The common wisdom is that the United States does not like to schedule— is afraid to schedule — World Cup qualifiers in major Latino cities. But the Americans dared to play in front of a crowd of 55,647 fans at Soldier Field that was 60 percent in favor of Honduras on Saturday night, and the United States survived.
Giving up the first goal, a highly dangerous habit, the Yanks scrambled back for a 2-1 victory that kept them in second place in their region in qualifying for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
With Costa Rica beating Trinidad and Tobago, and Mexico being stunned in El Salvador, the Americans are second to Costa Rica, both having played an extra match.
“You take care of business at home,” said the United States coach, Bob Bradley, who insisted his players were not put off by playing in front of a predominately blue-clad Honduras crowd that knew how to chant and blow horns and wave pennants. After their ghastly 3-1 loss in Costa Rica on Wednesday night, the Americans upgraded their act despite another weak start.
The blue-clad fans arrived from Honduran enclaves in New York, Florida, Texas and Washington, D.C. Faustino Cruz, who lives in Springfield, Va., took a 12-hour bus ride with family and friends. This was a big-time soccer atmosphere, and the second largest World Cup qualifying crowd ever in this country, trailing a previous crowd in Foxborough, Mass., by about 2,000.
But the passion of the Honduran majority in the stands had nothing to do with the way the United States had to scramble after a 1-1 draw at halftime, with defensive mistakes leading to both goals.
Clint Dempsey’s loss of the ball led to Carlos Costly’s goal in the fifth minute, only marginally better than the second-minute goal given up in Costa Rica. But the United States stabilized, and a handball by Mario Beata of Honduras set up Landon Donovan’s penalty kick in the 43rd minute, to get the desperate Americans back in the match.
Then the captain, Carlos Bocanegra, scored in the 68th minute to ultimately win the match. Donovan drove a corner kick from the left, and Dempsey made up for his early flub by heading the ball back into the goal mouth, where Bocanegra knocked it home with a diving header. Moments later, Bocanegra felt a twinge in his hamstring and wisely removed himself, rather than be exposed for a costly goal.
The Americans showed more energy than they had in Costa Rica. Donovan and Jozy Altidore were more active, Jonathan Bornstein and Jonathan Spector were vast improvements at the two outside backs, and Ricardo Clark, given a start at midfield, might have been the most persistent player.
“It’s a big crowd,” Bradley said of the atmosphere. “We don’t let outside things influence us. You control what you can.”
Good for the United States officials for daring to put the game in a showcase stadium like this. Sunil Gulati, the president of the U.S. Soccer Federation, who teaches economics atColumbia University, can dabble in probabilities and demographics. He committed to playing Honduras in Chicago, which was listed as 26 percent Hispanic according to the 2000 census.
By choosing its spots carefully, the United States has not lost to a regional opponent at home in 53 straight matches, going back to a loss to Honduras in 2001. They have won 43 and drawn 10, including 14 World Cup qualifying matches.
Although many of the Latinos in Chicago are of Mexican descent, Gulati did not think Mexican fans would be a major factor because their national team’s game in San Salvador would be available on television.
“We beat Mexico in the Gold Cup final here,” Tim Howard, the United States goalkeeper,said Friday, referring to the 2-1 victory in 2007 in front of 60,000 fans.
Howard praised the red-clad Sam’s Army, the United States boosters who follow the national team to all continents, and added, “We thrive in front of big crowds and big environments.”
There is a history of American players feeling like foreigners on American soil. In 1985, the United States scheduled a vital World Cup qualifier against Costa Rica for a small college football field in Torrance, Calif. An hour before the match, several thousand Costa Ricans came over the hill, waving banners and chanting.
The United States lost, 1-0, and a young American player plaintively asked the American coach, Alkis Panagoulias, when the United States would ever play a home game. His response was, “Never.”
That is not exactly true, since the United States does well against Latin countries in Foxborough, but regional qualifying matches remain a challenge in most major cities, including R.F.K. Stadium in Washington.
On Sept. 1, 2001, the United States dared to play Honduras at R.F.K., and the crowd of 54,282 sounded decidedly pro-Honduran, as their players kicked the Americans around during a 3-2 victory.
Since then, the federation has put the first game of the final qualifying round in 2001 and 2009 in cold, blustery Columbus, Ohio, and was rewarded both times with a 2-0 victory. Mexico has its own version of atmospheric difficulty. It is called Azteca Stadium, and the Americans will travel there on Aug. 12.
This time the United States was willing to play a major regional opponent just a short walk from the home office of the U.S. Soccer Federation — Soccer House, a mansion of French Chateau style in the charming Prairie Avenue Historic District. The United States gained 3 points at home and made a few dollars at the same time. There might be a lesson in that
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