U.S. salvages precious World Cup qualifying point to offset ugly performance

Bobby Wood's 85th-minute equalizer helped earn a draw in Honduras for the U.S. national team, overshadowing what was another lackluster performance

Five minutes away from disaster. That's how close the U.S. national team came to suffering a second straight World Cup qualifying loss in September, and seeing its Russia 2018 hopes put on life support.

That's when Kellyn Acosta stepped up and struck a beautiful free kick that forced a top-shelf save, and Bobby Wood pounced on the ensuing loose ball and scored a goal that brought the U.S. team's qualifying hopes back to life with a 1-1 draw in Honduras.

Bruce Arena can count himself lucky that his team escaped Honduras with a point and, just as…