Not too many cared about the match. T&T go out of the World Cup in a blaze of glory and maintain their unbeaten home streak over Mexico. It's incredible that Mexico have never won a World Cup qualifier in Trinidad & Tobago.
Dennis Lawrence played well in his international farewell, and Carlos Edwards established himself as a reference point for future T&T teams. It was a chance for Russell Latapy to examine the best of the local talent and the U-20 graduates, but the process should have started much sooner in the qualifying cycle. Mexico didn't put forward a lineup that indicated that they really cared about the result, but nevertheless they clawed their way back into the game on two occasions. In the end, Aguirre was satisfied with the final result, not necessarily of this match, but of the entire Hexagonal. "They didn't ask me to finish first", he stated in the press conference. He did mention the rocky period in the Mexican team during the Sánchez and Eriksson eras and concluded that it's necessary to have the national team program in place well before the start of the next qualifying cycle. It is nice to see Hugo Sánchez give words of support to a Mexican national team manager for a change.
El Salvador 0-1 Honduras
Honduras deserved to win this match. And how fitting that Carlos Pavón scored the winning goal. It had to be Pavón, who has been the symbol of the Catrachos for over a decade, the leading goalscorer in the national team, the one who always scores the critical goals. Not only did Pavón redeem himself after Saturday, Valladares did as well. I'm thinking of his terrific save in the second half that kept El Salvador off the scoreboard. El Salvador's unbeaten run at home ends, but they still exit with honor. The Salvadorans recognize the efforts of Carlos de los Cobos and desire that he stays on for another cycle. He did do a teriffic job, and cultivated some talents in the national side who were previously unknown. Will he get the institutional support and influence over the talent development that he desires?
This match wasn't where the real action was, however.
USA 2-2 Costa Rica
For Charlie. Number 9 was on everyone's mind in RFK, and that ninth minute was one of the most emotional minutes for the US national team in quite some time. It's clichéd to say that it was a dramatic night, but it really was. Costa Rica two goals up. Onyewu down (and Milan mad). USA two goal comeback. Last kick equalizer. A tremendous roar in DC, and San Salvador, and San Pedro Sula, and Tegucigalpa, and Comaygua, and La Ceiba... Honduras to the World Cup. Costa Rica, instead of looking for training fields in South Africa, will now have to scout for hotels in Uruguay.
Oh, and Honduras? You're welcome.
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