Outsiders Honduras should begin warm-up with a win over Belarus
Published:Honduras won’t be overly exerting themselves ahead of their trip to South Africa with games lined up against Azerbaijan and Romania as well as tonight’s opponents, Belarus.
They are united already as the 23-man squad going to the World Cup and there’s little to suggest the big names such as Wilson Palacios, Maynor Figueroa and David Suazo won’t take part this evening.
Most extraordinarily of all is perhaps how little the Hondurans appear to like draws. You have to go back to March 2009, an astonishing 20 games ago, to find the last time they drew a game (1-1 with Trinidad in World Cup Qualifying). Indeed they’ve registered just one draw in their last 33 fixtures.
Since scraping through qualification, the Hondurans have played four matches, coming out losers against Peru, Turkey and Venezuela, yet interestingly they managed to beat USA 3-1 in California, having strolled into a 3-0 lead.
Carlo Costly, who has scored three in his last six outings for the national side, has been a recent danger man but injury means he misses out on the World Cup altogether.
Belarus were of course in England’s World Cup Qualifying Group, coming fourth behind England, Ukraine and Croatia, but it did include a credible home draw against the Ukrainians. The Belarusians however, have not played a fixture since last November and have only recorded wins against Kazakhstan and Andorra since February 2008.
With key players out in Aliaksandr Kulchiy and Aliaksandr Hleb, as well as Hleb’s brother Vyacheslav not being released by his Chinese club, the Hondurans should come out on top tonight, and at over even money Honduras will represent good value for many at 6/5.
Disagree? Think Belarus can shock the World Cup side See the full Belarus v Honduras market.
