This was a testy match. Felipe Baloy went after Benito Archundia ala Drogba style with all the
pushing and shoving after the match was over and should be suspended. The Panama team also brought
out the lumber to the US and should have been called on a number of fouls.
Bob Bradley continued his experimentation with Jay Heaps, Logan Pause starting and bringing back
Davy Arnaud.
Haminu Dramani catches Reyna napping on the ball
(2006 World Cup)
Buried deep in the mountain of sports news on college football, NFL, and the baseball playoffs
in the NY Times, Jere Longman writes about the US qualifying for the 2010 World Cup. It was not
exactly on top of the sports news in the major broadcasting networks either.
A 5-0 rout offers very little scope for rationalization. Was it an errant offside call? A rogue
referee who called the fouls for Mexico? Missed opportunities? Max Bretos and Chris Sullivan might
have spun harder than a 45 rpm turntable but even they failed miserably in putting a finer point to
it all.
An absolute gem of a pass by Landon Donovan that splits the defense and Charlie Davis superb
finish. It was just the sort of start the US needed. But it was shortlived. A blistering strike by
Ismael Castro levels the score. You can see how much open space was given up by Bocanegra and
Onyewu.
The Gold Cup semi-finals are almost on us. The US gets to meet Honduras, one of their most
familiar opponents in recent times. This is their third meeting in less than two months so the
Hondurans could be pardoned if they believe familiarity breeds contempt but in fact, this team
wears an unfamiliar look.
The U.S. blanked Honduras 2-0 tonight at Soldier Field and, in doing so, advanced to their third
straight Gold Cup final. The final, which will be played on Sunday at Giants Stadium in East
Rutherford N.J., will feature the U.S. against Mexico or Costa Rica, who are currently tied 0-0 in
the second half of a highly entertaining match.
Proof of the massive interest in the USA vs Mexico World Cup qualifier as one million visits
were logged on www.aztecadeportes.com for their webcast of the match.
Even Mexican president Felipe Calderon followed the match online while in flight from Mexico to
Colombia for an official state visit.
