But Schalke scorer, midfielder Jermaine Jones, will miss the second leg of their last-16 tie on March 12 through suspension after picking up his third yellow card of the competition — 10 minutes before scoring.

Jones called the yellow card “stupid” but said the team was “absolutely satisfied” with the result.

Burak Yilmaz opened the scoring against the run of play in the 12th, displaying great skill to lift the ball over Schalke captain Benedikt Hoewedes with the back of his heel before blasting the ball past Timo Hildebrand.

Jones was booked in the 35th after calling for a yellow card for an opponent, but finished off a swift counterattack to equalize before the interval. Jefferson Farfan ran onto Klaas-Jan Huntelaar’s ball forward before playing it into the centre for the American to score emphatically.

“Whenever it comes to the crunch, we’re there,” said Hildebrand, referring to the club’s poor midseason form.

Huntelaar, who recovered from an eye injury to play, missed two good chances to improve Schalke’s record of just one win from its last 13 games across all competitions.

Galatasaray defender Dany Nounkeu cleared from the Dutchman in the first minute, when Jones drew a save from Fernando Muslera and Farfan played in the rebound.

A wayward pass from Schalke midfielder Roman Neustaedter led to the opening goal, with recent signings Wesley Sneijder and Didier Drogba both involved before Selcuk Inan found Burak Yilmaz to score his seventh goal of the competition.

Huntelaar then missed with the goal at his mercy after failing to connect with Hoewedes’ header at the far post.

Two minutes later, Hildebrand saved from Drogba and former Schalke midfielder Hamit Altintop struck the crossbar from the rebound.

Hildebrand was again called into action to deny Burak Yilmaz, before Jones drew the sides level.

Sneijder was taken off at halftime after failing to deal with Schalke’s forays down the right.

However, the visitors maintained most of the possession after the break, only to be let down by the final ball.

The 19-year-old Julian Draxler berated Huntelaar for failing to read his intentions as another pass went astray in the penalty area.

Huntelaar and Burak Yilmaz had chances to win at either end, but the Dutchman fired over before being replaced, while the impressive Turkey striker was narrowly wide of the far post.

Galatasaray midfielder Nordin Amrabat laid out the strategy for the return leg: “The formula for victory is very simple. We need to score and win (in Gelsenkirchen). But it won’t be an easy task.”

The post Schalke salvages draw vs. Galatasaray appeared first on IdealCapper.

Goalkeeper Tim Howard was the captain for the match in San Pedro Sula as the Americans opened the final round of qualifying in North and Central America and the Caribbean. Chandler took over on the right from Steve Cherundolo, sidelined by a knee injury.

Chandler, a 22-year-old with an American father and German mother, had been eligible to play for both nations. He made nine previous appearances for the Americans, all in exhibitions, and by appearing in a competitive match for the U.S. he became ineligible to play for any other country under FIFA rules.

Gonzalez, a 6-foot-4 defender for the Los Angeles Galaxy, was the only holdover in the starting lineup from last week’s 0-0 tie against Canada in an exhibition at Houston. That marked his return to the national team following a two-year absence partly caused by a torn left anterior cruciate ligament. He was paired with Cameron in the center of the backline, and Fabian Johnson was on the left.

Danny Williams, Jermaine Jones, Michael Bradley and Eddie Johnson were in a four-man midfield, and Clint Dempsey and Jozy Altidore were at forward.

Honduras’ lineup had Noel Valladares in goal; Arnold Peralta, Victor Bernandez, Maynor Figueroa and Juan Garcia on defense; Oscar Boniek Garcia, Roger Espinoza, Luis Garrido and Mario Martinez in midfield; and Jerry Bengston and Carlo Costly at forward.

The post Gonzalez in for Bocanegra on U.S. team appeared first on IdealCapper.