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| Thursday, March 29, 2001 01:50 EST |
Mathis' late goal sinks Honduras
[Associated Press]
SAN PEDRO SULA, Honduras – With a curling, 22-meter free
kick, Clint Mathis gave the United States a World Cup qualifying
win in Central America for the first time in 12 years.
Samuel Caballero heads the ball in front of the United States' Ante Razov.(AP) |
"The team was ready for the challenge," Mathis said after his
goal with four minutes left gave the United States a 2-1 win over
Honduras on Wednesday night. "Our players here showed a lot of
character."
Despite missing four injured starters, the Americans came away
with a big win in front of a screaming, hand-clapping crowd on a
cool night at Olympic Stadium.
Earnie Stewart, celebrating his 32nd birthday, scored on a
deflected 35-meter shot in the first half, but U.S. goalkeeper Brad
Friedel was beaten by Julio Cesar de Leon's 32-meter shot early in
the second half.
After Chris Armas was fouled, Mathis scored the go-ahead goal with a tremendous bending shot that went over a five-man wall and off the fingertips of goalkeeper Noel Valladares.
"The keeper was little far over the back post, so I had time to
get it over the wall and dip it in," Mathis said.
He was playing in place of injured midfielder Claudio Reyna.
"I was practicing from the very same spot from which I scored
tonight," Mathis said, referring to Tuesday night's workout.
The United States, also missing forwards Brian McBride and Joe-Max
Moore and defender Eddie Pope, had been 0-3-4 in qualifiers in
Central America since September 1989, giving up late goals in a 1-1
tie at Guatemala last summer and a 2-1 loss at Costa Rica.
This time, the United States had to hang on while a man short in injury time after Cobi Jones was ejected in the 90th minute.
After two games in the finals of the North and Central American and Caribbean region, the United States (2-0) finds itself in first place with six points, followed by Costa Rica (1-0-1) with four, and Mexico and Jamaica (each 1-1) with three apiece.
Honduras (0-1-1) has one point and Trinidad and Tobago (0-2), which lost 3-0 at Costa Rica on Wedneday night, is last.
Each nation plays 10 games, and the top three qualify for the
2002 tournament in Japan and South Korea.
"We can sit back a bit and relax," U.S. coach Bruce Arena said.
Stewart scored a surprising goal in the 33rd minute, taking a pass from Mathis and lofting a long shot that deflected slightly off defender Jose Reynaldo Clavasquin, who was just a few meters from him, and sailed under the crossbar. Valladares hardly moved.
Honduras, which hasn't qualified for the World Cup since 1982,
came back with a long shot of its own. De Leon, who entered the
game at halftime and is nicknamed "Rambo," took a hard left-footed shot that boomed into the far upper corner, leaving Friedel no chance.
Friedel, who blanked Mexico in the opener on Feb. 28, made several key saves. Kasey Keller, who is considered the top U.S. goalkeeper, also came back from Europe for the game. The decision by Arena to start Friedel was somewhat of a surprise.
"After we got the first goal, we felt things were going our way
and we just needed to concentrate for the rest of the game, which
was difficult," defender Carlos Llamosa said. "We would have been
happy with one point, but we never gave up trying to get that
second goal and when we got it, we were thrilled."
Game notes
The next U.S. game is against Costa Rica on April 25 at
Kansas City. ... Mathis made the pass that led to the first U.S.
goal against Mexico. ...The goal by Honduras ended the U.S. team's
509-minute World Cup qualifying shutout streak. The team record is
737 minutes.
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