USA point 'huge', says Arena
United States head coach Bruce Arena was pleased after his side salvaged a draw away to Honduras, with either side a possible Australia opponent in the play-off.
Bruce Arena expressed his pride after United States rescued a "huge" point against Honduras in its quest for an eighth consecutive FIFA World Cup berth.
Substitute Bobby Wood equalised in the 85th minute as Arena's side salvaged a late 1-1 draw away to Honduras in CONCACAF World Cup qualifying.
United States struggled in the warm conditions and its qualification hopes looked set to take another blow after last week's loss to Costa Rica when Romell Quioto gave the Hondurans a 27th-minute lead.
But with time running out, Wood smashed home the equaliser as United States retained the third and final automatic berth, albeit on goal difference ahead of Honduras with two matches remaining.
The fourth placed team, which could be United States or Honduras after Panama took back third spot with a 3-0 win over Trinidad and Tobago.
"Getting a point was huge for us," Arena said. "I am proud of how we battled.
"They were tough conditions. With two games remaining we have everything to play for."
Arena added: "Qualification is not assured. We have to do a lot to be there.
"There is still a lot of games to be played, nothing is set. USA must continue to win to achieve our goal."
"It was tough. Lots of credit to [Honduras] – they made it tough," USA forward Jordan Morris said.
"The conditions were obviously difficult. But I think it shows the mentality of our team. We knew that we had to get a result down here and credit to Bobby, he came in and scored a nice goal, but as a team I think we worked really hard the whole game … a point is big for us down here."
