esults

12/08/09 12:15	Minsk		Belarus	1:3 (0:1)	Croatia
12/08/09 10:00	Baku		Azerbaijan	0:2 (0:1)	Germany
12/08/09 12:45	Maribor		Slovenia	5:0 (2:0)	San Marino
12/08/09 17:30	Port Of Spain		Trinidad and Tobago	1:0 (1:0)	El Salvador
12/08/09 19:30	San Pedro Sula		Honduras	4:0 (1:0)	Costa Rica
12/08/09 11:00	Oslo		Norway	4:0 (2:0)	Scotland
12/08/09 10:00	Torshavn		Faroe Islands	0:1 (0:1)	France
12/08/09 14:00	Mexico City		Mexico	2:1 (1:1)	USA
05/07/09 11:30	Cairo		Egypt	3:0 (0:0)	Rwanda
21/06/09 13:00	Bamako		Mali	3:1 (1:1)	Benin
21/06/09 11:00	Conakry		Guinea	2:1 (2:0)	Malawi
20/06/09 11:30	Omdurman		Sudan	0:2 (0:1)	Ghana
20/06/09 12:10	Rades		Tunisia	0:0	Nigeria
20/06/09 11:00	Rabat		Morocco	0:0	Togo
20/06/09 12:00	Ouagadougou		Burkina Faso	2:3 (1:1)	Côte d'Ivoire
20/06/09 07:00	Nairobi		Kenya	2:1 (1:0)	Mozambique
20/06/09 06:00	Chililabombwe		Zambia	0:2 (0:1)	Algeria
17/06/09 04:20	Melbourne		Australia	2:1 (0:1)	Japan
17/06/09 05:00	Seoul		Korea Republic	1:1 (0:0)	Iran
17/06/09 10:30	Manama		Bahrain	1:0 (0:0)	Uzbekistan

The match was the 50th meeting since the two first played each other in 1930 with the Ticos still leading the all-time series having won 19, lost 15 a

Honduras rampant against Ticos

Honduras defeated Costa Rica 4-0 in decisive fashion on Wednesday to boost their 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™ qualifying aspirations in the North, Central America and Caribbean region.

Carlos Costly scored twice, in the 30th minute and again in second-half injury time, while Carlos Pavon (50th) and Melvin Valladares (89th) also scored as Honduras leapt to second place in the six-nation final qualifying group in the region.

Costa Rica remain atop the group with 12 points, followed by Honduras and USA both on ten. Mexico have nine points after a 2-1 victory over the Stars and Stripes.

The top three teams advance directly to South Africa 2010, while the fourth-placed team will play off against a team from South America for a berth.

Costly scores pair to lead Honduras over Costa Rica 4-0
8/12/2009 - SAN PEDRO SULA, Honduras -- Two goals from Carlo Costly helped Honduras to a 4-0 victory over CONCACAF World Cup qualifying leader Costa Rica on Wednesday and bolstered its claim for a place next year in South Africa. The Catrachos dominated the visitors from the opening whistle led by Ramon Nunez and Costly, twice disallowed goals in the opening 18 minutes before finally taking the lead. Nunez and Costly appeared to combine for an opening oal in the sixth minute, but the striker was ruled offside. A second goal was disallowed in the 18th minute when a long distance effort by Mauricio Sabillon deflected off a Costa Rica defender and ended up in the back of the net, but goalkeeper Keilor Navas was fouled. Navas came out of the goal mouth scramble holding his face and was eventually replaced by Ricardo Gonzalez in the 25th minute. Honduras went ahead in the 30th minute when Costly scored his fourth goal of the qualifying phase after collecting a pass from Elvis Turcios at the top of the penalty area. It double the advantage six minutes into the second half when Carlos Pavon, with his back to goal, chested down a searching pass, turned and alluded Costa Rica defender Jose Fernandez before and then buried a shot past Gonzalez. Honduras continued their domination with a corner kick by Turcios hitting the cross bar in the in the 65th minute and a long distance effort by Julio Cesar Leon thumping off the crossbar in the 75th minute. Leon again tested Gonzalez in the 84th minute when his blistering free kick from 30 yards forced the keeper into another acrobatic save, pushing the dipping strike just wide of goal. Honduras added two goals in injury time, with second half substitute Melvin Valladares beating the offside trap, eluding a slide tackle from Fernandez and then slamming the ball past Gonzalez. Seconds later, Costly added his second of the night, collecting a pass at the top of the penalty area and side footing the ball past Gonzalez to complete the scoring. The visiting Ticos’ chances were few with their only solid effort of the first half – a long distance strike by Armando Alonso -- appearing to beat goalkeeper Noel Valladares but skipping wide of the post. Valladares then came up with a diving finger-tip effort to deny Cristian Bolanos, who collected a cross from Esteban Sirias in the 68th minute and struck a hard right-footed shot on goal. The victory moved Honduras into the second place in the “hexagonal” standings with 10 points, within two points of Costa Rica and just ahead of the United States on goal difference. Its next match is September 5 when it hosts Trinidad and Tobago while Costa Rica will be home against Mexico in San Jose. The match was the 50th meeting since the two first played each other in 1930 with the Ticos still leading the all-time series having won 19, lost 15 and drawing the 16 others.

“We can take two tequilas tonight,” he said. (Aguirre)

Mexico 2, United States 1

Mexico Restores Order to Its Universe

Israel Castro after his frozen-rope shot tied the match. The captain and defender Carlos Bocanegra, left, was slow in closing the space in front of the U.S. goal.

By JERÉ LONGMAN

Published: August 12, 2009
MEXICO CITY — The United States took its first lead in four decades of playing soccer at Estadio Azteca on Wednesday, but the advantage proved as thin and gasping as the air at high altitude.

Meanwhile, Mexico played with great patience, controlling possession along with its emotions, remaining serene despite enormous pressure not to lose at home for the first time to the Americans and further jeopardize its ability to qualify for the 2010 World Cup.

And then, in the 82nd minute, when the ball popped free in a capricious moment, the substitute forward Miguel Sabah pounced on it, finding great fortune three minutes after entering the game.

His blast gave Mexico a 2-1 victory, sending the 105,000 fans at Azteca into ecstatic release, igniting a hail of flag-waving, beer-tossing and horn-blowing celebration. National pride was bolstered, and so were Mexico’s chances of reaching South Africa.

“This was life or death for the whole country,” said Kurt Vogt, a Mexican supporter, his face painted in the green, white and red of the nation’s flag.

Donald Miralle/Getty Images

Landon Donovan endured a debris shower as he prepared to take a corner kick.

The United States’ chances of qualifying for the World Cup remain encouraging, but Wednesday’s late defeat brought disappointment over an opportunity missed. The American players were convinced they could win in Mexico. Instead, their record south of the border slipped to 0-23-1.

Once again, as it had done against Italy and Brazil in the Confederations Cup in June, the United States took a lead but could not hold it.

“To be a great team, you have to learn how to control the lead,” said forward Charlie Davies, whose blistering goal gave the United States a 1-0 lead in the ninth minute.

But the advantage faded, and so did some of the luster of the Americans’ performance this summer at the Confederations Cup, where they defeated Spain, then the world’s No. 1 team, and took Brazil to the wire in the final.

In three weeks, the United States has now lost twice to Mexico. The 5-0 loss last month at the Gold Cup final could be explained away by the use of reserve players. On Wednesday, though, both sides were stocked with regulars, and Mexico proved to be the better and luckier team.

Mexico urgently needed a win at home after losing previous qualifying matches in the United States, Honduras and El Salvador. The game possessed the consuming feeling of a World Cup and a national referendum.

Fans wore their green team jerseys all over the city, whether they attended the match or not. Seven hours before kickoff, animated discussions were already under way on television. Newspapers carried headlines like “D-Day” and “Zero Hour.” Psychics were brought in to predict the outcome.

As the Americans left their hotel two hours before kickoff, they were greeted by Mexican supporters holding their hands aloft — five fingers spread on one hand, the fist closed on the other, a reference to the 5-0 Gold Cup victory.

Azteca throbbed like a beehive with the buzz of plastic horns from the moment the American goalkeepers appeared for warm-ups. Later, the horns attempted to drown out the United States’ national anthem.

But it was a fragile, nervous confidence. Javier Aguirre, the Mexican coach, had hoped for an early goal, to calm Mexico’s players and its supporters. Instead, the opposite happened.

In the ninth minute, Landon Donovan played a crisp pass from midfield to the left wing, hitting Davies in stride. Davies’s speed and determination had been impressive at the Confederations Cup; this time he struck the ball sharply from 12 yards inside the right post, giving the United States a 1-0 advantage. The next sound was 105,000 people growing silent and alarmed.

Never before had the Americans taken a lead at Azteca, whose mystique is as imposing as its 7,200-foot altitude. Only once had Mexico lost a World Cup qualifying match here. Davies ran to the corner flag and began dancing, until he was whisked away by his teammate Michael Bradley as debris was hurled from the stands.

Many wondered whether the crowd would turn on Mexico’s players if they fell behind, or whether a sense of despair would overtake Azteca. Neither happened as the American advantage proved as brief as it was rare.

“Despite falling behind, we maintained calm and order and hope,” the Mexican defender Efraín Juárez said.

Ten minutes later, Donovan was stripped at midfield and Israel Castro rocketed a shot from 30 yards, the ball hitting the crossbar and ricocheting into the goal, drawing Mexico even at 1-1 in the 19th minute.

The second half became a chess match of substitutions as players began to tire. The reserve midfielder Stuart Holden sent a beautiful cross into the penalty area, just beyond Davies’s reach. Tempers grew short as Davies fell to the ground with cramps. The Mexican players apparently thought he was stalling. Pushing ensued.

As the end neared, the United States felt assured of at least a tie, a worthy outcome. But with eight minutes remaining, Donovan hesitated slightly on defense and Juárez dribbled past him in the penalty area.

Jay DeMerit rushed over and made a slide tackle, and the ball popped free to Sabah, who roofed it from 10 yards for the deciding goal. For a moment, Mexico could forget about its ailing economy, swine flu epidemic and barbarous drug wars. The archrival Americans had been vanquished.

“Where are you now, gringos? Where are you now?” Carlos Alatorre, a Mexican supporter, sang with his friends on a ramp outside the stadium.

“This is the most important thing we’ve ever done against the U.S.,” Alatorre said.

Costa Rica leads the six-team group with 12 points despite its 4-0 loss to Honduras on Wednesday night. Honduras and the United States are tied with 10 points, and Mexico is another point back, with only the top three qualifying automatically.

A spot in the World Cup is not guaranteed, but for a day, the crisis in Mexican soccer faded into relieved merriment. Even Aguirre could allow himself a moment of satisfaction.

Meanwhile, Mexico played with great patience, controlling possession along with its emotions, remaining serene despite enormous pressure not to lose at home for the first time to the Americans and further jeopardize its ability to qualify for the 2010 World Cup.

And then, in the 82nd minute, when the ball popped free in a capricious moment, the substitute forward Miguel Sabah pounced on it, finding great fortune three minutes after entering the game.

His blast gave Mexico a 2-1 victory, sending the 105,000 fans at Azteca into ecstatic release, igniting a hail of flag-waving, beer-tossing and horn-blowing celebration. National pride was bolstered, and so were Mexico’s chances of reaching South Africa.

“This was life or death for the whole country,” said Kurt Vogt, a Mexican supporter, his face painted in the green, white and red of the nation’s flag.

The United States’ chances of qualifying for the World Cup remain encouraging, but Wednesday’s late defeat brought disappointment over an opportunity missed. The American players were convinced they could win in Mexico. Instead, their record south of the border slipped to 0-23-1.

Once again, as it had done against Italy and Brazil in the Confederations Cup in June, the United States took a lead but could not hold it.

“To be a great team, you have to learn how to control the lead,” said forward Charlie Davies, whose blistering goal gave the United States a 1-0 lead in the ninth minute.

But the advantage faded, and so did some of the luster of the Americans’ performance this summer at the Confederations Cup, where they defeated Spain, then the world’s No. 1 team, and took Brazil to the wire in the final.

In three weeks, the United States has now lost twice to Mexico. The 5-0 loss last month at the Gold Cup final could be explained away by the use of reserve players. On Wednesday, though, both sides were stocked with regulars, and Mexico proved to be the better and luckier team.

Mexico urgently needed a win at home after losing previous qualifying matches in the United States, Honduras and El Salvador. The game possessed the consuming feeling of a World Cup and a national referendum.

Fans wore their green team jerseys all over the city, whether they attended the match or not. Seven hours before kickoff, animated discussions were already under way on television. Newspapers carried headlines like “D-Day” and “Zero Hour.” Psychics were brought in to predict the outcome.

As the Americans left their hotel two hours before kickoff, they were greeted by Mexican supporters holding their hands aloft — five fingers spread on one hand, the fist closed on the other, a reference to the 5-0 Gold Cup victory.

Azteca throbbed like a beehive with the buzz of plastic horns from the moment the American goalkeepers appeared for warm-ups. Later, the horns attempted to drown out the United States’ national anthem.

But it was a fragile, nervous confidence. Javier Aguirre, the Mexican coach, had hoped for an early goal, to calm Mexico’s players and its supporters. Instead, the opposite happened.

In the ninth minute, Landon Donovan played a crisp pass from midfield to the left wing, hitting Davies in stride. Davies’s speed and determination had been impressive at the Confederations Cup; this time he struck the ball sharply from 12 yards inside the right post, giving the United States a 1-0 advantage. The next sound was 105,000 people growing silent and alarmed.

Never before had the Americans taken a lead at Azteca, whose mystique is as imposing as its 7,200-foot altitude. Only once had Mexico lost a World Cup qualifying match here. Davies ran to the corner flag and began dancing, until he was whisked away by his teammate Michael Bradley as debris was hurled from the stands.

Many wondered whether the crowd would turn on Mexico’s players if they fell behind, or whether a sense of despair would overtake Azteca. Neither happened as the American advantage proved as brief as it was rare.

“Despite falling behind, we maintained calm and order and hope,” the Mexican defender Efraín Juárez said.

Ten minutes later, Donovan was stripped at midfield and Israel Castro rocketed a shot from 30 yards, the ball hitting the crossbar and ricocheting into the goal, drawing Mexico even at 1-1 in the 19th minute.

The second half became a chess match of substitutions as players began to tire. The reserve midfielder Stuart Holden sent a beautiful cross into the penalty area, just beyond Davies’s reach. Tempers grew short as Davies fell to the ground with cramps. The Mexican players apparently thought he was stalling. Pushing ensued.

As the end neared, the United States felt assured of at least a tie, a worthy outcome. But with eight minutes remaining, Donovan hesitated slightly on defense and Juárez dribbled past him in the penalty area.

Jay DeMerit rushed over and made a slide tackle, and the ball popped free to Sabah, who roofed it from 10 yards for the deciding goal. For a moment, Mexico could forget about its ailing economy, swine flu epidemic and barbarous drug wars. The archrival Americans had been vanquished.

“Where are you now, gringos? Where are you now?” Carlos Alatorre, a Mexican supporter, sang with his friends on a ramp outside the stadium.

“This is the most important thing we’ve ever done against the U.S.,” Alatorre said.

Costa Rica leads the six-team group with 12 points despite its 4-0 loss to Honduras on Wednesday night. Honduras and the United States are tied with 10 points, and Mexico is another point back, with only the top three qualifying automatically.

A spot in the World Cup is not guaranteed, but for a day, the crisis in Mexican soccer faded into relieved merriment. Even Aguirre could allow himself a moment of satisfaction.

“We can take two tequilas tonight,” he said.

The order has held. Mexico still owns Azteca.

Sports of The Times

A Line Was Drawn at Estadio Azteca

By GEORGE VECSEY

Published: August 12, 2009
They would not give up their domination of their region, not in their home, not to the Americans. To a sports fan, sitting back and watching, it was admirable, the way the Mexican team regrouped, facing the disaster of a loss in Estadio Azteca.

Dario Lopez-Mills/Associated Press

Cuauhtémoc Blanco has been the spirit of the Mexican team.

No matter what comes later in the struggle to get back to the next World Cup, Mexico has salvaged its considerable pride in never, ever losing at home to the team from up north.

This was not a matter of good guys and bad guys — although maybe some in Azteca thought it was, remembering old injustices. In sheer soccer sense, it was a matter of Mexico’s professionals remembering how to come back against the United States’ professionals, how to use all the advantages of their home field, giving up the first goal and resolutely coming back to win, 2-1, on Wednesday in a qualifying match for the 2010 World Cup.

This was how it looked via good old Telemundo and good old mun2, two cable stations benevolently supplied by good old Cablevision and the good old Dolans. (Anybody who furnishes soccer to my household deserves the good old treatment.) And there on Telemundo was good old Andres Cantor. Gol!!! Indeed.

From virtual sea level, I knew all about the thin and stinging air of Azteca, having covered the World Cup of 1986 when I ran in Chapultepec Park and wheezed for weeks. It’s a hard place — 105,000 fans, over 7,000 feet above sea level, but nothing is tougher than Mexican resolve to stand up to the Americans.

Don’t lose here. That counted more than the environment or even a few dubious calls by the referee who let Mexico’s aggression pay off and penalized America’s aggression early enough to make a difference. Not that the calls were intentional, but the yellow cards on Oguchi Onyewu and Jay DeMerit within the first half hour had to inhibit them to some slight degree for the next hour.

And really, what is soccer, but slight degrees, paying off in one joyous surge? As it turned out, the United States had already played its best game of the year in beating a weary and perhaps uninspired Spain, 2-0, in the Confederations Cup in South Africa in June. In that epic victory, the Yanks made dozens and dozens of minute interventions to stop the highest-rated team in the world. This time form prevailed. Mexico was home.

The United States stunned Mexico early in the match. Coach Bob Bradley had made precisely the right decision, starting Charlie Davies instead of Jozy Altidore. Davies’s energy and will are infectious; he took a perfect diagonal pass from Landon Donovan and outran and outmuscled two defenders to put the Americans ahead in the ninth minute.

Some fans stopped blowing those infernal horns (that really ought to be banned for the World Cup, for the sanity of millions of viewers). Suddenly, the air was getting thinner in Azteca. But Mexico was saved by a man who bears the name of Mexican resistance.

Cuauhtémoc Blanco is named for the nephew of Montezuma, who stood up to the Spanish invaders when they came to take over the land. Cuauhtémoc was ultimately hanged by Cortes in Honduras, but his name has been given to a lumpy but fierce old warrior with almost no neck, whose head seems to droop somewhere down around his chest.

Blanco, 36, has been the spirit of the El Tri, the tricolored national team, for many years, sometimes discarded by one coach or another in one youth movement or another. Now he plays in the Mexican stronghold of Chicago, probably the most productive and motivated foreign elder ever imported by Major League Soccer. He played 90 minutes for the Fire on Sunday night and flew south, to the place of the thin air.

Don’t give in. That’s the message Cuauhtémoc exuded after the Conquistadors arrived in 1519, and that is the message Blanco provided Wednesday. Seeing himself surrounded by American defenders, he reasoned, with the wisdom of his age, that somebody else was free. He issued a subtle toe-poke pass to his right, to Israel Castro, who blasted a long-range goal over Tim Howard in the 19th minute. Oddly enough, the fans regained their wind and the horns came back.

Blanco gave them 56 minutes in the afternoon sun, and then retired for the day. In the 82nd minute, Efraín Juárez whirled past Donovan and centered the ball toward Miguel Sabah, a late sub, who put it past Howard. Mexico has now won 23 times against the Yanks at home, with one draw.

The United States still has a good chance of qualifying, but is now only 1 point ahead of Mexico, tied with Honduras and 2 points behind Costa Rica. (Only the top three teams automatically advance.)

The Americans did not play badly, at all. The decision to train at sea level was not a factor. Davies had to be replaced by Altidore, apparently because of cramps, five minutes before the decisive goal. Howard made several excellent saves but did not get high enough for Castro’s shot, which dipped and hit the underside of the bar.

The United States was not outclassed, as it used to be in Azteca. It merely lost, in a brutally tough place, to a team with enough pride to hold on. The order has held. Mexico still owns Azteca.

E-mail: geovec@nytimes.com