CONCACAF 2012 Olympic Qualifying: USA Eliminated In Stoppage Time

The first goal came off of a long boot, which Terrence Boyd did well to win. The ball eventually made its way to Adu, who spotted Boyd making a run in behind the El Salvador defense and played a perfectly weighted ball in. Boyd, who already scored earlier, was calm as could be in front of goal and slotted the ball home for the equalizer.

From one down to one up, the U.S. are still alive. Even so, there are still more than 20 minutes left for the Americans to hold on.

Pulido got the Mexicans going after 12 minutes when he took a pass from Javier Aquino to get into good scoring position. From there he just needed to finish simply, which he did, hitting the ball low for the opening goal of the match.

The first goal didn’t ask much of Pulido, but the second one sure did. He picked up the ball and came all the way across from the left to the center before creating enough space from 20 yards and hitting a peach of a shot into the upper corner. It was a tremendous goal and sent El Tri into the break not just up two goals, but having demoralized Honduras.

Pulido opened the scoring after just 12 minutes when Javier Aquino fed the striker and left him with a relatively simple finish. All he had to do was slide the ball low past the keeper, which he did without a problem, and Mexico were in front.

Honduras wasn’t completely devoid of chances, but Mexico were always comfortable. Pulido continued to cause the Honduras defense fits and Marco Fabian kept finding space to create in behind him, while the wingers were getting up without much of a problem.

Today, they take on Honudras, who is easily the second best team in Group B and are the tournament’s defending champions. It will be the first real test for Mexico and with the U.S. losing yesterday to likely set them up against the Group B winner in a semifinal match for a spot in the Olympics, Mexico will have to be sharp.

Mexico: Sanchez; Jimenez, Mier, Reyes, Chavez; Aquino, Herrera, Cabrera, Ponce; Fabian; Pulido

On the surface, the loss might not look like much to the U.S. apart from supporters freaking out about the team they were excited about, but this is a big deal in terms of qualification for the Olympics. With Canada likely to beat Cuba on Monday and win the group, the Americans will have to beat El Salvador just to get a spot in the semifinals. There they would likely play Mexico, the best team in the tournament, needing a win for a spot in the Olympics. Ouch.

It took until the waning minutes, but Canada did get a second goal to ice things. Lucas Cavallini got to a cross after a short corner and the match was on ice.

Cuba had a man sent off in their first match of the CONCACAF Olympic qualifying tournament and it didn’t go well, as the U.S. defeated them 6-0. Even so, they decided to give playing with 10 men a try once more, picking up another run card in their second match of the tournament against El Salvador. Unsurprisingly, it didn’t go well again as El Salvador cruised to an easy 4-0 win.

El Salvador were up a goal after just four minutes thanks to good work by Jaime Alas. The midfielder jumped on a loose ball and beat the Cuba defense before crossing for Lester Blanco, who did well to create space and then had a simple finish.

If Canada wants a chance at a point, they are going to need to be a lot better than they were in their opener against El Salvador. They were awful and lucky to take a point. If they can manage another today then the Canucks will be sitting pretty, but that’s a lot to ask for.

Eddie Hernandez kicked off the scoring when he was able to jump on a free ball in front of goal and knock it home 19 minutes into the match. Mario Martinez doubled Honduras’ lead right after halftime when Panama failed to clear the ball, instead kicking the ball into Martinez’s path. It left Martinez with just the goalkeeper to beat, and he did. Manuel Asprilla scored to bring Panama within one, but Alexander Lopez answered that goal in the waning minutes to give Honduras the 3-1 win.

Honduras will face their biggest test of the group stage on Sunday when they take on Mexico, while Panama will look to stay in contention for a spot at the Olympics with a win over Trinidad and Tobago.

Corona actually got the U.S. on the board before the red card. A deflection fell to him 15 yards from goal and he clinically chested the ball onto his foot before volleying home the opening goal.

The red card came when Agudelo got caught with an elbow and the referee did not hesitate to send him off. That opened the door for Brek Shea to cause real havoc. Shea crossed for Agudelo’s goal and then, after Corona added his second, his run forced the own goal. It has been all U.S. and it is only halftime. This one could get a lot worse.

Head coach Caleb Porter is going with an expect lineup. His defense is what most believe is his first choice back line and the same is true of the midfield and forwards, with the exception of maybe Joe Gyau. Many people are very high on Gyau and you can bet you will see him extensively throughout the tournament, even if he isn’t starting.

Their opponents for tonight are Cuba. Unsurprisingly, there are no lineups available for the Cubans and it is not as if it would matter if they did anyways because nobody knows a thing about the Cuban players. Such is the case with an insulated country.

If you wanted an argument for why Olympic soccer should not be a thing, you got it when Canada and El Salvador squared off in Nashville for the first match of CONCACAF Olympic qualifying. Neither team was good and it turned into a contest of who could be not awful long enough to not give up a goal. The answer was neither team, but luckily for them, the other team wasn’t not awful enough to capitalize on their awfulness. The result was a 0-0 loss for both teams, er, draw.

If there were any scouts in attendance at LP Field, they probably left early. Like third minute early. The whole passing thing was lost on both teams and if this match was any indication of what the national teams will be like going forward then pub league players everywhere should look into citizenship because they have a shot at international citizenship. Seriously, it was bad.

Once the teams get to the Olympics, they can have three players over the age of 23 join the team, but for qualifying, only the underage players are eligible. Further complicating things: The tournament is not played on FIFA international dates, so club teams are not obligated to release players to compete in the qualification tournament, although many clubs have released players.

The top two teams in each group will advance to the championship round, which will be played at Livestrong Sporting Park in Kansas City, Kan. The first-place team from Group A will play the second-place team in Group B, while the first-place team from Group B will play the second-place team from Group A in the semifinals. The winners will qualify for the Olympics and the the final, which has no real importance.