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Mexico's Francisco Palecia celebrates after scoring - Source: Reuters -
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Mexico cruised into the World Cup finals and the United States
battled their way to a spot in South Africa in CONCACAF qualifying
on Sunday, leaving Costa Rica and Honduras to scrap it out for the
third automatic place.
Mexico, inspired by 36-year-old Cuauhtemoc Blanco, crushed El
Salvador 4-1 in front of over 100,000 fans at the Azteca
stadium.
The United States, who trailed 1-0 in Honduras, had an unlikely
match-winner in forward Conor Casey, who struck twice as Bob
Bradley's team came from behind to win 3-2 at Honduras.
Honduras striker Carlos Pavon had a night to forget as he blasted
an 87th minute penalty over the bar and then minutes later headed
wide from a great position.
Honduras face the possibility of finishing fourth and having to
play off against the fifth-placed team in South America - currently
Uruguay - after Costa Rica moved into the third automatic spot with
a 4-0 rout of eliminated Trinidad and Tobago.
With one round of games to go, the United States lead on 19 points,
with Mexico on 18, Costa Rica on 15 and Honduras on 13.
In Thursday's final matches, Costa Rica face the United States in
Washington DC while Honduras must travel to El Salvador in a
fixture that will evoke memories of their 1969
qualifier.
That game, and the political issues surrounding the two countries
at the time, led to an armed conflict between them known as "The
Football War".
Honduras, who have a better goal difference than Costa Rica, must
win in San Salvador and hope that Costa Rica fail to pick up three
points in the United States.
Decision justified
Mexico have no need for calculators after completing their
turnaround after three defeats from their opening four
qualifiers.
The decision to replace Sven Goran Eriksson after three qualifiers
with Javier Aguirre has been justified with a tremendous run-in of
five wins in a row.
The latest win came after an own goal from El Salvador defender
Marvin Gonzalez gave the Mexicans a one-goal lead at the break
before Blanco, a pre-match injury doubt, turned on the
style.
The forward made it 2-0 by finishing off a beautiful flowing move
and then substitute Francisco Palencia made it 3-0 with a fierce
strike in the 84th minute.
A rocket free-kick from Julio Martinez pulled one back for El
Salvador but Mexico restored their three-goal advantage a minute
from the end through Carlos Vela.
Honduras were on top in the first half in a red-hot atmosphere in
San Pedro Sula and got their reward a minute after the break
through a superb free-kick from Julio Cesar de Leon.
However, they were stunned by three goals in 17 minutes from the
United States.
First Casey, surprisingly chosen to start by coach Bob Bradley,
headed an equaliser when he outjumped keeper Noel Valladares after
Charlie Davies had flicked on a long ball.
Then Landon Donovan split the Honduran defence and Casey showed a
cool touch to convert, before a Donovan free-kick made it
3-1.
Honduras got back into the game through a close-range effort from
De Leon in the 79th minute, but Pavon wasted a golden chance to
earn a point when he blasted a penalty high over Tim Howard's
crossbar.
Costa Rica, who had lost their last three games, had no trouble
against bottom-placed Trinidad, Alvaro Saborio scoring twice in a
comfortable win at the Saprissa stadium.
