Team USA Is Headed to Brazil
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Jamie Sabau/Getty Images(COLUMBUS, Ohio) — The U.S. men’s soccer team is headed to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
The Americans shutout Mexico 2-0 Tuesday night and then watched as Honduras tied Panama 3-3, sending Team USA to the World Cup for the seventh straight time.
“I’m proud of this team,” U.S. midfielder Landon Donovan said. “I’m proud to be a part of it. These guys put in a lot of hard work over the last two years. To have an opportunity in front of a crowd like this is pretty special.”
The Americans started the scoring in the 49th minute when Eddie Johnson headed the ball past Mexican goalie Jesus Corona.
Donovan added the second goal in the 78th minute when he tipped in Mix Diskerud’s crossing pass.
After the game, the U.S waited for the result of the Honduras/Panama matchup. The Americans needed either a Honduras tie or win to send them to the World Cup. Honduras let up a goal in stoppage time, but that only tied the contest as the Americans secured their World Cup berth.
“You get so tense in qualifying,” U.S. goalie Tim Howard said when talking about waiting for the Honduras result. “There’s a semifinal round, there’s a final round. Every result is tight…You can never let your hair down and just relax. That was kind of the finish line for us (Honduras tie). It’s hard work and although we qualified for however many World Cups in a row it’s never a given…It’s expected but it’s never a given. So when you finally can do it you can just exhale and it was sweet.”
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