend this year because THE USMNT IS GOING TO SOUTH AFRICA!! World Cup 2010, here we come!

Last night was the second-to-last qualifying game, and it was a chance for the USMNT to clinch their World Cup berth with a game to spare. They were in San Pedro Sula to take on Honduras, a team that has proven to be a formidable opponent in past games and who had been unbeaten at their Estadio Olimpico in eight WCQ games over the past two years.There were actually three scenarios that would have helped the USMNT accomplish their goal: 1) A win against Honduras; 2) Costa Rica losing to Trinidad & Tobago; and 3) A draw with Honduras coupled with a Costa Rica draw or loss with T&T.

From the various articles and blog posts I read (and stupidly did not bookmark for later hyperlinking), most people seemed to find the third scenario to be the most likely, and a lot of people did not think #1 was even possible. With Honduras' home record and the relatively questionable performances by the USMNT in their previous two qualifiers (both of which they won, but at times it was in spite of their performance rather than because of it), the prevalent opinion seemed to be that the US should hope for a draw, prepare for a loss, and then buckle down to try to qualify in their last WCQ against Costa Rica this Wednesday in D.C., where home-field advantage would give them a boost.

For me, being a fan means always believing in your team, and I knew there was a good chance - maybe not a likelihood, but a good chance - that the guys could get this done Saturday night. Just because a team has been unbeaten at home in a given number of games, it does not mean they can't be beaten at home. Just because a team has turned in a couple of underwhelming performances, it doesn't mean they will definitely turn in another. I always keep faith in my team and believe that they are capable of almost anything, and although I was nervous as hell in the days leading up to this match, I still knew in my heart that they could make it happen. Sadly, because of some bullshit on the part of the Honduran federation, which owned the television rights to the game and chose to sell them to a company who only aired it via closed-circuit, the game was not on regular TV, and I had to follow the action via the US Soccer Twitter feed.

And make it happen, they certainly did:



The first half was scoreless, and all accounts indicate that Honduras was the stronger team in that 45+. They held more possession, completed their passes better, etc etc. Then, reminding US fans of the fated Confederations Cup final, the opposing team scored first off a free kick almost immediately after the second half began. When I saw the Honduras goal come up on the Twitter feed, my heart dropped, because I knew there was a chance they could start to fall apart under the disappointment and pressure. But happily, they seemed to respond in just the way any team should - by kicking into high gear and refusing to give in.

In the 55th minute, Oguchi Onyewu (you know...this guy right here, hot damn...be sure to scroll down) sent a long pass upfield to Charlie Davies, who headed it over towards Conor Casey, who outjumped the Honduran goalkeeper and used his big ol' dome to knock it into the net. Eleven minutes later, Casey - who most people were surprised and annoyed to see in the starting 11, as his past performance with the USMNT has not always been stellar - put the US ahead when he received a perfect pass from Landon Donovan and did a little fancy footwork to slide it past the keeper for his second goal of the night. At this point, I was thrilled, but still nervous. A 2-1 lead is not a comfortable one, unless there are about 30 seconds left in the match. But then in the 71st minute, the US won a free kick about 21 yards out, and as you saw in the video above, Donovan absolutely nailed it. It was total perfection from him and it made the scoreline 3-1...a much more comfortable place to be.

Honduras was tiring but was still fighting, and in the 78th minute they added another to narrow the scoreline to 3-2. This is when my nerves went haywire and my pulse rate shot back up to a hummingbird-like buzz, because there was plenty of time for Honduras to get another, and as Costa Rica was at the moment stomping Trinidad and Tobago, a draw was not going to be enough. Almost mercifully, the US Soccer Twitter feed stalled for a bit when the tweeter started having tech problems. I switched over to the feed from GoUSABid (go sign the petition!), which had far less frequent updates. Therefore - I didn't find out about the fucking HONDURAS PENALTY KICK until after Carlos Pavon missed the fucking net OMFG. As the highlights show, he sent it over the crossbar, and as my friend and I joked about, he's probably hiding behind a bodyguard right now.

So, it was a combination of luck and performance that won this game for us, and that's fine by me. The team came back from a difficult first half and a 1-0 deficit to win the game - they fought hard, they played some good soccer, and they responded when needed. A little luck to buoy that is perfectly okay, and fairly common in the sport - I hate when naysayers point out that luck was a factor and that the win isn't worth as much because of that, as though it doesn't happen all the freaking time on the pitch. It was not just luck that won this one, it was the team's determination and fighting spirit, as well. I'm pleased, and so is the team:



And fuck the haters anyway - WE'RE GOING TO SOUTH AFRICA and I couldn't be happier! Now let's just pray to the footie gods that we don't end up in another Group of Death this time around.

In other WCQ news of note: Mexico unsurprisingly won 4 - 1 over El Salvador in the Hell on Earth that is Estadio Azteca (clinching a WC berth for our neighbors/enemies); Costa Rica stomped Trinidad and Tobago with a sound 4 - 0 win; Ukraine pulled off an upset of England by winning 1 - 0 and preventing the Three Lions from even getting a single shot on goal; Germany locked down their berth with a 1 - 0 victory over home side Russia; Serbia also booked their South Africa trip with a resounding 5 - 0 trouncing of Romania; struggling Portugal put themselves on course to secure a play-off spot with a 3 - 0 win over Hungary; also-struggling Argentina kept their WC hopes alive thanks to a stoppage time goal that gave them a 2 - 1 win over Peru; and out-of-the-running Bolivia upset already-qualified-because-they're-Brazil with a 2 - 1 victory.