Honduran boys hoping to impress in World Cup

TEGUCIGALPA - With a hearty combination of power, speed and technique, Honduras arrive at the World Cup football finals as relative unknowns, but a combination of locally-based grafters and overseas strivers makes the ‘Catrachos’ a side to be wary of, come kick-off in early June.

Having finished third in the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) region behind the United States and Mexico to reach South Africa, these 2010 finals will not be the Central American nations’ first appearance at the World Cup.

Almost three decades ago they impressed the world at the 1982 World Cup when they held both hosts Spain and Northern Ireland to draws before a controversial 1-0 loss to Yugoslavia saw them cruelly out at the first hurdle.

Honduras, a country ravaged by a recent political crisis and the resulting international isolation, will arrive in South Africa with a tight-knit squad that features a surprising number of players plying their trade in some of European footballs elite leagues.

With jet-heeled Serie A-based David Suazo injured for large chunks of the qualifying campaign, Tottenhams Wilson Palacios, Wigans Maynor Figueroa and well-travelled journeyman Carlos Pavon picked up the slack and guided the Hondurans to a tense third-place finish ahead of Costa Rica, who finished in that spot in 2002 and 2006.

In the process they recorded wins over both Mexico and Costa Rica, and the blue and white-clad Hondurans finished only two points behind `El Tri and four back from table toppers, the US.

The Hondurans know they will go into an ultra-competitive Group H in South Africa as outsiders. But hoping to shock the establishment on African soil, the spirit in the camp is one of cautious optimism.

“The rest of the teams are very good sides and if there’s a minnow in the group, then its Honduras,” says defender Figueroa, referring to group rivals Spain, Chile and Switzerland.

“I’d just like to point out, though, that its often the supposedly little teams who cause the most problems for the big ones,” he said.

The current Honduras side, led by coach Reinaldo Rueda, is the strongest in the countrys history, one dominated by the narrowest of failures to qualify for major international competitions.

Honduras do, however, have some regional accomplishments on which they can hang their hats. They won the CONCACAF Championship (now the Gold Cup) back in 1981, were twice winners of the Central American Cup of Nations and reached the quarter-finals as an invited team to the 2001 Copa America.

The sides ace in the hole is Sauzo, a lightning-quick attacker currently on loan at Genoa from Inter Milan. The powerful Palacios, Figueroa and another Wigan player, Hendry Thomas, are also players to watch in the `Catracho ranks.

The coach: Colombian-born Reinaldo Rueda ended Honduran heartache and a run of failed attempts to return to the World Cup, adding steel and tactical nous to the team upon his arrival in 2007. A strong character, the former Colombia boss, who failed to lead his native land to the 2006 World Cup in Germany, almost immediately won the respect of the Honduran FA and the players too.

Qualification for the 2010 finals has lent him near iconic status among the people of Honduras and the pains he has taken to introduce a focused youth program to the nation will likely hold the countrys football in good stead for years to come.

The star: If Honduras campaign is to come to anything more substantial than a respectable first-round exit, it may well come down to the speed, power and professionalism of one David Suazo. Currently on loan at Genoa from Inter Milan, the oft-injured speed merchant can play out wide on the flank or also in an advanced attacking position alongside veteran sharpshooter Carlos Pavon.

The 30-year-old attacker may not have set the European theatre alight, but his time at Inter and on loan at such clubs as Benfica and Cagliari makes the San Pedro Sula native a Honduran to fear.