7 July 1991 - The Yanks Grab The Gold

On 7 July 1991, the United States won the inaugural CONCACAF Gold Cup, beating Honduras on penalties, 0-0 (4-3).

Played in the Californian cities of Pasadena and Los Angeles, the 1991 Gold Cup included eight teams from North and Central America. As hosts, the US qualified automatically, while Honduras earned their place as runners-up to Costa Rica in the Central American qualifying tournament, the UNCAF Nations Cup.

The teams were split into two groups of four. In Group A, Honduras dropped only a single point thanks to a 1-1 draw with Mexico, but topped the group on goal differential. They then advanced to the final with a win over Costa Rica. Meanwhile, the US won Group B with victories in all three matches, then beat Mexico 2-0 in the semifinal.

The final was played before a crowd of 39,873 at Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles. There, the two teams battled to a scoreless stalemate at the end of extra time to send the match into a penalty shootout. Honduras went into the shootout with their reserve goalkeeper, Wilmer Cruz, who had replaced their starting keeper, Belarmino Rivera, in the 119th minute.

After five kicks each, the teams were level at 2-2, so they moved into sudden death. After seven kicks each, they were still level, with each side having made one and missed one of their intervening kicks. US defender Fernando Clavijo then converted the next attempt--the Americans' eighth--to take the lead. Juan Carlos Espinoza stepped up for Honduras, but rifled his shot over the bar as the US claimed the victory.

It was the first major trophy for the US, who have since won the tournament a total of four times. Honduras, who won the CONCACAF Championship in 1981, have yet to return to the Gold Cup Final.

14 July 1969 - The Football War Breaks Out

On 14 July 1969, the army of El Salvador launched an attack on Honduras, beginning the four-day conflict known as the Football War.

Tensions between the neighboring states had been rising for years, particularly over concerns about immigration and land reform. Geographically, Honduras is five times larger than El Salvador, but at the time, El Salvador's population was twice as large as that of Honduras. The combination led to the immigration of over 300,000 Salvadorans into Honduras by 1969. In 1962, in response to economic and political pressure, Honduras began a program of land reform that, by 1967, had resulted in expulsion of thousands of Salvadoran immigrants from Honduras and redistributing their land to Honduran citizens.

Thus, when the two nations met during qualification for the 1970 World Cup, the matches were charged with political emotion. The first leg was played in Tegucigalpa on 8 June 1969, with the Honduran side claiming a 1-0 victory. On 15 June, El Salvador won the second leg 3-0 in the city of San Salvador. Riots broke out before and after the match, resulting in the deaths of at least three Salvadorans. On 26 June, the teams participated in a playoff match played in Mexico City. El Salvador won 3-2 (a.e.t.), advancing to the Final Round of CONCACAF qualification, where they defeated Haiti to earn their first World Cup apperance.

On 26 June, El Salvador severed diplomatic ties with Honduras, citing the latter's failure to punish the alleged crimes or offer any reparations to El Salvador, and, the following day, Honduras severed its ties with El Salvador.

On 14 July, after a series of small border clashes, El Salvador launched a joint air and ground assault on Honduras. The Salvadoran forces advanced 8 km into Honduras before being bogged down with fuel and ammunition shortages. The Organization of American States intervened and brokered a cease-fire on 18 July, though El Salvador did not withdraw its troops until 2 August.

As a result of the conflict, between 60,000 and 130,000 Salvadorans had been expelled or fled from Honduras, while approximately 2,000 people were killed, the majority of whom were Honduran civilians.