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It is always disappointing to open a game with an early goal and then go on to loose in the end… This is what happened when Los Catrachos travelled to the United States of America on July 6.
Carlos Costly scored after only five minutes to give the visitors a boost. But this didn’t kill the Yankees’ hopes of winning the encounter.
Landon Donovan scored from the spot with two minutes before half time to give the USA a desire equalizer. In the second half, another Carlos – but Bocanegra, not Costly – headed the ball home in a particular manner to seal the victory for the USA.
As campaigns for qualification to the world cup are on hold, the Americans sit one place above Honduras in CONCACAF’s group table.
But now the attention is on the Gold Cup tournament and these two teams – Honduras and the USA – have the same ambition of winning the cup, despite having different backgrounds.
Honduras crushed out from the group stages of the CONCACAF Gold Cup competition four times in nine appearances. Los Catrachos will be determined to brush this curse away by mastering excellent results in Group B, which includes the likes of Grenada and of Haiti.
Evoking the spirits of the 1991, 2000, 2005, and the 2007 Gold Cup tournaments might power Honduras to qualify from the group stages again. Eventually, this could come at the detriment of Bob Bradley’s Yankees who are seeking to separate themselves comprehensively from outsiders Haiti and Grenada.
Both the USA and Honduras are poised to reach the next round of the Gold Cup competition, however nothing should be taken for granted. Depending on the fates of Haiti and Grenada during the tournament, Honduras’s match against the USA could be used to ring the alarm on one of these two powerhouses.
The USA are the defending champions of the Gold Cup and they have won the title five times in CONCACAF’s football history. One costly mistake against Honduras will certainly be emphasized by everyone, including the media, the public, and the fans.
As for Los Catrachos, a positive result against the Confederations Cup runners up will boost their hopes and dream of going all the way to the final like they did in 1991 when the competition first took place.
