Read the full match report here:
Postamble: So US win their opener but Honduras had plenty of chances and calmer finishing would have got them at least a point. USA have Dempsey’s cool head to thank for the win.
Full time: USA 2-1 Honduras
90 min+3: Free-kick on the edge of the area for Honduras. What can they do? It’s almost certainly their last chance. The ball is placed around 25 yards out ... but it’s straight into the wall and USA have won the game. Just.
90 min+2: That corner took a nice chunk of time off the clock.
90 min+1: Guzan takes his time with the goal-kick. Wondolowski wins the ball brilliantly in midfield to waste a few more seconds before USA win a corner.
90 min: One last corner for Honduras ... they’re biting their nails on the bench. But Honduras fire over. We’ll have three minutes of added time.
88 min: Honduras are building up their attacks patiently, odd to be slow when time is running out after they rushed it when they had loads of time. USA don’t mind seeing time tick down.
86 min: Palacios is booked for a push on Dempsey. And Zusi replaces Zardes.
Updated
85 min: Another chance for Honduras. Hernandez has it just inside the area but drags his shot wide. Again, Fox Sports don’t bother showing a replay because it wasn’t a shot from the US. Who cares about the opposition? It doesn’t matter what they do!
83 min: Ohhhh. What a chance for Honduras. The ball skips across the face of goal and they really should have tapped it in but the Honduran attacker can’t put it away! I can’t say who it was because Fox Sports in their wisdom don’t bother with a replay of a crucial moment of the game, instead showing a montage of some tackles. Well done, team! Well done!
81 min: Yedlin’s little legs are a-whirring as he wins possessions and scampers up the pitch. But honduras put a stop to his jaunt and clear. Yedlin has been pretty good going forward this half - as has Zardes on the opposite wing.
79 min: Crisanto drags down Zardes on the left-hand side of the area. Bradley will do what he always does. Or will he? Bradley sees the keeper is expecting the cross - maybe he was reading my commentary - and tries to beat him at the near post. It nearly works too and the keeper only just gets it away.
77 min: Hernandez replaces Figueroa for Honduras. And they nearly score too while I’m typing “eroa”. Sorry, I only had eyes for “eroa” and missed the incident. Basically: Honduras didn’t score, and I’m crap.
74 min: Discua helped Honduras discover that it’s way more dangerous to your opponents if you shoot from five yards out rather than 25. USA are lucky the Hondurans waited so long to find out.
72 min: This game just got lively. Johnson is brought down on the edge-ish of the area and gets a hug by way of apology. Time for Bradley: but his free-kick has too much on it.
GOAL! USA 2-1 Honduras (Discua 70)
All night Honduras have shot as soon as they get within two miles of goal. Discua has come on as a sub and clearly has other ideas: he pelts forward at goal, slicing the US defenders and slams the ball home. What a goal.
69 min: Bradley sends another lovingly handpainted organic, naturally sourced pass into the area but it’s cleared. No respect for art, these Hondurans. Discua is on for Martinez.
66 min: Well, that should wrap things up. USA have hardly been an attacking force this evening but Dempsey’s calm has been the difference. In contrast, Honduras have snatched shots at goal when they should have been more patient.
GOAL! USA 2-0 Honduras (Dempsey 63)
Pretty simple that. Bradley swings the ball into the box from a free-kick on the right-hand edge of the area, Escober rushes out and can’t claim the ball. Dempsey is there to meet the ball with his head. Because he’s Clint Dempsey.
63 min: Quioto is on for Najar for Honduras. Najar played really well in dangerous bursts. For the US, Evans comes on for Chandler.
62 min: Honduras are slicking it about nicely, and Honduras have some space on the right-hand edge of the area. Zardes scraps and tussles and wins the ball back though. Nice work.
60 min: Wondolowski is on for Altidore. As usual, Altidore looked like he was about to do something brilliant ... and then failed to.
57 min: A great recovery from Yedlin to win back the ball from Honduras. 30 seconds or so later Bradley narrowly fails to find Altidore with a through ball into the box.
55 min: The game is being played at a much slower pace than in the first-half. The crowd are the most lively thing about the match so far.
53 min: Chandler - who has otherwise been good tonight - gives away the ball with a useless pass. Acosta ends up shooting from distance with incredible power but with absolutely no power. USA are lucky Honduras are treating the area like some kind of terrifying nightmare landscape haunted by demons and Clint Dempsey.
50 min: Dempsey is fouled in the middle of the pitch, around 25 yards from goal. Bradley and Johnson stand over the ball to deliver. It’s Johnson who takes, and his shot deflects off the wall and over the bar for a corner. The corner though ... yeah - let’s talk about something else.
48 min: Figueroa pulls off a wonderful sliding tackle and Honduras are soon on the attack. But Guzan gathers a looping cross and the US can breathe a little easier.
46 min: And we’re back on! Chandler and Yedlin are having an animated conversation, possibly about encouraging Honduras to keep on shooting from 50 yards out. Honduras really should have done more with their possession and chances.
45 min: Zardes has been quiet this game but he plays his first significant part of the half with a cross that Escober gathers at the second attempt. The excellent Najar then outfoxes and outmuscles his markers before sending a stinging shot just over the bar. And ... that’s half-time.
44 min: Honduras really like to shoot. They really like to shoot from outside the area, They really like to miss too. A curled shot from Meja goes well wide of goal.
42 min: The dangerous Lozano continues to bustle with intent. The ball drops of the edge of the area and it’s begging for a dipping volley over Guzan. But he wastes the chance. Martinez shoots from 40 yards out not long afterwards.
40 min: Ohhhhhh. Good chance for Altidore. He chases after a ball into the area and after a variety of adventures it drops nicely for. But he can’t quite gain control for a shot or killer pass and, like lovers passing in the night, the moment is gone.
Updated
38 min: Beckeles has takes a dislike to Yedlin and pushed him as they went for a throw in and then scythes him down a few seconds later. Should have been a booking. Guan continues to zip out his goal at the slightest whiff of danger and clears the ball way outside the area with a karate kick.
36 min: Guzan sprints out his goal to collect a long ball - and nearly takes the ball out of the area. He stops just in time though. I guess playing for Aston Villa will make you paranoid.
33 min: The Guardian’s very own Tom Gottlieb has written in with his thoughts on the game: “Am I alone in thinking that the scoreline from Guatemala papered over an attack that looked completely disjointed and unconvincing? The supposed B team Klinsy trotted out in Europe last month was way more fluid and explosive. This XI looks slow and reactionary in all the wrong places through 110 minutes.”
32 min: Honduras win their fifth corner of the game. A strange diving header from Figueroa clears the ball for his opponents. That corner came from another quick break though. At the other end Yedlin nearly scores his first US goal but Escober is out quickly to smother the ball.
29 min: USA have settled somewhat since the goal. They’re finally beginning to string passes together and Altidore is looking dangerous, his perseverance had a lot to do with the goal and he shrugs off a few defenders on the latest attack before Honduras get it away.
27 min: That was Dempsey’s 42nd international goal. And this is a fast break for Honduras through Martinez - but his final ball into the area is lazy and Chandler clears.
GOAL! USA 1-0 Honduras (Dempsey 25min)
The US needed that - but didn’t deserve it. Altidore’s shot is blocked by the keeper and the ball flips up in the area, where Dempsey is standing around eight yards out to nod home.
24 min: Chandler plays a chip shot up to Altidore but accidentally takes his 3 Wood from the bag and his team-mate watches it drift out of play.
21 min: The US are pulling off some great double-fouls at the moment. First we had Brooks’s hack and shove. Then Beckerman has a kick and eye-poke. If you’re going to foul you may as well do it properly, and for this USA deserve credit.
19 min: Honduras are everything USA are not at the moment, direct, skillful and penetrating. And fast, did I say fast? They’re fast too.
18 min: Lozano has caused USA all sorts of problems today, running straight at the defence and generally scaring them. Brooks is also booked for a hack and a push of Martinez at halfway. Martinez is hobbling off after that one. Remember that the women’s team were 183-0 up at this stage in the World Cup final.
15 min: This is the Game of Corners. Like the Game of Thrones but less complex and with less needless nudity. And probably not as good. Anyway, Honduras waste their latest one.
14 min: A corner for USA. A precious, precious corner! Plenty of shoving on the line which the ref has a word with the players about. Bradley takes but the ref blows for a US shove barely before it’s left his foot.
12 min: Eric Sarno writes in from Ho Chi Minh City (it’s no Hoi An) with a preview of the game in Vietnamese. I can’t read Vietnamese though so I’ll just imagine it says “Watch out for Honduras dominating for the first 12 minutes or so”.
10 min: Like a journeyman boxer, Honduras aren’t afraid to take a shot. Another one goes wide of the goal - USA are yet to get inside the opposition area. They have been good at getting fouled though. Yedlin takes a heavy tackle and doesn’t look too healthy.
7 min: Acosta takes the corner after Guzan’s save, Bradley picks up the clearance and scurries away with the ball.
6 min: And Honduras are attacking early. They win a corner after a deflected shot. Acosta takes, it’s decent inswinger and Guzan punches behind for another corner. This time it’s played short and USA have to thrash a square ball into the six-yard area. They do so in a fair amount of panic - not the best of starts (unless you’re Honduras). Then Najar’s curled shot forces Guzan into a save.
4 min: USA’s record in Gold Cup openers is decent enough: 12-0-0. But there is an early scare. Guzan has to get down quickly to save low to his right from Lozano.
2 min: Altidore starts things off by directing his first pass out for a throw in. At this stage in the World Cup final, Carli Lloyd had scored 14 goals: Jozy should be ashamed.
1 min: And we’re off. It’s a sold out game here in Frisco and we have a zingy atmosphere. One of the mascots was so excited at meeting Clint Dempsey that he dispensed with the handshake and just hugged him. Unprofessional mascoting right there - no doubt he’ll be banned for five games.
The US national anthem plays. I will not review the US national anthem as I believe most of our readers will be familiar with it. Jurgen Klinsmann likes it though, and sings along too.
If you’re wondering about the Honduras national anthem, we got an actual pop star to review it before the last World Cup. The pop star being Carol Decker who had a No4 hit with T-Pau in the 80s (we didn’t say it was a big pop star). Here’s what she had to say:
When you think of God Save the Queen, it’s just one melody all the way through. This, though, is structured like a song – it’s got a verse, a pre-chorus and then it goes into what I would call a chorus and then back to a verse. It’s quite a jolly, memorable melody, punctuated with a lot of cymbals, which lock the melody down. The lyrics are almost a battle cry, full of dramatic lyrics – crashing waves, volcanoes, marching to the death. Personally I think our anthem is really dreary, but this has a better tempo, a more interesting structure. I think it’s a good singalong, and can really picture them bellowing that out, very proud, before kick-off. I’m not much of a football person, but I’m a glory girl, so I’ll tune in for the final, perhaps a semi-final. I doubt I’ll see much of Honduras this summer.
So now you know.
Whatever happens between the two sides tonight, I’m pretty sure they’ll do better than this:
Klinsmann is interviewed before the game. He says Honduras are a: “very, very good team. If you want to get to the Confed Cup you gotta beat them.” Or draw with them, and then win the other games. Or draw all your games and still win the tournament via a combination of other results and penalty shoot-outs. But we take the sentiment, Jurgen.
Sorry, you’ll probably want the Honduras team as well, won’t you:
Escober (GK), Crisanto, M Figueroa, Palacios, H Figueroa, Beckeles, Martinez, Acosta, Mejia, Lozano, Najar
You may remember that USA did OK in their last run out:
In tonight’s earlier game, Panama and Haiti drew 1-1.
Remember that the winner of the Gold Cup wins a place at the 2017 Confederations Cup. As well as being able to take on the might of the likes of Tahiti, it will also give the teams practice in playing in Russia a year before the World Cup is played in ... Russia. I’m sure Vladimir Putin will be delighted to have them too.
A bit of history. This very day 24 years ago, USA won the first ever Gold Cup against ... Honduras in a penalty shoot-out. Since then they’ve won the trophy four more times for a total of [25 minute pause while I add 4+1] five times. That’s one [three-hour pause while I reflect on the difference between less than and fewer than] fewer than Mexico, who are on six. Canada are the only other team to have raised the trophy, in 2000.
And the teams are in. Michael Bradley’s start wins him his 100th USA cap. Not bad for a 27 year old:
#USMNT Starting XI for tonight's #GoldCup2015 opener vs. Honduras. #USAvHON #KeepTheCup pic.twitter.com/6XM8ZWQdtr
— U.S. Soccer (@ussoccer) July 8, 2015
Tonight’s opponents are Honduras. Like the US, they qualified for the last World Cup but the similarities end there as they went out in ... let’s say quiet circumstances, losing all three of their games and only scoring a single goal (against Ecuador). But Graham Parker reckons they shouldn’t be written off this evening. It’s Concacaf! Anything could happen! Just ask Jack Warner! Anyway, here’s Graham’s view:
Honduras are something of a wild card in a group that’s relatively tough as the Gold Cup goes — and they feature the likes of former MLS-er and current Anderlecht player Andy Najar, and promising youngster Anthony Lozano up front. And while they were the one exception to the Concacaf fairytale at the Brazil World Cup, they still got there, and will have the added benefit this time round of being coached by the man who made Costa Rica such a surprise package in the World Cup: Jorge Luis Pinto.
Hello! And welcome to the Gold Cup opener, where American soccer’s second best international team kick off their campaign against Honduras. Nothing to live up to boys, nothing at all:
Tom will be here shortly. In the meantime, here’s Graham Parker on why it’s time for the US men to repeat the women’s heroics:
This matters for Klinsmann. While his team did not qualify for the 2013 Confederations Cup in Brazil, he held the team’s early 2014 winter camp there, to try to get his players used to the travel, conditions and accommodation at the World Cup, and spoke afterwards of how crucial that preparation had been.
And after failure to qualify for the last Olympics, Klinsmann has set similar store by qualifying his younger players for next year’s tournament, to complement the experience of the seniors playing in the centenary Copa America, also next summer.
