The final round of CONCACAF World Cup qualifying is now underway. Here's a synopsis for the first matchday as it happened.
Results:
Costa Rica 2-0 Honduras F
El Salvador 2-2 Trinidad & Tobago F
USA 2-0 Mexico F
Live commentaries after the jump.
And with that, we've come to the end of the first day of the Hexagonal. This round has been brought to you by the number "2". Two-nil margins in the big derbies of the evening, and a dramatic fightback in the final minutes. Everyone's still in this and no one's been eliminated, but those on one point or less will be feeling a little warm. Thanks for following along!
That has to be a frustrating loss for Honduras. They had their chances to score, but couldn't convert and allowed Costa Rica to take over the game. Qualifying for the World Cup is going to get mighty difficult if balls are crossing the wrong side of the posts.
2025 FULL TIME Costa Rica 2-0 Honduras
2024 Costa Rica are closing in on an impressive opening win of the Hexagonal.
2023 Everyone behind the ball for Costa Rica as we enter stoppage time.
2019 Three minutes to go. I think Honduras' best final chance has petered out.
2014 So close for Honduras! A beautifully whipped cross from the left finds Suazo, but his header isn't very good and skims wide of the far post.
2013 A lot more pressure in the area now, but Honduras can't make the final connection stick.
2106 Honduras are starting to climb back into the match. Long-range effort by Suazo (I think) just passed the far post.
2055 I had my doubts about this Costa Rican side, but they're more than holding their own.
2052 GOAL Costa Rica 2-0 Honduras 60'
Fantastic goal by Costa Rica as Alonso crosses the ball first-time into the path of Andy Furtado and Furtado slots the ball coolly underneath Valladares. Great stuff.
2046 I don't think I need to say that this is Costa Rica's best moment of the match, but you probably know that already. Honduras are not playing composed right now.
2042 A little against the run of play...but it feels like one of those days for Honduras. I guess this means that Honduras will hit the bar a couple of times before the night is over.
2041 GOAL Costa Rica 1-0 Honduras 48'
Free kick on the right, Honduras' players defend poorly, and Andy Furtado rises up to head home.
2027 I'm watching the broadcast on Honduran television. The commentators are saying that there are high winds that are making a difference in the game. Ok....Wow, Eduardo Bennett sounds like an Argentine! All those years down there have had an effect.
2021 HALF TIME Costa Rica 0-0 Honduras
2016 Ball from the back finds Furtado, but Valladares blocks away his effort. CR's best chance for over half an hour.
2007 Honduras are creating most of the scoring chances, coming close but not converting. It could be one of those days...
2006 Suazo connects with Rodríguez and is oh so close again!
2001 The match in Costa Rica has settled down and the crowd is witnessing a good game.
2000 A tremendous comeback by El Salvador sees them salvage a point at home to Trinidad & Tobago. But in the end, either team will think that they've lost two points.
1957 FULL TIME El Salvador 2-2 Trinidad & Tobago
1956 El Salvador are out of jail!!
1956 GOAL El Salvador 2-2 Trinidad & Tobago
1949 That goal has reawakened the crowd at Cuscatlán and El Salvador are surging forward, desperate to score the equalizer.
1946 GOAL El Salvador 1-2 Trinidad & Tobago 82'
El Salvador push forward with more insistence, win a free kick, and Osael Romero converts with a well-taken strike.
1944 End-to-end action in the opening ten minutes. The atmosphere is supercharged on the field and in the stands.
1939 David Suazo narrowly missed a chance for Honduras. Should have been 0-1.
1937 Sorry for not giving lineups but here they are:
Costa Rica -- González; Fernández, Myrie, Díaz, Umaña, Alonso, Mora, Corea, Saborío, Furtado, Sunsing.
Honduras -- Valladares; Boniek, Thomas, Guerrero, Figueroa, Bernardez, Guevara, E. Martínez, W. Martínez, Suazo, Rodríguez.
1935 Kickoff in Saprissa. They got the field back and it looks like it's in good shape.
1923 I was just able to reestablish a video link to the El Salvador-T&T match. El Salvador still don't look like scoring. And Trinidad & Tobago missed a chance to score when Stern John blasted a penalty over the bar.
1905 Two-zero. Again. And Mexico's winless streak in the USA continues.
1905 FULL TIME USA 2-0 Mexico
1903 GOAL USA 2-0 Mexico 90'+2
And there it is! Out of nothing the USA score! Mexico lose possession again, Altidore holds the ball up in midfield and is fouled, but Donovan maintains the advantage and moves along the left flank. He lays the ball square to Michael Bradley in the center and he uncorks a long-range effort that beats Sánchez. Sensational!
1901 Three minutes of added time in Columbus.
1900 One bit of negative news for USA: Tim Howard's yellow card means that he will miss the next qualifier in El Salvador next month.
1857 I just saw a replay of dos Santos' shot that forced a Howard point-blank save early in the match. dos Santos really should have scored.
1856 USA needs to keep maintaining possession. Mexico had some sustained possession in the final ten minutes, but the Americans are winning more of the ball.
1855 Altidore has good speed, but he needed to keep moving and have better control of the ball. Axel Torres (Radio Marca) made a good comment with respect to that.
1850 Ten minutes from time, and Mexico's first corner?? The corner finds Osorio's head, but Bocanegra blocks it away inside the goal area.
1845 Has anyone seen Dempsey on the field? He hasn't been a factor in the second half.
1843 Hejduk is limping about on the pitch after the challenge with dos Santos; he's my candidate for the first substitution.
1842 Omar Bravo is about to come on for Giovani dos Santos. GdS hasn't been as strong as he was in the first half.
1841 T&T have been authoritative in their match with El Salvador. Are they that good or are El Salvador that bad?
1840 The USA-Mexico match has more bite to it now, maybe a little too much.
1837 RED CARD Mexico 65'
Ráfa Márquez has been sent off for a studs-first challenge on Tim Howard during that free kick. Howard didn't appreciate that challenge very much, which was the source of the shoving match and handbags at 20 paces. Howard received a yellow card as well.
1835 A dangerous free kick by Mexico, it sets off all sorts of alarm bells in the US defense, the Mexican #14 gets to it wide of the near post and skims it past the far one, and now...
1833 If the first goal took the crowd in San Salvador out of the match, that second one has completely neutralized it. El Salvador absolutely cannot lose this game, but they have a long road back.
1830 Zinha enters the match...Mexico down to one sub now.
1829 GOAL El Salvador 0-2 Trinidad & Tobago 27'
Stern John is brought down in the box, and Dwight Yorke coolly converts the spot-kick low into the corner.
1828 PENALTY TO TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO
1824 I've said that Dos Santos was the best player on the field during the first half, but now he's been replaced by Bradley. Everything good for the USA in this match has come through him.
1823 T&T have been forced to make a substitution because of injury. Hislop entered in place of Thomas.
1821 I had to reboot my machine during halftime and it took much longer than I expected. Gawd I hate Windows. And during my reboot, T&T scored through Carlos Edwards in the 7th minute. Never fails.
1804 I finally finished the opening lineups for El Salvador-T&T. A lot of things were going on at the USA-Mexico game.
1801 Nice of Bob Bradley to stay professional during that halftime interview. He can be a proud dad after the game.
1800 HALFTIME USA 1-0 Mexico
1759 USA almost score another as Beasley surges into the area past the defense, Sánchez makes a goal-saving tackle and concedes a corner. Beautiful through ball by Bradley.
1757 GOAL USA 1-0 Mexico 43'
A corner kick by Beasley goes wide, headed by Donovan, Onyewu heads strong but it's blocked by Sánchez, and Michael Bradley pokes the rebound home.
1755 We're five minutes from kickoff in San Salvador. Here are the lineups for El Salvador and T&T:
El Salvador - Gómez; Hernández, Escobar, Martin, Sánchez, Castillo, Romero, Pacheco, Quintanilla, Corrales.
T&T - Ince; Edwards,Thomas, Daniel, Lawrence, Birchall, Spann, John, Yorke, Jones.
1754 Free kick to Mexico. Martínez strikes it well, but right into Howard's hands.
1750 Dos Santos has been the best player on the pitch as of now. His composure in possession has allowed Mexico to sustain pressure on Howard's goal.
1748 Israel Martínez will replace Nery Castillo. Tough luck for Nery; I always consider him to be a dangerous player. He hadn't been much of a factor tonight, however.
1746 Nery Castillo is down on the field, and it appears to be a hamstring injury. If he has to be substituted, that will be a blow for Mexico's hopes.
1745 Deep cross by Beasley on the left meets Donovan, whose header back into play finds Dempsey. His left-footed strike is well saved by Sánchez! Best chance for the USA so far.
1744 It's a tactical battle right now, conducted at a fast pace.
1740 The SBI Mafia's banner is getting some prominent airtime. Well played as well.
1738 Yes, that shout from Sam's Army at Sánchez came through loud and clear. Well played, boys!
1737 USA are playing up very high. Pearce was in deep from the left flank. Dos Santos has been forced to play in defense a couple of times.
1737 Donovan curls a free kick around the wall, just outside the penalty area, and the ball skims past the far post.
1730 Dos Santos looks like the most active Mexican player right now, and Beasley for the USA.
Yeesh, back home after another long commute home. This cowtown is a pain to drive through. Anyway...
The SALVADOR goal was like a film: the announcer calms everything down, talks about the hopes of a nation resting on this free kick... poise... run up... GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL!
Posted by: Jose | February 11, 2009 at 09:56 PM