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CARSON, California - Honduras completed the CONCACAF Olympic qualifying semifinal field, beating Trinidad & Tobago 2-0 Tuesday night to likely earn a knockout round match with Central American rival El Salvador.
Eddie Hernandez scored his second goal of the tournament in the 37th minute and assisted on Antony Lozano's in the 70th to earn "Los Catrachos" a third trip to the semifinals in four tries. Honduras climbed to six points in Group B, same as Mexico (but trailing on goal difference) which played Panama later Tuesday.
Barring a nine-goal victory by Panama, Mexico would finish in first in the group and face Group A runner-up Canada on Saturday in Kansas City, Kansas. Only the knockout-round winners will qualify for the London Olympics.
Defending champion Honduras has won the CONCACAF U-23 title twice before, both times when the tournament was staged in the United States.
Trinidad finished with a second loss and one point, outscored 10-1 in three games.
Honduras hit the bar with Johnny Leveron's shot from the top of the area in the 17th minute and had virtual control of the match until the second half.
The Catrachos went ahead when Wilmer Crisanto curled a cross into the area and Lozano was able to get an extended right foot to it. The ball popped high in the middle of the area and Hernandez was quicker to get his head to it before Trinidad keeper Andre Marchan could react, knocking it lazily into the goal.
Marchan, playing in his third game despite suffering a concussion in the opener on Friday against Mexico, was active throughout fielding chances by Andy Najar, Mario Martinez and Lozano before having to punch Ever Alvarado's shot high over the bar in the 51st.
But Trinidad enjoyed a spell of possession and half chances midway through the second half, with Kevin Molino sending a cross through the goal box in the 61st, shooting over the bar from just outside the area in the 63rd and pulling a left-footed effort wide of the near post in the 65th.
"We give away soft goals every game," Trinidad coach Angus Eve said. "But in saying that, if we take our chances, we ease off the pressure on our defenders. We keep not taking the chances that we create. We created a lot of chances. We brought on two faster strikers (Shahdon Winchester and Trevin Caesar); we started them and it worked to perfection. They were in the back all the time. They were twisting and turning. We just didn't put the ball in the back of the net."
The Soca Warriors' resistance all but ended when Lozano double the lead.
Najar curled a cross from the right that Hernandez headed down from the middle of the area. Lozano settled the ball off his thighs and finished from the edge of the six-yard box.
"We had plenty chances at goal and we took advantage of some," Honduras coach Luis Fernandez Suarez said. "(Trinidad) came out wanting to shoot from outside. We knew we had to show more security coming out of the back and be a bit more calm."
Honduras continued to push to the end, forcing Marchan to push Hernandez's header over the bar in the 90th and Afredo Mejia putting a right-footed shot from the top of the area off the left post in the 91st.
"This was an important game for us against Trinidad because of what it meant, a berth to the next round," Mejia said. "We are getting used to playing in games like this.
"We hope we can continue to play well against El Salvador. That's going to be an up and down game."
Honduras and El Salvador finished atop their respective Central American qualifying groups and will meet for the fourth time at the U-23 level in a competitive match. Honduras has won two of the three previous meetings and drew the other.
