SANDY — A beautiful day for soccer in Sandy turned ugly for Real Salt Lake’s own Luis Gil and Boyd Okwuonu along with the rest of the U.S. Men’s U-23 soccer team, as the Americans were defeated by Honduras 2-0 Saturday afternoon in the semifinals of the CONCACAF men’s Olympic qualifiers at Rio Tinto Stadium.
Both Gil and Okwuonu started for the United States. The Americans created their first chance of the match in the 15th minute, as Jerome Kiesewetter’s low cross into the box was clean for Jordan Morris, but the Stanford University forward was met by Honduran goalkeeper Luis Lopez for the block.
Honduras opened the scoring in the 24th minute, as a Kevin Alvarez cross into the box found Alberth Elis, who got around American defender Cameron Carter-Vickers and put the ball past goalkeeper Ethan Horvath for the 1-0 lead.
Anthony Lozano had a chance to make it 2-0 for Honduras in the 28th minute, as a Carter-Vickers mistake led to Lozano with a clear opportunity at goal, but his shot was weak and rolled into the arms of Horvath. Kiesewetter had another shot on goal in the 42nd minute, but Lopez was there to make the close save and keep the U.S. scoreless heading into the half.
At the beginning of the second half, Okwuonu was replaced by Gboly Ariyibi, who had a quality shot at goal that went just high in the 51st minute. Another shot from outside the box came just two minutes later for the U.S., but Dillon Serna’s attempt was wide. Elis had another chance to extend the Honduran lead in the 62nd minute, but his attempt toward the far post went just wide. Gil led a U.S. attack just one minute later, however, his attempted pass to Kiesewetter was too slow and was easily controlled by Honduras.
From the corner kick, the U.S. nearly had the equalizer in the 64th minute. A header by Carter-Vickers was going into the back of the net, but Lopez made a flying save on the goal line to deflect the ball and keep the shutout intact.
A tired Gil was replaced in the 74th minute by Alonso Hernandez; a frustrating afternoon for the RSL midfielder.
Honduras put the match away in the 77th minute, as a lovely play by forward Kevin Lopez set up Elis for the second goal. Lopez was able to get past two U.S. defenders, get inside the box, and find Elis, who curled in a lovely goal toward the far post to pick up the brace, secure Honduras’ place in both Rio 2016 and in the final of the CONCACAF Olympic qualifiers.
The match got ugly shortly after Honduras’ second goal, as both managers, Andreas Herzog for the U.S. and Carlos Tabora for Honduras, were sent off, with Herzog giving the fourth official some parting words before heading into the locker room. It appeared the U.S. got a goal back in the 83rd minute, but the line judge called offside on the play. The American players, bench and fans were furious throughout the last minutes of the match, with the players on the pitch shoving each other on several occasions.
In his post-match press conference, Herzog spoke to the media and stated how the passes weren’t there for the U.S.
“We were not able to execute our game plan,” said Herzog. “Our game plan was to find Luis Gil in the open spot because we had a four-against-three advantage in the midfield. We were not good in the passing game today. Maybe a few players were a little bit too nervous.”
Herzog stated the players were down and sad in the locker room. After the match, Gil and the rest of the U-23 players were visibly disappointed as they walked out toward the team bus.
Honduras will face Mexico, which defeated Canada 2-0 in the second semifinal played on Saturday to also secure an spot in Rio 2016 with the win, in the Olympic qualifiers final this Tuesday night at Rio Tinto Stadium. The U.S. will take on Canada in the third-place match on Tuesday, with the winner moving on to play Colombia in a one-game playoff next March to try and secure a spot in Rio 2016.
Xoel CÀrdenas, MA, is a contributor with Deseret News: Sports. Xoel is also a columnist at Fox Deportes, where he covers FC Barcelona and the UEFA Champions League. Follow him on Twitter @XoelCardenas.