Is it the weakeness of the opponent, their lack of motivation, the pressure of the new Earthquakes' signings or just players coming out of the bench with a great motivation? Or is it just the relaxed atmosphere around this friendly game that allowed San Jose to try things they usually don't? It may be a little bit of everything, but as Frank Yallop said after the game, "it is always good to score. As a friendly, they were not the strongest team that we've faced this year obviously, but it's never easy to find the back of the net and it might give us some confidence too feel a little more comfortable in front of the goal".

The Honduran Olympic team dominated the beginning of the game but seemed to suffer from the Quakes' syndrom: being unable to finish. A solid defense and a good Michael Gustavson kept the Quakes safe and, in the 15th minute, the fireworks started. After Matt Hatzke's shot from the top of the box was poorly cleared by a defender, the ball came to Ned Grabavoy's feet who controlled it and, with a beautiful shot from 30 yards, left no chance to Kevin Hernandez. (1-0, 15th)

The visitors tried to keep the control of the game, but their attacks were lacking determination and the Salinas show then started. After 3 good moves by the Quakes in which he was involved, he finally received a ball far from the goal but with no defender attacking him. Instead of runnning forward to provoke the defenders as he often does, he took a shot with his left foot which was a mirror image of Grabavoy's first goal...With the same result (2-0, 28th)

The Young Honduran players then seemed to be discouraged and the last fifteen minutes of the first half were easily controlled by the Quakes who also created the best situations.

The 2,000 fans of Honduras were expecting a reaction from their team after the break, but their players' mind were already in Beijing and the reaction never came. They totally gave up any ambition and made the end of the game easy for their opponent. Matt Hatzke delivered a corner kick on Kirovski's forehead who perfectly placed the ball in the top right corner of the goal (3-0, 55th). Then, after Kamara' shot was deflected by Hernandez, Kirovski recovered the ball right before it was going into corner, dribled a defender who had followed him, and sent a beautiful cross to Kamara who, this time, put it out of reach of the goalkeeper (4-0, 68th)

This was enough for the Honduran fans who started to leave Buck Shaw. The rest of the game was of no interest. Both teams were happy not to have any players injured and the Earthquakes wanted to believe this result proved they can score goals, even though there were doubts about the real competitiveness of the game.

There are some other good points coming out of this games for the Quakes: Ryan Cochrane returned and seemed to be fit, Shea Salinas showed, once again, that he can really bring something to the team, and Matt Hatzke and Jay Ayres seemed to be solid players and showed Yallop he can rely on them if needed.

Frank Yallop didn't know if his new players would be able to start the game in Toronto on Saturday, but he's hoping this is the start of something: "Maybe it's the start of something", he said. "Maybe the players we've signed have moved some people a little bit, so that's good. Competition is always good in any team. It's gonna put some people under pressure, which is good."

Who knows, this insignificant friendly could turn into a confidence builder and, with new players available, could be an important moment in the San Jose Earthquakes' season!

A man in the match

After the game, Ivan Guerrero stayed a long time locked in the Honduras' locker room with the team that will represent his country in Beijing for the Olympic games. He played the first half with the Earthquakes in an unuasual left full back position and we asked him how it felt to play against his own country and what he told them after the game:

 

 

 

Attendance: 2,200

Goals: Ned Grabavoy (15th), Shea Salinas (28th), Jovan Kirovski (55th, Assist: Matt Hatzke), Kei Kamara (68th, Assist: Jovan Kirovski)

 

Yellow Cards:

SJ: Amir Lowery (Reckless Foul, 57'), Jay Ayres (Professional foul, 64')

Honduras: David Alvarez (Reckless Foul, 84')

Kevin Vance Hernandez
David Alejandro Molina	Quiarol Arzu	Erick Zenon Morales	Oscar Andres Morales
(David Alvarez, 66)
	Eder Geraldo Delgado	Marvin Saul Sanchez (Jorge Carlos, 46th)
Rigoberto Padilla			Jefferson Jair Bernandez (Luis Rene Rodas)
Carlos Alberto Pavon		Ramon Fernando Nunez (Mario Martinez, 61)

Asst: Joel Linn	Ref. Yader Reyes	Asst: Said Ravanfar
4th: Philippe Door

John Cunliffe (Kei Kamara, 67)		Jovan Kirovski
Matt Hatzke	Ramiro Corrales (C.) (Amir Lowery, 46)	Ned Grabavoy	Shea Salinas (Adam Smarte, 67)
Ivan Guerrero (Eric Denton, 46)	Jay Ayres	Ryan Cochrane (Jason Hernandez, 46)	James Riley (Jamil Roberts, 46)
Michael Gustavson

 

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