Passion

It certainly wasn't warm at Soldier Field on Saturday night - especially considering it was an evening in June. But the stadium was full of fire when the United States took on Honduras in front of more than 55,000 people.

I was among the second largest crowd to ever watch a U.S. World Cup qualifying match and it was absolutely fantastic. While Honduran fans outnumbered U.S. probably 20 or 30 to one, it created an electric atmosphere in the stadium. Before the game a giant Honduran flag, one spanning the entire height of the end zone section, was passed back and forth. Horns blew, drums beat, fans cheered. It was incredible to be a part of it.

Then the game started and it was some of international soccer at its best. Honduras got a goal early in the game with some beautiful passing in their offensive third. Less than five minutes in the Americans already found themselves down. After losing 3-1 to Costa Rica the doubts had to slip into the U.S. players' minds.

But they seemed to feed off the frenetic crowd. "Sam's Army" the largest concentrated group of American fans were situated right behind the goal the Americans attacked for the entire first half. They battered the Honduran net with great offensive opportunities time and time again. Goalkeeper Noel Valladares made some outstanding plays on his own end line, including one time he punched a perfect cross away.

But last in the half the Americans finally broke through. After a penalty in the box Landon Donovan converted the free kick. We had a perfect angle to watch him put the ball low to the right to tie the game at one.

The second half brought more cheering and more celebrating for the Americans. A header by Carlos Bocanegra gave the U.S. a 2-1 lead in the 68th minute. It was a tense 22-plus minutes after that as the Hondurans continually picked intelligent times to counter-attack. Their speed on the wings appeared to bother the American defenders at times. Two clears off the end line kept the Hondurans off the scoreboard.

And then it was all over. The United States was victorious. In the end it was the people in red, the minority crowd, cheering on their home team victors. As Donovan and others came over to thank the crowd and we made our way back to the El, it was wonderful to hear chats of "U-S-A, U-S-A." For a night it seemed like 55,000 plus people in Chicago really cared about soccer.

Last night brought out the best in international soccer. If you ever get the chance to attend a game I'd certainly recommend it. Saturday night showed what kind of atmosphere can be produced by a raucous fan base. Who cares the crowd in the stadium was over 75 percent Honduran? I sure didn't while high-fiving those American fans around me after both goals.

I do feel for the Honduran fans though. While Chicago is known for having a large Latino population, the fans weren't just from the Windy City. Hondurans traveled from places like Houston, Texas and New York to see last night's game. It shows the passion their country has for soccer. Passion that Americans could certainly use to learn.

Note: The United States is now 3-1-1 and two points behind Costa Rica for first place in the final round of CONCAF qualifying for the World Cup in South Africa in 2010.

Photo from PicApp.