Honduras Needs Win to Survive

Qualifying play continues today in Hershey, Pa., where six nations, including the United States, are vying for two spots in the soccer tournament of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.

This afternoon’s schedule has Canada playing Honduras in a match the Central Americans must win to stay alive in the competition. The second half of the doubleheader features tournament favorite Mexico against Guatemala, which defeated Panama, 2-1, in its opening game.

The U.S. team, which defeated Honduras, 3-0, on Friday night, resumes play Tuesday against Canada, and Coach Clive Charles said the Canadians should not be taken lightly.

“Canada has always been a very difficult team to play against,” he said. “They’ve always been tough mentally and physically. They’re very well organized. They have players of quality. It’s always a tough game against Canada.

“I think their main qualities are they really work hard as a team, they’ve always been very well organized and they never give up.”

However, Canada does not have a full-fledged professional league similar to Major League Soccer, and Charles believes that makes a huge difference.

“I think whatever success we have, 99.9% of the credit would go to MLS, there’s no question about that,” he said. “They [the American players] have all developed way quicker than they would have done had they stayed in school.”

Should Canada defeat Honduras today, the Canadians and Americans would advance to the semifinals regardless of Tuesday’s result, but the U.S. players aren’t thinking along those lines.

“We’re going out there to win every game,” said D.C. United winger Ben Olsen, who assisted on two of the goals against Honduras.