World Cup 2010

Honduras 2-1 Latvia: Astafjevs Breaks Appearance Record, But Qualified Hondurans Edge Home Win

La Bicolor prevail at home in front of a fine crowd...

Nov 15, 2009 7:59:33 AM

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Carlos Costly - Honduras (Mexsport)

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Honduras 2-1 Latvia

International Friendlies

Honduras' World Cup preparations continue apace following a narrow but deserved win over Latvia in Tegucigalpa.

A crowd of over 30,000 watched Carlos Costly open the scoring and Georgy Welcome net a late winner in a game that also saw Vitaly Astafjevs become the most-capped European player of all time by making his 158th international appearance.

A frenetic start brought no goals, but in fact just as the game started to quieten down, Carlos Costly opened the scoring after getting on the end of a deep cross and jinking past Dzintars Peas to net past Andris Vanins.

But just three minutes later, and on the stroke of half time, Skonto Riga's Vladimir Kolesnicenko netted a penalty after Astafjevs' ball in the box was blocked by a Honduran hand.

Fifteen minutes from time Dzintars received his marching orders, and from there on in the hosts dominated.

Three minutes from time they got their reward as Welcome fired into an empty net after Vanins failed to deal with a cross.

Steve Michaels, Goal.com