Fitzgerald Cecilio

San Pedro Sula, Honduras

Jerry Bengtson scored a go-ahead goal late in the second half as Honduras capitalized on its home field advantage to top the United States, 2-1, in Wednesday's FIFA World Cup qualifying match at San Pedro Sula.

Bengtson, who played professional football for the New England Revolution of the MLS, broke a 1-1 deadlock after slotting in a wonderful goal in 79th minute mark.

The Honduras-United States match got off to a furious start with both teams having several opportunities to score goals. Finally, Clint Dempsey recorded his first goal of the night in the 36th minute mark. However, Honduras countered four minutes later with a magnificent score from Juan Garcia to tied things up before halftime.

The action became more physical in the second half, which saw a majority of the game's 22 penalties and 42 bone-crunching tackles. Nevertheless, the home team proved to be a hard nut to crack on their home field and its resilience eventually paved way to a go-ahead goal by Bengtson.

The Yanks painstakingly tried to pull off a draw but the Honduras defense stood firm until the final whistle.

Honduras, which fired four of its 12 shot attempts on goal, took the top spot on the leaderboard with three points while the USA suffered its first loss in the CONCACAF FIFA World Cup qualifier.