DALLAS – The United States Men’s National Team (USMNT) without any complications have advanced to the final of the 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup. With their 3-1 victory over Honduras in the semifinals the USMNT will now fight for half a ticket into the next FIFA Confederations Cup.

Right from the opening kickoff the Stars and Stripes controlled the game and only took ten minutes before they opened up the scoring. Eddie Johnson who joined the squad after the group phase was the one in charge of giving the U.S. the lead. In stead of receiving a ground pass with his back to the goal, Johnson let the ball roll to Landon Donovan and made a run up the field. Donovan hit a first time pass to Johnson who had a rather easy finish in front of the goalkeeper.

Donovan himself would double the lead for USMNT in the 26th minute after a huge error by Honduras defenders. On a long pass the defense allowed the ball to bounce, Alejandro Bedoya took advantage of this bounce and got his body in between the ball and Honduran defender, Bedoya sent in the cross to where Donovan controlled the ball with his chest and with his toes hit the ball into the bottom corner of the goal.

Honduras had a strong reaction early in the second half and pulled within one in the 51st minute. Nery Medina jumped up had put in a solid header after a free kick to make the game 2-1.

The joy did not last long for the Central Americans. Not even 60 seconds after their goal Landon Donovan once again showed up to retake the two goal lead. On another long pass in which the Honduras defense could not handle, Bedoya got to the ball and sent in the cross to where Donovan only had to tap in for the third goal of the night.

From that point on USMNT decided to manage the time and the score. Head coach Jurgan Klinsmann decided to sub out some of his key player to save them for the final; players like Landon Donovan and Kyle Beckerman.

With two minutes to go in the game a key decision by center referee Walter Quesada came in. After rough challenge by a Honduran player on DaMarcus Beasley that was not called, Klinsmann got angry and screamed out at the referee. Quesada then decided to eject Klinsmann from the match which now means he won’t be able to attend the championship game on Saturday.

The USMNT will now head to Chicago where they will play the final against the winner of the Mexico vs Panama match to be played at the conclusion of this game. Without a doubt the Americans will be the heavy favorites to win the trophy on Saturday no matter who their rival is.

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jonny.rico@sandiegored.com (@jonyrico)