The USA continued their fine play of late with a 2-0 win over Honduras in their Gold Cup Group B game in front of 26,000 at RFK Stadium in Washington DC on July 8th. The Americans cemented the win with two goals in the last 15 minutes.

Santino Quaranta scored his first international goal in his first game in over three years for America and then Brian Ching doubled the score on a header just four minutes later. Quaranta took in a short pass from Charlie Davies at the top of the penalty box and slammed in the goal.

“It’s hard to explain how special it is,” Quaranta said. “I was trying to tell myself all day just to enjoy it, but it was difficult.”

Quaranta hasn’t played for his country for a few years, because of admitted drug and alcohol addictions. He currently plays with D.C. United of the MLS and has cleaned himself up all the way to the national team.

“To listen to the anthem was very emotional for me,” Quaranta stated. “It’s been a fun, long road back.”

The USA extended its remarkable streak in Gold Cup group stage games to an overall record of 23-0-1 as they attempt to hold onto their title. They’re well on their way as they sit on top of Group B with six points and play Haiti on July 11th in Foxborough, Mass. A draw there would guarantee them as group champions and a spot in the quarterfinals.

Honduras (1-1) will play against Grenada the same day. Haiti is also 1-1 as they beat Grenada 2-0 in the first game of yesterday’s doubleheader.

The Americans might have thought they were the away team as the majority of the crowd seemed to be Honduran supporters. It was a bit of a physical game with each team receiving two yellow cards and committing 24 fouls between them.

In the other Group B game, Haiti beat Grenada in a wide-open, entertaining affair. Fabrice Noel put Haiti in front early with a goal in the 14th minute. It came off of a free kick by Brunel Fucien and Noel who was in the penalty area deflected it into the back of the net.

James Marcelin then put the final nail in the coffin as he buried a goal in the 78th minute. Marcelin took a pass from Raymond Ednerson, beat a defender at the inside the penalty area, and then neatly beat keeper Desmond Noel. It was a goal that was preventable though as the Grenada defender completely missed the ball as it looked like he was leaving it for the goalie to collect.

Both teams created numerous chances to score and if they could have hit the target, the score could have been quite a bit higher. Each team received two yellows and there were 23 fouls between them. It wasn’t a dirty game, but FIFA really has to sooner or later get the guts to crack down on all of the holding and tugging going on in football. It’s getting ridiculous as players are getting away with more than they do in a rugby match.

It was Haiti’s first Gold Cup win since 2002.

The Gold Cup continued over the weekend with games on July 4th and 5th. The United States, ranked 12th in the world by FIFA and fresh of their Confederations Cup Final loss to Brazil, were in great form as they rendered a 4-0 hammering to Grenada. The score could have been quite a bit higher as they outshot Grenada 25 to 3 in the Group B match.

The Americans fielded a young and somewhat altered lineup to the Confederations Cup squad, but still looked effective and strong on their quest for a third-straight Gold Cup title.

“Today is important to start the Gold Cup the right way,” U.S. coach Bob Bradley stated after the game in Seattle, Washington “It was a really good team effort, four different guys scored tonight, so all things are important.”

Young star Freddy Adu scored the opener pretty early as he hit the back of the net in the seventh minute. He was on the end of a cross from the left wing and beat Grenada goalie Desmond Noel from close to the penalty spot. It was Adu’s second goal only for the US.

Stuart Holden made it 2-0 in the 31st minute. Both goals were set up Robbie Rogers, who also got on the board himself with a goal in the 60th minute. Holden who was making his international debut became the first American to score in his first game since Eddie Robinson scored against Sweden in January 2008. It was Rogers’ first goal and he was playing in only his second game for the US.

Charlie Davies, who is one of the few players who played in the Confederations Cup, got the fourth and final goal in the 68th minute. It was his third at the international level

The American youngsters were definitely a little on the inexperienced side as seven of the starters had a total of 11 international appearances between them and goalie Troy Perkins was playing in just his second game for his country.

Most of the regular starters were left off the 23-man roster so they could head back to their MLS teams or take a break before heading over to European before the new season starts. However, in a strange twist, CONCACAF then decided to allow the Americans to add seven more players to their squad, making it 30. Some of the extra players could be up later on in the tournament.

The Americans have an amazing 22-0-1 in group play in the history of the Gold Cup and see action against Honduras on July 8 in Washington.

The game had a bit of a party atmosphere to it as it was played in front of about 15,000 fans on July 4th, the American Independence Day holiday, which is a huge event for the States.

It is Grenada’s first appearance in the Gold Cup and their third overall match against the Americans. They lost the first two in 2004 in qualifying matches for the 2006 World Cup.

“I didn’t think we passed the ball that well,” Grenada manager Tommy Taylor, a former West Ham defender, said. “I think we got about three or four shots in 90 minutes, and that isn’t enough to win anything. We need to work up and move as a unit, as well as come back as a unit.”

The USA were well on the road to their first ever men’s FIFA tournament win today (June 28th) after they took a 2-0 lead over Brazil in the final of the 2009 Confederations Cup at Ellis Park in Johannesburg, South Africa. However, they made the fatal mistake that most teams do once they get a lead, they simply stopped playing and let the game slip through their fingers as Brazil came back and punished them for it wad walked off the pitch with a 3-2 win after 90 minutes.

Clint Dempsey got the Americans of to a great start as he scored in the 10th minute on their first attack of the game as he bounced a shot past Brazilian keeper Julio Cesar.

Robinho came down left wing in the 13th minute and unleashed low right-footed shot that toward the far low corner, but keeper Tim Howard dove and turned it away with a fine save. Howard also made excellent stops in the 25th and 27th minutes and then Landon Donovan scored his 41st goal for the USA on a lightning-quick counter attack. Donovan slotted home a left footer into the low corner to the left of Cesar after a pass from Charlie Davies and the USA found themselves up 2-0 after just 27 minutes.

Howard made a fine save in the 35th minute and then Luis Fabiano headed over the bar just a few seconds later on the ensuing corner kick. Fabiano then missed a chance to get Brazil on the scoreboard before the half ended as he missed a low cross in injury time.

However Fabiano made amends for it in the first minute of the second half as he drove home a low left footer from edge of the box to make it 2-1. It was obviously the worst thing that could have happened for the Americans and it was a sign of things to come.

Howard made another fine save from a corner in the in 58th min and just a few moments later, Kaka, with a downward header, looked like he had tied the game up, but the ball was pushed out by Howard and off of the crossbar. Television replays couldn’t show if the whole ball definitely crossed the line because of their angles, but it looked like it may have gone in.

Dempsey had a chance to make it 3-1, but his left footer was saved by Cesar in 66th minute. In the 67th, Brazilian manager Dunga made a double substitution as he brought on Elano, and Daniel Alves came on for Andre Santos and Ramires.

That seemed to spark the team and Fabiano beat the offside trap in 70th minute and broke in on Howard, but the keeper came off his line well and made the save.

Brazil finally tied it at 2-2 when Kaka’s close-range shot hit the crossbar and bounced out right to Fabiano, who headed the rebound into the net for his tournament-leading fifth goal in the 74th minute. The inevitable happened just 10 minutes later as Brazilian captain Lucio headed in a corner kick from Elano in the 84th minute for the 3-2 winner and Brazil’s third Confederations Cup title.

The Americans only have themselves to blame as they didn’t continue playing the style that had put them in front 2-0. They failed to attack with any consistency at all in the final 45 minutes and paid the price for it.

In the third-place game, Spain beat hosts South Africa 3-2 in extra time.