Luis Palma roofed an unlikely goal early in second-half stoppage time to hand Honduras a 2-1 victory over Curacao and lock up the country’s place in the knockout stage of the CONCACAF Gold Cup on Tuesday in San Jose, Calif.
After a series of headers that moved the ball jaggedly through Honduras’ attacking third, the ball came to the feet of Carlos Pineda as Palma made a quick break toward the outside of the Curacao defensive line. Palma received Pineda’s pass and shot it on the run past Curacao goalkeeper Eloy Room.
Jorge Alvarez also scored and Edrick Menjivar made three saves for Honduras (2-1-0, 6 points), which finished one point behind Canada for second place in Group B.
Alvarez was given some space with the ball outside the penalty arc in the 32nd minute, and he fired in a great goal to give Honduras the lead.
Curacao (0-1-2, 2 points) scored in the 42nd minute on an own goal by Menjivar. Curacao finished third in the group.
–Field Level Media
