March 29 – Mexico and Honduras make the final qualification list for the rescheduled Tokyo 2020 Olympics to be played this summer.
The two semi-finalists at the Men’s Olympic qualifiers taking place in Mexico overcame North American rivals Canada and the US to book the Concacaf slots in Tokyo. Honduras and Mexico will play off in the Concacaf final (effectively the confederation’s U23 Championship) on Wednesday.
Failure to qualify is a big disappointment for the US men who miss out again on a major international tournament. The US women – still battling with the US federation in an equal pay row – will start their Olympic campaign as favourites for the Gold medal.
With their 2-1 win over the US in Guadalajara, Honduras have now qualified for their fourth straight Olympics.
Honduras secured their win with goals either side of half time from Juan Carlos Obregon and then Luis Palma blocking a pass out by US goalkeeper David Ochoa that agonisingly rolled back into his goal. The US pulled a goal back through Jackson Yueill on 52 minutes but despite increased US pressure the Honduran defense stayed firm.
Mexico qualified for their third consecutive Olympic finals – they won the Olympic Gold medal in London in 2012 – with a 2-0 win over Canada.
It was Mexico’s third clean sheet of the qualifying tournament. Dominating the Canadians for most of the match, Mexico scored through the mercurial Uriel Antuna who has already made an impact at senior level for Mexico, and Johan Vasquez.
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