FULL TIME: That's it for now. Will I try this again? Maybe for one or both of the US games, but probably not for any more of the neutral games unless it's a particularly scintillating matchup. We'll see, I guess.
FULL TIME: Chile have won it 1-0. Well deserved, certainly, but Honduras were extremely poor and Chile should have scored more goals. Fortunately for them, the most likely situation in which GD will matter for them would be up against Switzerland, and the Swiss are not exactly known for their high-powered offense.
94': Gonzalez pushes the ball to goal again, and the whistle blows as Valladares collects it.
93': Honduras take a quick corner and nothing comes of it. Chile break and have 4-on-3 for a minute before Gonzalez curls it over the bar.
92': Just like that, it's finally given: three minutes. Meaning Honduras has one more.
92': Was it ever announced how much added time there was?
91': Gonzalez fires wide left. Honduras might want to try getting the ball at some point.
91': Harkes notes that we can't totally judge Chile based on this because "it is against Honduras." Yeah, pretty much.
90': Welcome takes a shot from the top of the box but it's not especially close. Honduras have about three minutes to somehow find an equalizer.
89': Fernandez is unmarked at the top of the box but the ball runs off his foot.
88': Sanchez goes down under contact, looks up at the ref, winces and grabs himself, then looks up again to make sure there was a whistle. This is why people hate soccer, you guys. Knock it off.
87': Valdivia finally comes off for a sub.
86': Healey and Harkes invoke New Zealand's late goal to draw Slovakia. Honduras, inspired by this pep talk, get the ball into the box but Bravo collects easily.
84': A Honduran fan in the crowd clasps her hands together and rocks back and forth. Sorry, lady; Chile's fans already prayed and you can't both win.
83': A header from Medel is just wide, but he's offsides anyway. Chile have hardly dropped back, possibly because Honduras have never shown a reason to worry about their attack.
81': Chile have more than 30 touches in the Honduran box and Honduras have one in the Chilean box, according to Healey. Sounds about right. Chile actually make a substitution.
80': Anyway, that would be 48 years between World Cup wins for Chile, which would pass the old record of 44 years by the United States. Sanchez goes for goal but his shot from 20+ yards goes well wide.
79': I don't think Honduras has spent more than a few minutes even in the Chilean half since the break.
78': Honduras put in Walter Martinez as their final sub. ESPN lists him at 5'5".
77': A free kick bounces around but Valladares is able to collect.
75': Chile almost score again, but Valladares makes a save, Sanchez appears to handle the rebound, and then Valdivia puts it in but is offsides.
75': Chile hasn't won a World Cup game since 1962, the year they hosted.
73': Usually this stuff evens up a bit, but with less than 20 minutes to play, Chile still has two-thirds of the possession. Chile has another couple chances, but a shot is blocked and Isla's header goes well wide.
72': Valdivia limps off but doesn't seem to be getting substituted just yet. Honduras attempt to build on the man advantage but a header into the box is collected by Bravo. Still don't think Honduras have touched the ball in the Chilean box.
71': I still don't think Honduras touched that one in the box. The ball deflects off Ponce's elbow, but no handball call, which I think is right. Jorge Valdivia picks up a random cramp and we get a break in the action.
70': After a nice move, Palacios wins a corner.
69': Chile almost score again but for a last-second tackle by Hendry Thomas. Honduras almost touch it in the Chilean box 30 seconds later, but it's cleared.
68': Healey and Harkes talk about the US-Slovenia game, and how Slovenia's win over Algeria makes the US feel they have to beat Slovenia. Sure, but they really should have felt that way already. You don't want to go into a game like that thinking a draw is cool. In a related story, I had a dream last night that Slovenia won all three games in the group. Let's hope it was something I ate.
67': Honduras control the ball for about 20 seconds and then lose it out of bounds. I could probably just copy and paste this.
65': English football-ism: "asking questions." As in, "Chile have been asking most of the questions today." The main question being "Man, how much does Honduras suck?"
64': Valladares makes an incredible save on a header from about six feet. Ponce is kicking himself that he couldn't bang that in.
63': Welcome flops goofily by stumbling backwards over a Chilean but gets the foul call. Does this count as getting into the Chilean box? Honduras gets right to the edge but it's an offsides call.
62': Taking bets on the next time Honduras actually gets the ball into the Chilean box. Meanwhile, Sanchez makes a run and then rolls it just wide left of the Honduran goal.
61': Not only is Chile much more threatening, their attacks are a lot prettier.
60': Pavon is substituted, with Georgie Welcome coming on. That's a fun name.
58': Healey says of a Chilean player, "It's a real mystery why he hasn't reproduced his South American form in Europe." I don't even know who he's talking about, but I promise you it is not that much of a mystery.
57': Sanchez gets stepped on in the box, but the ref misses it. It was probably unintentional anyway.
56': Nothing doing on the header, but Chile regroup yet again.
55': Sanchez abuses Espinoza and then gets taken down, earning a free kick from the right side, maybe 24 yards out.
54': Healey references Honduras' MLS connections yet again. Given how bad they've looked, I probably wouldn't keep talking about that.
53': Valladares must have an awful goal kick, as Figueroa takes another.
52': Another good chance from Chile, though it's eventually called for offsides as it falls to the last man.
50': Chile take the corner shot but can't fire the ball through a scrum. Pavon ends up on the ground in the box, apparently hurting himself on the clearance. Chile are forced to start over from back in their end.
48': Beausejour almost has an open shot at goal, but Figueroa just gets in the way with a challenge that sends Beausejour sprawling. There's going to be a penalty at some point if this keeps up. Sanchez then gets the ball taken away in the box but wins a corner for Chile.
47': Honduras seem to want a penalty, but Medel does get a touch on the ball. Very risky challenge but it paid off, as another Honduran attack is stifled.
46': Honduras, like New Zealand, are making their second appearance and first since 1982. Right now they look a lot worse than New Zealand.
HALF: I make it back from the shower with a couple minutes to spare, as the Chilean team comes back out to the field. Are soccer halftimes short or do I just spend that much time in the shower? On second thought, don't answer that.
HALF: Certainly a deserved 1-0 lead for Chile. For CONCACAF's sake, I'd love to see Honduras do anything in the second half, as the team that showed up in the first half is going out of this tournament without a point.
45': Not a bad kick from Nunez; Bravo has to tip it over. After the ensuing corner is deflected away, the first half whistle blows. Figures that it would happen right as Honduras was getting anything going.
45': A goal kick is taken by someone other than a goalie, as Figueroa boots it out for Honduras. Once again, I don't think I've ever seen that happen before. Honduras end up with a free kick 30ish yards out.
43': A graphic shows us that Chile has a 63-37 possession edge, and Healey confirms that Honduras have not touched the ball in the Chilean box yet. Chile get into Honduras' box again, and Honduras gets lucky with an inadvertent handball that is not called.
42': Honduras yet again gets something going, but can't get it into the box as a pass in Pavon's direction falls short and Chile goes back the other way. Valdivia springs Beausejour but Honduras clear his cross for a throw-in.
40': Beausejour's father is Haitian, and was in Haiti for the earthquake. Lots of earthquakes in that family.
39': Nunez takes a shot from outside the box, but it's not particularly close. Honduras have yet to really get a good chance.
38': A deep ball, but the Chilean forward is just a little offsides.
37': Chile nearly score another. Honduras' defense is starting to break down a bit.
34': GOAL! The ball is sent across the face of goal, and Beausejour is credited with it although the replay makes it look like Mendoza, the Honduran defender, had a lot to do with the ball going in. Still, Chile deserve the lead here.
33': Wilson Palacios is booked despite not seeming to do anything. The ref is not having the greatest of games, it must be said.
32': Chile break, then are stopped; Honduras break in response and are stopped; Chile break again. Somewhat exciting even if none of the breaks do so much as get into the area.
30': The South African fans have organized some sort of vuvuzela-playing conga line.
29': Ramon Nunez of Honduras dives horribly and gets the foul call. He sort of looks like a young Sammy Sosa.
27': Chile kick the ball out of bounds while Pavon rolls around on the ground. After throwing it in, Honduras look for a second like they aren't just going to give it back, which I don't think I've ever seen. The Chilean defender blocks the ball and then Honduras push it to Chile.
25': US defender Jonathan Bornstein is apparently a huge fan favorite in Honduras because he scored the goal against Costa Rica that allowed Honduras to qualify for the World Cup ahead of the Costa Ricans. Meanwhile, Vidal blasts a header over the goal off a corner.
23': Adrian Healey says the game has "the aroma of goals about it" despite being so far goalless. I guess?
22': Claudio Bravo grabs the corner easily and then sets up an attack with a long punt. Valdivia eventually gets a shot off that deflects out for a Chilean corner. Sanchez falls down while attempt to shoot from 20 yards and the ball goes out for a goal kick.
20': Honduras again manage to organize a counterattack and earn a corner after a long shot goes off the back of a Chilean defender.
19': Chile's Fernandez gets booked for a slightly rash challenge.
18': ...and nothing doing. It's a bit high/long. Honduras get on the break and then Pavon finds himself wide open about 25 yards from goal, but he hits it weakly wide left.
17': Chile win a corner...
16': Good tackle by Mendoza of Honduras to take the ball away from Beausejour near the touchline.
15': Honduras get the ball through the box for the first time, but it's not threatening.
14': Adrian Healey informs us that there is an iPhone app that makes the vuvuzela sound, just in case you're trying to figure out a way to be a complete asshole to everyone you know.
13': Valdivia overhits a slotted pass into the area and Beausejour can't catch up with it. Again, we've seen this a lot, although I'm not sure you can blame the ball when the pass is along the ground.
12': Honduras start to come forward, then lose the ball after kicking it around the midfield. They look pretty bad so far.
11': Another long ball by Chile goes well past its intended target. Honduras gives it back to them rather quickly.
10': Fact of the day: Chile calls their coach "The Madman."
9': A couple of nice backheel passes between the Chileans, but the ball goes out off Honduras. Seconds later, Vidal fires a shot from distance that Valladares juggles, but no other Chilean was nearby.
6': Chile gets a free kick from the right side of the field about ten yards out. They're dominating the game early; Honduras hasn't had the ball for more than about 15 seconds at a time. The kick fails, but Chile get a shot on goal out of it, albeit a weak one.
4': Chile gets its first corner but nothing much comes of it. Honduras attempts to break, but Carlos Carmona trips the Honduran and gets a yellow card for his trouble.
3': Fernandez comes close to putting the free kick in; the crowd cheers as it looks for a second like it goes in.
2': Valdivia is challenged by Wilson Palacios and goes down clutching his face after being nudged in the back. Oh good.
1': Chile starts with a long ball that, of course, overruns everyone and goes out for a Honduran goal kick. If the Jabulani is really having an effect, this is it, for me.
6:30 am: The captains greet each other warmly. ESPN shows us the formations; Chile appears to be in a 4-3-3, while Honduras looks to be in something like a 4-2-3-1.
6:28 am: Let's do this.
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