Thursday, July 23, 2009

Pre-Game Primer - Honduras Round Three

Game information for USA-Honduras here. Some highlights:

  • The U.S. has advanced to the semifinals in the last five editions of the tournament. The last time the U.S. missed out on a semifinal place was in 2000 when Bruce Arena's team fell to Colombia in a quarterfinal shootout.
  • The U.S. will be facing Honduras for the 15th time, and has a 9-2-3 edge in the series.
  • The extra time victory against Panama was the first time the USA played more than 90 minutes since the Gold Cup final on July 24, 2005, against Panama. The U.S. won that game in penalty kicks, with Santino Quaranta accounting for one of the USA’s three tallies.
  • The two sides met as recently as two weeks ago in CONCACAF Gold Cup group play. The USA won 2-0 behind goals from Quaranta and Brian Ching.
  • The last meeting against Honduras at Chicago's Soldier Field came June 6, a 2-1 win for the U.S. in a FIFA World Cup qualifier.
  • The U.S. is 3-0-1 against Honduras in the Gold Cup, including a 0-0 tie in the inaugural Gold Cup final in 1991 that the U.S. won 4-3 on penalties.
  • In eight CONCACAF Gold Cup semifinal appearances, the United States is 5-2-1. The lone tie came in 2002, when the U.S. and Canada played out a scoreless draw. The USA subsequently won in penalty kicks.
  • With Luis Robles, Jay Heaps, Sam Cronin and Colin Clark earning their first cap against Haiti, 85 players have now earned at least one cap under Bob Bradley.
  • Kyle Beckerman's first goal for the United States in the team's last outing against Panama means 28 different players have scored a goal during Bradley’s tenure.

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