SAN PEDRO SULA, Honduras -- The United States is heading to its sixth consecutive World Cup after spoiling a daylong Honduran party with a 3-2 victory at an electric Estadio Olimpico, where the Honduran team had not lost in eight previous World Cup qualifying matches.
Conor Casey, who got the starting nod at forward over Jozy Altidore, scored two U.S. goals, and Landon Donovan put in the third on a free kick to clinch a berth in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Midfielder Julio de Leon scored both Honduran goals. All the scoring came after halftime.
If passion for its national soccer team was the criteria for a World Cup berth, Honduras would have beaten the United States hands down.
The U.S. and Honduran national teams were still lounging at their downtown hotels Saturday afternoon, hours from arriving at Estadio Olimpico for the evening's World Cup qualifying match, and 40,000 Honduran fans already were rocking the stadium, doing the wave and singing at the top of their lungs.
The building truly trembled just after halftime, when de Leon broke the ice and gave Honduras a 1-0 lead in the 47th minute on a beautiful arching free kick. U.S. defender Oguchi Onyewu took down Carlos Pavon early in the second half, resulting in the costly penalty kick. Honduran fans linked arms and bobbed up and down for several minutes celebrating the goal.
Casey halted the party in the 55th minute when he beat Honduran goalie Noel Valladares for a high ball and it fell in the net to make it 1-1. Eleven minutes later, it was Casey again, on a silky feed from Donovan, making it 3-1 in the 71st minute. The stadium got quiet for the first time in five hours, but then erupted again when de Leon tapped in a goal in the 78th minute.
Honduras had a chance to tie the score in the 86th minute when U.S. defender Carlos Bocanegra was called for a hand ball, giving the Hondurans a penalty kick. Pavon, the Honduran great who turned 36 on Friday, sailed the shot high, and the United States hung on.
The fans had remained spirited throughout the scoreless first half, as Honduran midfielders de Leon and Emilio Ezaguirre challenged the U.S. time after time, but Bocanegra and Onyewu got in the way of a handful of dangerous chances.
The building was completely full three hours before game time. Nearly every fan wore blue and white, and they came ready to party. Political divisions have dominated the conversation in this nation of 8 million for the past four months, and fans were ready to unify and let loose -- at least for one night.
When Honduran singer Polache took the stage and sang Hablo Espanol, the entire stadium erupted into song and dance. He then led the crowd in the team's anthem, Volveremos a Celebrar Juntos, (We will once again celebrate together), a motto that had special meaning for this fractured country.
There had been some concern that backers of deposed president Manuel Zelaya would show up in red and clash with white-clad backers of interim president Roberto Micheletti. Not a chance. The stadium was awash in blue and white jerseys, banners, trompetas (horns), hats, beads -- you name it. Fans set aside their differences, and a heavy military presence ensured a safe environment.
Back in the United States, the critical match was unavailable on television. Diehard fans had to venture to select bars for closed-circuit broadcasts, and sports fans spent the afternoon obsessing over whether quarterback Tim Tebow would return to the starting lineup for the University of Florida's football team.
Here in this industrial hub in the northwest corner of Honduras, there was one and only one sports story in the world that mattered: United States vs. Honduras. A Honduran victory, combined with a Costa Rica-Trindad and Tobago tie, and Los Catrachos were headed to the World Cup for just the second time.
A heavy rainstorm rolled in over the stadium Saturday afternoon, and the field had to be covered in a tarp, but the skies cleared with plenty of time. But the humidity hovered. The weather at game time was stifling -- 90 degrees and extremely muggy. The week of training in Miami last week served the Americans well.
Honduras was 8-0 at home during this World Cup qualifying cycle heading into the match, and had outscored opponents 22-3 in those matches. Among the many banners at the stadium was one that read: "Welcome to the Olimpic Cemetary (sic)" and had flags of all the teams that Honduras had beaten.
The U.S. flag will not make that poster.
Despite the electric atmosphere, the Honduran fans were polite during introductions of the U.S. players. They booed politely and remained quiet during The Star Spangled Banner, which is not always the case in Central America. And when it was all over, after the painful defeat, Honduran fans cheered for their team anyway.
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