One of the great benefits of being a soccer fan in South Florida is that every so often, South and Central American teams stage games here, giving our community a taste of the passion with which the rest of the world follows the sport.

The latest example is coming up Nov. 18. Honduras, which qualified for the World Cup last month, is playing Peru in a friendly at Land Shark Stadium, and local Honduran fans are expected to come out in big numbers to show their appreciation to their team. Honduras had made the World Cup only once before, in 1982.

Unlike typical friendlies, in which A-list players don't show up, all the top Honduran players are scheduled to be here, including David Suazo, Amado Guevara, Carlos Pavon, Wilson Palacios and Julio Cesar de Leon.

Peru also plans to bring its A squad, with Nolberto Solano, Carlos Zambrano and Juan Vargas.

``Miami is the home of Honduras,'' businessman/promoter Miguel Trujillo said. ``All the players and the coach, Reinaldo Rueda, want to use this match to thank the Honduran fans who live in South Florida for their support during the World Cup qualifying round.''

The last time these two teams met in Miami was the 2000 Gold Cup, and Peru won that match 5-3 at the Orange Bowl in front of a crowd of 50,000.

``It's been 27 long years since our country was in a World Cup, so this is a great achievement,'' said Guevara, the team's captain. ``I hope once the ball gets rolling that we capture the attention of all the world.''

The match is at 8:15 p.m. Local organizers are hoping a big crowd will boost their chances of hosting matches at Land Shark Stadium if the United States is awarded the 2018 World Cup.

``We're committed to having soccer at Land Shark Stadium,'' said Bruce Schulze, the stadium president. ``It's good for our community as a whole to have this caliber of professional soccer being played here in our backyard. Fans will enjoy watching some of the best soccer players in the world and South Florida will strengthen its résumé as a great host for big events.''

Jose ``Pepe'' Diaz, Miami-Dade County Commissioner and Chairman of the Miami Host City Bid Committee, said: ``We are thrilled to have this great game at Land Shark Stadium. This is a great opportunity to have a World Cup-qualified team come and play a game as we are in the process of bidding to become a FIFA World Cup city. It really adds a great deal of excitement and energy to this important effort.''

Tickets range from $25 to $50 and are available throughTicketmaster.com, by phone at 1-800-745-3000, at the Land Shark Stadium ticket office and at Soccer Max and Soccer Locker stores.

MLS PLAYOFFS

The Western Conference playoffs heat up Sunday with the deciding leg of the Houston Dynamo against the Seattle Sounders and the Los Angeles Galaxy against hometown rival Chivas USA.

Both series are tied after the first leg. Houston and Seattle tied 0-0 and the Southern California rivals tied 2-2.

The Houston-Seattle match is in Houston, where Mayor Bill White declared Friday ``Dynamo Day'' and asked residents of the city to wear orange and show up for Sunday's game. The past three Houston home-playoff games were played in front of near-sellout crowds of 30,000.

Home Depot Center is home to both the Galaxy and Chivas, but Chivas is officially the home team Sunday. The Galaxy finished in first place in the West with a 12-6-12 record, but fourth-place Chivas had one more win (13-11-6) and scored more goals at home (25-18). Chivas will rely on Cuban defector Maykel Galindo, who scored the equalizer in the first match and gave Galaxy defenders fits.

U.S.UNDER-17 LOSES

The U.S. Under-17 team was eliminated from the 2009 U17 World Cup after a 2-1 loss to Italy. The lone U.S. goal came from Nick Palodichuk, who converted a Luis Gil corner kick in the second half.

``We created a lot of chances, we had more possession tonight than against any other team that we played, but we couldn't find a way to finish our chances,'' said U.S. coach Wilmer Cabrera.