USMNT x HONDURAS
Jordan Siebatcheu's diving header one minute from time lifted the US men's national team to a 1-0 win over Honduras in the Concacaf Nations League Semifinals Thursday night at Empower Field, and what a nervy night it was. The USMNT would advance to the Nations League Final on Sunday, where they will face rivals Mexico for the inaugural cup's final.
Thanks to Siebatcheu's 89th-minute winner, the USMNT will reach the championship game without the complications of a penalty kick shootout unlike Mexico's game later in the same night. Weston McKennie would head a ball into space after a John Brooks' chip placed the ball into the box, and Siebatcheu was there to meet it and put a diving header past Honduran goalkeeper Luis Lopez from the edge of the six-yard box for the winner.
The USMNT's night could have been made easier if they had capitalized on a pair of high-quality chances in the first 45 minutes. Gio had the USMNT's first chance, darting through two Honduran defenders before attempting to shoot a low shot that went just wide of the far post in the 10th minute. Later on, Josh Sargent latched onto a cross and headed on goal, forcing Luis Lopez into save to keep the game level.
In the 27th minute, however, Sargent came up huge defensively with a headed clearance off the line off a Honduran attempt on goal. Second-half chances were scarce, and just as it appeared that the teams would line up for a PK shootout, Siebatcheu came up with the late drama.
All eyes now turn to Sunday when the classic rivalry will once again be center stage between these to soccer powerhouses.
[Photography by ICONIC photographer Matt Trappe]