Honduras defeats U.S. national team, 3-1
In a less-than-auspicious start to a World Cup year, the U.S. men’s national soccer team was defeated, 3-1, by Honduras on Saturday night in front of a raucous and very much pro-Honduran crowd of 18,626 at the Home Depot Center.
Goals by Carlos Pavon in the 19th minute, Jerry Palacios in the 38th and Roger Espinoza in the 53rd earned the Catrachos their first victory over the Americans in more than eight years.
The lone U.S. goal was scored on a header by substitute Clarence Goodson in the 70th minute off a corner kick by Brad Davis.
Honduras was beaten in all four games it played against the U.S. in 2009, including a 3-2 qualifying loss in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, that saw the Americans clinch their place in the quadrennial world championship in South Africa.
It was only when Coach Bob Bradley’s American squad defeated Costa Rica in its final qualifying game in October that Honduras secured its own place in the 32-team World Cup, at Costa Rica’s expense.
The U.S. is 11-3-3 all time against the Hondurans in a series dating from 1965 and had won the previous eight games against the Central American team.
“I didn’t think we had a good start to the game,” said Bradley, whose record as U.S. coach is 34-17-6. “The sharpness that you want to see at the beginning of a game to establish things, I don’t think was good enough.”
The match was played at a good pace, with both teams showing a willingness to attack. Honduras took the lead in somewhat controversial fashion when referee Benito Archundia of Mexico awarded Honduras a penalty kick after ruling that U.S. defender Jimmy Conrad had pulled down the lively Palacios.
Conrad was ejected from the game for the foul, which resulted in his second yellow card. American protests were ignored.
“Now we’re forced to chase the game, and at this point that’s a big task for this group” of players, Bradley said.
Pavon, the veteran forward who spent a brief spell in Major League Soccer with the Galaxy, hammered his shot past goalkeeper Troy Perkins, then had to retake the kick after a Honduran player was called for encroachment.
Pavon’s second effort was similarly successful and put the visitors in control, especially with the U.S. having to play a man down for 70 minutes.
“We didn’t have any chance to create any kind of rhythm,” said Jonathan Bornstein, who is something of a folk hero in Honduras after scoring the winning goal against Costa Rica.
Honduras, using speed to its advantage, doubled its lead seven minutes before halftime on an excellent goal.
Pavon’s pace saw him get behind the defense on the right, and his cross was brilliantly headed into the net by Palacios.
Honduras held its 2-0 edge at the half and Bruce Arena, Bradley’s predecessor as national coach, said it was a fair reflection of the match.
“The better team is ahead,” said Arena, whose election to the U.S. Soccer Hall of Fame was announced Saturday. “They’re far more experienced on the international level.”
The U.S. team will regroup in Carson on Feb. 10 ahead of its next two World Cup warmup matches -- against El Salvador in Tampa, Fla., on Feb. 24 and against the Netherlands in Amsterdam on March 3.
The U.S. will play England, Slovenia and Algeria in the first round of the June 11-July 11 World Cup and will name its 23-man roster in May.
