It's unreal how a boring contest such as the the States' second game of the 2009 Gold Cup can be lifted into grace by a spell of beautiful soccer. That's exactly what happened in the 75th minute of Wednesday's 2-0 win over Honduras at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C.Sixty-fourth minute substitute Benny Feilhaber showed some real class by sliding a pass to the top of the 18, where fellow 64th minute add-on Charlie Davies alertly found Baltimore native and DC United vet Santino Quaranta. Quaranta finished hard and low past Honduran keeper Donis Escobar, popping the US into the lead in a game in which they had been of better class, admittedly by a narrow margin.
As for the second goal... well, by now, we shouldn't be surprised when Charlie Davies asserts himself as a force in a game, but for the second-straight game, he helped open up the 18 for a fellow forward. Steve Cherundolo gets a deserved assist on a Brian Ching-headed goal, and the Yanks go up 2-0 with two goals in five minutes.
Other notes:
-- Honduras is certainly mounting an effort to be as hated as Mexico. They are a filthy, whiny team that dives as much as any in CONCACAF.
-- The most fun from the first 74 minutes of Wednesday night was the following texted observations about Kyle Beckerman:
*"His jazz ensemble is playing the Tralf next week," Scott
*"He was great in 'Encino Man,'."
*"Beckerman's hair - Bob Marley tribute band."
-- Robbie Rogers has silly skills, and would have to lose a foot to not be included in the 2010 WC squad.
-- Freddy Adu is still extremely green, but his raw talent shows up in undeniable flashes. Still, he needs to do work to make the 2010 squad.
-- Two clean sheets for Troy Perkins. Good on him.
-- 23-0-1 in the group stages of the Gold Cup. For a moment, let's ignore that most have been home games.
-- As a fellow soccer broadcaster, I try to be kind to announcers, but Max Bretos was as brutal an example as you can find. I could almost swear he wasn't watching the same game as us, and his idea of play-by-play as screaming an attacker's name before waiting a good 10 seconds after the shot goes in or wide to announce what happened was laughable. He did have dry toast for a color man, but life goes on. Both fellas are better than they showed Wednesday.
-- I'm glad the Haiti game won't be a "be-all/end-all" event, because I'll be watching it several hours later after the Flash game and my buddy Brad's wedding.
