The United States under-23 national team defeated Honduras 1-0, on Eddie Gaven's penalty kick five minutes into stoppage time, to win Group A of the CONCACAF Olympic qualifying tournament Saturday night.
Depending on one's vantage point, that might be a good thing or a bad thing.
It's a good thing because the win kept the USA (2-0-1, seven points) undefeated while Honduras (2-1-0, six) fell to second place.
It could be a bad thing if the semifinal opponent for the U.S. winds up being Mexico.
U.S. soccer history buffs will point out what transpired in Guadalajara, Mexico in 2004, when the U.S. defeated Honduras, in a wild 4-3 encounter to close out the first round. That set up a semifinal confrontation with the archrival Mexicans, who prevailed 4-0, smothering the U.S. hopes of reaching the Athens Summer Games.
A few things are different this time. The competition will be in the All-American city of Nashville, Tenn., not Guadalajara. The struggling Mexican side (0-1-1, one point) hasn't exactly been the hottest Group B team in Carson, Calif. And, Mexico could very well fail to reach the semis, depending on Sunday night's results at The Home Depot Center.
"It's too early to say something like that," U.S. coach Peter Nowak said of the possibility of playing Mexico. "Our goal was to qualify for the semifinals and final. ... We cannot predict anything that we wish."
U.S. players had similar sentiments. They don't care who they wind up playing, whether it be Guatemala (2-0-0, six points), Haiti (1-1-0, three points), Canada (0-1-1, one point) or Mexico. The USA will know their opponent late Sunday night after Guatemala meets Canada and Mexico takes on Haiti.
But some observers felt perhaps Honduras was trying to avoid Mexico in the next round.
"I don't think any team tonight was necessarily trying to avoid it," defender Hunter Freeman said.
Midfielder Stuart Holden also didn't think the Hondurans were trying to tank it. "I don't think they did intentional penalty kicks," he said. "I think you can tell from their mannerisms on the field, they were playing for a tie or win as well."
So, if it's Mexico, it's Mexico.
"You've got to play whoever steps onto the field," Freeman said. "You can't look at it, 'Oh we've got to play Mexico now.' We won the group, we advanced. There's still a lot that can still happen there. Whether it's Mexico or anybody, we're just happy to advance."
Holden agreed.
"They're going to be a good team, a tough team and we'll prepare for them like we would any other game," he said. "Obviously, there is going to be a little bit of history there, between the U.S. and Mexico and the fact they knocked us out four years ago. Obviously, it would be nice (to knock them out this time). We're just looking to win that game and qualify for the Olympics."
Nowak decided to rest four of the five players who incurred yellow cards in the first two matches. That included defenders Marvell Wynne (Toronto FC) and Nathan Sturgis (Real Salt Lake), midfielder Freddy Adu, who did not even dress for the match at Raymond James Stadium, and forward Charlie Davies. Defender Kamani Hill, who had a yellow card Tuesday in the 1-1 draw with Cuba, started.
If a player gets two yellows in this tournament, he would have to sit out the next game, and Nowak obviously did not want to lose anyone for Thursday's semifinal match in Nashville.
Forward Jozy Altidore (New York Red Bulls), team captain Maurice Edu (Toronto FC), midfielder Dax McCarty (FC Dallas) and goalkeeper Chris Seitz (Real Salt Lake), who started the first two matches, also began the game on the bench. Dominic Cervi acquitted himself well in goal. "It was a pretty good performance by him," Nowak said.
Nowak said he decided to bench Adu to rest the 18-year-old and to make sure he wouldn't pick up another yellow card. Adu, who watched the game in street clothes from the bench, has been the USA's most influential attacking player, running the offense and scoring twice.
"You never know what will happen," Nowak said. "Freddy played two 90-minute games. And it is important to make sure he is going to be ready for next week."
Honduras coach Alexis Mendoza rested five starters from his team's 2-0 win on Thursday against Cuba.
If anything, the game demonstrated the grit of the U.S. team once again.
Without some of his stars and regulars, Nowak said he stressed to the team about playing its best. "That's what we represent and what we're all about," he said. "That's the most important thing tonight. If you go into the game like that ... then that's the habit, winning is a habit."
The match also showed how much the U.S. is struggling finishing. Two of the USA's three first-round goals were on penalties.
"It's not like the penalty kicks come somewhere from the air (that) somebody gives it to you as a present," Nowak said, defending his team's lack of scoring. "It came from hard work."
Gaven's 11th-hour heroics were set up by Charlie Davies, who was taken down twice in the second half to set up penalties. The first time, he was brought down by Marvin Sanchez. Davies took the ensuing kick and placed it wide right of the net.
Defender Quiarol Arzu pulled down Davies down in stoppage time. This time Gaven stepped up to take the kick.
"It was a great run by Charlie," Gaven said. "I took a deep breath and kicked it."
Into the right side of the net.
The ball was taken to the center circle. Honduras kicked off and referee Errico Wijngaarde (Surinam) blew the final whistle.
One of the more intriguing highlights came in the 77th minute when a scantily clad woman streaker interrupted play for about 30 seconds while running around the Hondurans' side of the field -- much to the cheers and delight of the crowd -- until she left the field. She was removed from the stadium and arrested, according to soccer officials.
Panama 4, Cuba 1
In the opener, Panama rolled to a 3-0 halftime lead and defeated Cuba 4-1. The result lifted the U.S. into the semifinals, even before the second game. With Roberto Linares finished with his one-game suspension, the Cubans were able to start with a full complement of 11 players as opposed to 10 in Thursday's 2-0 loss to Honduras.
Edwin Aguilar struck twice for Panama -- in the 18th and 65th minutes. Nelson Barahona scored in the 26th minute as Panama received a gift score by an Alianni Urgelles own goal in the 31st minute.
Captain Leonel Duarte scored Cuba's lone goal in the 64th minute.
Michael Lewis is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
