Honduras defeats U.S., 1-0
The United States’ under-23 team had plenty of chances to score. Georgie Wilson Welcome of Honduras was the only one who did.
Welcome beat keeper Dominic Cervi in the 103rd minute with a kick to the top right corner of the net, and Honduras held on for a 1-0 overtime victory Sunday in the CONCACAF men’s Olympic qualifying tournament championship game at Nashville.
The U.S. kept trying to tie, but Honduras kept clearing the ball.
Sacha Kljestan had a chance only to kick the ball just over the goal from just outside the penalty box.
Both finalists already clinched what really mattered in this tournament, and Olympic berth, in the semifinals Thursday night.
The Americans played without Freddy Adu, defender Jonathan Spector, Charlie Davies and Salvatore Zizzo, who returned to their club teams. Honduras played without Hendry Thomas, who was unavailable after picking up a yellow card in the semifinal.
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Canada beat Guatemala, 5-3, on penalty kicks after a scoreless regulation and finished third in the CONCACAF Olympic qualifying tournament at Nashville.
Isidro Sanchez, Nikolas Ledgerwood, Keegan Ayre, Tyler Hemming and Kyle Hall each scored for Canada in the shootout.
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Manchester United increased its lead in the English Premier League to five points and Chelsea emerged as the defending champion’s main rival in the title chase.
United beat Liverpool, 3-0, in London to improve to 73 points, and Chelsea took over second place with 68 points by rallying to beat Arsenal, 2-1.
“It’s going to go right to the end,” said Manchester United Manager Alex Ferguson, whose team plays host to Arsenal on April 13 and plays at Chelsea on April 26.
FC Barcelona closed to within four points of Real Madrid in the Spanish League, picking up a 4-1 victory over Villarreal while the defending champions lost to Valencia, 3-2. . . . Celtic cut Rangers’ lead to three points in the Scottish Premier League by beating struggling Gretna, 3-0, in Glasgow.
