U.S. Tops Honduras in Gold Cup

Davies Earns Assist, Parkhurst Starts in 2-0 Win

July 9, 2009

Second half goals by Santino Quaranta and Brian Ching four minutes apart - with the first assisted by former Boston College star Charlie Davies - fired the U.S. men�s national team to a 2-0 victory against Honduras and the top spot in Group B before an enthusiastic crowd of 26,079 at RFK Stadium.

The U.S. currently sits in first place in Group B as the only team with six points after two games. Honduras and Haiti each have three points, while Grenada sits in last place with zero. A win or a tie for the U.S. against Haiti in their final group match Saturday at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Mass. would clinch the top spot in the group.

With a five-goal advantage over second place Haiti in goal differential, the U.S. could also still finish first or second in the group even with a first-ever loss in group play in the Gold Cup. Their current all-time record stands at 22-0-3 through 10 regional championship appearances.

�We knew that this would be a good challenge tonight,� said U.S. head coach Bob Bradley. �Honduras is a good team and this was the game that was going to go a long ways towards determining who would finish first in the group. I thought the response of our team was quite good. Games like this, there�s got to be a good collective effort from start to finish, you have to have the ability at certain points to bring on subs who help and in all ways I thought it was a good, solid team effort.�

For each of the goal scorers, the match marked a return to international action after a layoff, although Quaranta�s was by far the more notable and longest. The 24-year-old, who was a member of the U.S. Gold Cup champion team in 2005 and made his most recent appearance more than three years ago, provided a storybook return by netting the game-winner � and first career international goal � in his home stadium in front of family and friends.

Quaranta broke the deadlock after a nice build-up that started on the right sideline when Chad Marshall reacted quickly to step around his man and win the ball just across the midfield line. The ball found the feet of Heath Pearce and he squared the ball for Benny Feilhaber, who entered the game only 10 minutes earlier. Feilhaber played a quick combination with Ching and then found his fellow substitute Davies with his back to goal about 16 yards out.

Holding off his man, Davies smartly guided the ball to his right toward a charging Quaranta near the top of the box and the D.C. United midfielder directed a hard, first-time shot low and to the left of goalkeeper Donis Escobar.

�It was a very special night for me, personally,� said Quaranta. �But to be back wearing the jersey was probably more special. Just to be back with the team and to listen to the anthem was very emotional for me because it's been such a fun and long road back. It was a special night.�

The goal took the wind out of the Hondurans� sails, and off a restart in the 79th minute the U.S. doubled the lead. Feilhaber quickly restarted play on a free kick and switched the ball to Steve Cherundolo, who had acres of space on the right side. Cherundolo served a cross into the six-yard box, where Ching out jumped his defender and headed the ball off Nery Medina�s shoulder and into the top of the net.

The two goals were well deserved as the U.S. controlled most of the pace throughout the match even though both teams had chances during the scoreless first half in front of a festive atmosphere charged by partisan fans supporting both sides.

Bradley brought in three new faces to the starting lineup from the Group B opener against Grenada July 4 with Quaranta starting on the right, Ching starting at forward and former Revolution standout Michael Parkhurst stepping into the back line.

The U.S. improved to 12-3-3 at RFK Stadium, and closes out Group B play at against Haiti on July 11 in another familiar location, Foxborough, Mass., where the U.S. is 16-1-4 all time, including a 6-0-1 record in the Gold Cup at Gillette Stadium. Kickoff on Saturday is 7 p.m. ET live on Fox Soccer Channel, TeleFutura and the Futbol de Primera Radio Network.

Haiti currently sits in second place in the group with three points and a plus-one goal differential, following a 2-0 victory against Grenada in the first match of the evening. Honduras is third with three points and a minus-one goal differential, and faces Grenada on Saturday. Tickets for the Foxborough doubleheader are available at goldcup.org.

U.S. 2, Honduras 0
Scoring
USA � Santino Quaranta (Charlie Davies) 75 minute
USA � Brian Ching (Steve Cherundolo) 79

Lineups:
USA: 1-Troy Perkins; 6-Steve Cherundolo (capt.), 4-Chad Marshall, 14-Michael Parkhurst, 2-Heath Pearce; 20-Santino Quaranta, 8-Logan Pause (25- Benny Feilhaber, 64), 5-Kyle Beckerman, 7-Robbie Rogers; 11-Brian Ching (17-Kenny Cooper, 82), 19-Freddy Adu (9-Charlie Davies, 64) Subs not used: 10-Stuart Holden, 16-Jay Heaps, 18-Luis Robles, 21-Brad Evans
Head Coach: Bob Bradley

Honduras: 22-Donis Escober; 5-Erick Norales, 11-Mariano Acevedo, 2-Osman Chavez, 16-Nery Medina; 14-Carlos Palacios, 23-Roger Espinoza (7-Rigoberto Padilla, 70), 18-Melvin Valladares, 13-Carlos Costly (24-Georgie Welcome, 79); 10-Marvin Chavez (8-Allan Lalin, 65), 15-Walter Mart�nez (capt.) Subs not used: 3-David Molina, 4-Johnny Palacios, 12-Ricardo Canales, 21-Luis Ramos
Head Coach: Reynaldo Rueda

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