Jamaica falls to Nicaragua; Cubo sits out

With many on the Dynamo taking the bye week to regroup and refocus their efforts for a playoff push, a handful of players were called to International Duty for the week. The first round of matches are wrapped up and the initial results are in.

Mexico 1 - 2 Pumas

In last week's postgame, Owen Coyle expressed his desire to get Erick Torres minutes with Mexico during this extended break. Unfortunately, the gaffer will be disappointed to find that Cubo sat out in Friday's closed-door friendly against Liga MX side, Pumas. Even as the team went for a full-side substitution early in the second half, Torres still found himself relegated to the bench. With two more friendlies to go, Cubo could still find minutes on the field but Friday could be considered a missed opportunity.

Honduras 3 - 0 Venezuela

Boniek Garcia and Luis Garrido each found minutes in a 3-0 shutout of Venezuela, following a hectic half hour of scoring in the second half. Garcia was run out for 80 minutes while Garrido saw his entrance come in the 78th minute. The win helps to build a bit of confidence after back-to-back disappointments for Los Catrachos in this past summer's Gold Cup blowout and a poor World Cup showing last year. The Hondurans now prepare for a Tuesday friendly against Ecuador.

Jamaica 2 - 3 Nicaragua

A shock result of the night, Nicaragua found themselves able to hold off a second-half push by the Reggae Boyz after pouncing for an early lead. The home loss marks a poor start to the third round of World Cup Qualifying by Jamaica and the squad will have just a few days of recovery before trying again in Nicaragua on Tuesday. To many Houston fans' dismay, Giles Barnes went the full 90 for Jamaica, sparking concerns after a busy summer with the national team left the Englishman a bit tired in orange on his return. Now, down by a goal on aggregate and headed on the road, there's little reason to believe that Giles could sit out on Tuesday.