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USA clinches Group A with Gaven penalty kick

Sun 16th, March 2008

Tampa, FL (Sports Network) - The U.S. Under-23 Men's National Team clinched the top spot in Group A on Saturday as Eddie Gaven converted a penalty kick deep into stoppage time to give the USA a 1-0 win over Honduras.

With the win, the Americans will meet the second-place team from Group B on Thursday. That group will be decided on Sunday when Guatemala takes on Canada and Mexico meets Haiti.

Guatemala is already assured of a spot in the semifinals but the other place is up for grabs. Haiti leads the way with three points, while both Mexico and Canada have only one point and must win their respective games to have a chance at advancing.

USA head coach Peter Nowak sat a number of players who had started the first two games, including Jozy Altidore, Dax McCarty, Nathan Sturgis and captain Maurice Edu.

However, they once again dominated play throughout most of the match, but much like the first two games of the competition, they failed to take advantage of their opportunities.

The games was scoreless into the second half but a golden chance arose in the 62nd minute when Charlie Davies was pulled down inside the area by Oscar Morales. Davies then picked himself up and attempted to finish the play that he started, however he smacked his spot kick wide of the target.

Almost five minutes into stoppage time the Americans had one last chance to break the scoreless deadlock and Davies helped to atone for his earlier miss by getting onto the other end of a Patrick Ianni through ball and drawing a second penalty kick when he was brought down from behind by Honduras defender Quiarol Arzu.

This time it was Gaven who stepped to the spot and he made no mistake, sending the keeper the wrong way to secure the win just before the final whistle.

"We showed spirit and pushed for a win," said head coach Peter Nowak. "It's not like the penalty kicks come from thin air or someone gives it to you as a present. I think the boys worked hard on the field and you have to give them credit."

Despite the loss, Honduras will advance to the semifinals as well on Thursday and will meet the winner of Group A.

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