US/Honduras July 8 Gold Cup

[DJ RM]

Everyone wants to jump on the US bandwagon after the Confederations Cup and the 4-0 beatdown of Grenada the other day, but Honduras are no pushovers. The US is putting out an inexperienced lineup again - no Donovan, Dempsey, Gooch, Howard, Bradley, Spectre, etc .... Cherundolo, Feilhaber, Adu, and Davies are they only players with any real first team experience. Altidore could be on the bench but will likely not start.

Honduras is usually considered the 4th best team in CONCACAF behind the US, Mexico, and Costa Rica and has more to play for in terms of bragging rights than the US, since the Gold Cup is meaningless for tourney qualifications this year. They have already beaten Mexico this year and could have beaten the US in WC qualifying in June. That game was in Chicago and the crowd was very Honduras friendly...this one is in DC and could easily be as well - the US tends to have more supportive crowds when playing in smaller cities such as Columbus.

Both teams are tied at the top of their group with 3 points and wouldn't be too distraught with a tie (neither Grenada or Haiti is going to beat either one of these teams).

I'm leaning towards Honduras +1 +110, but the strongest play may well be Under 2.5 -118.

Any thoughts?

[sportsguy04]

Be careful with honduras, like the USA they are using some B squad players also.

http://goal.com/en/news/1884/north-america/2009/07/06/1368599/gold-cup-preview-united-states-honduras

"Much like the U.S. roster, the Honduran squad vying to make its second-ever Gold Cup finals could be considered the country's B-team. Absent are Amado Guevara, Wilson Palacios, and David Suazo. Carlos Costly, who tallied the only score against Haiti, will have to shoulder the scoring load but he'll have a tough time getting through the stout U.S. backline. Second-choice keeper Donis Salatiel Escober will likely be under siege constantly by the U.S.'s high-powered offense and will need to play perfectly to give the Catrachos a chance for the upset"

[DJ RM]

Ah, thanks for the heads up. Not having Wilson Palacios really changes the dynamic for Honduras. Given the relative lack of firepower on the pitch, the under would still seem to be the logical choice, but it's always tough to gauge when there is a 2nd string keeper out there.

I don't know, perhaps this game continues to showcase what is essentially the US "B" team. Adu and Davies are definitely capable but haven't been able to really put it together on the national stage yet. I can't say I know too much about the Honduran defense. Are those still their first stringers?

This match is actually on tv in the states (on fsc) so I gotta have something on it!

[sportsguy04]

Yes best of luck. I think I might go with USA ML. Lot of young guys trying to prove they deserve to be on the national team and get some Playing Time.

[DJ RM]

Wow, the line really moved! It was approximately USA -1 -135 and Honduras +1 +110 earlier.....now it's USA -1 +128, Honduras -1 -161.

Anyone know why? I don't see lineups out yet.

Makes me want to back the US now, which is always preferable anyway. I'm feeling a Freddy Adu throwback kinda night....one that makes us remember why he was so hyped to begin with. The last few years have made it easy to forget he was once the chosen one for USA soccer - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpRkuOwLOO4

[pattymayo]

Ugh I need O 2.5 and an Estuadiantes win to hit a nice four team parlay