a berth in the Beijing Olympics this summer.
For Honduras, it certainly was a Welcome win. Georgie Wilson Welcome struck for the lone goal of the hard-fought match from 23 yards into the upper right corner past goalkeeper Dominic Cervi in the 103rd minute at LP Field in Nashville.
The victory also avenged the U.S.'s 1-0 win against Honduras, which secured the Group A title last week.
On Thursday night, the U.S. (3-1-1) and Honduras (3-1-1) both clinched spots in the Summer Olympics with semifinal victories. Sunday's match essentially was played for pride and a trophy, as well as the honor of being called CONCACAF Under-23 champions.
"No one likes to lose," New York Red Bulls forward Jozy Altidore said. "But at the end of the day you have to look at the bigger picture. We have so many bigger things ahead of us."
U.S. coach Peter Nowak had a limited roster from which to choose players as several players were returned to their European clubs. Midfielder Freddy Adu rejoined Benfica (Portugal), the hero of Thursday's 3-0 victory against Canada, Jonathan Spector, a central defender in that match, flew back to West Ham United (England), forward Charlie Davies returned to Hammarby IF (Sweden) and midfielder Sal Zizzo came back to Hannover 96 (Germany).
"I don't think a particular player can change the whole setup," Nowak said. "Freddy didn't play in the group game against Honduras, in the last game. It's not a drop. We were a little bit impatient with our game, the final pass didn't come. It's the sign of a long preparation for this tournament."
Despite missing several key players, the U.S. played another spirited match, especially during regulation, against the Hondurans, whom they defeated in group play on a late penalty kick by Eddie Gaven (Columbus Crew).
The U.S. could have won the game in regulation when forward Robbie Findley (Real Salt Lake) knocked a left wing cross by Chad Barrett (Chicago Fire) off the crossbar in the 71st minute.
The Hondurans' best opportunities came in the 54th minute, when the U.S. defense cleared a pair of shots out of harm's way. With goalkeeper Dominic Cervi out of the net, Patrick Ianni (Houston Dynamo), standing near the left post, cleared a shot off the line. A U.S. defender knocked another shot out of bounds for a corner kick.
The USA and New York Red Bulls coach Juan Carlos Osorio got a scare midway through the opening half when defender Hunter Freeman went down with an apparent ankle injury after he was knocked down by Honduras' David Alejandro Molina. The extent of the injury was not known. Freeman, however, left the field under his own power as team captain Maurice Edu of Toronto FC came on for him.
"We talked with the players before this game," Nowak said. "When you play at home you want to win the tournament. I'm glad and pleased. They still went forward. They still tried to win the game over the 90 minutes. We did have chances to win the game before the extra time."
In the third-place match, Canada outlasted Guatemala 5-3 in a penalty kick shootout after playing to a scoreless tie after 120 minutes of regulation and extra time.
Four U.S. players were named to the all-tournament team -- defender Michael Orozco and midfielders Dax McCarty, Adu and Edu.
Michael Lewis covers soccer for the New York Daily News and is editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He can be reached at SoccerWriter516@aol.com. Views and opinions expressed in this column are the author's, and not necessarily those of Major League Soccer or MLSnet.com.
