Recaps and game analysis to follow one or two hours after each match.

Friday, June 11, 2010

Group H: Honduras

Honduras will be making their second ever World Cup appearance in South Africa, the last coming in 1982 when they were eliminated in the group stage. Having an excellent run in qualification, Honduras will be looking to take full advantage of their good placement in Group H.

Although Spain is more than likely to win the group, under coach Reinaldo Rueda Honduras has the chance of moving into the knockout stages. By taking advantage of their "unknown" status, Los Catraochos could find themselves getting results against a weak Switzerland side, and dashing the dream of Chile to reach the second round. However, in order to accomplish this, the team will need to really step up their defense, which has been shaky in the past. Throughout qualification the team rarely won with a shutout, instead having to fight back and score a lot of goals to secure victory, but this is a double-edged sword. Switzerland will have a pretty good defense, but no offense, so the result could be a draw. On the other-hand, Chile is much like Honduras, weaker defense but good offense, so I think this could be one of the highest scoring games of the tournament.

Key Players: Wilson Palacios [pictured] is the most high-profile player on the team, playing his club ball with Tottenham in England. Playing the central midfield role, it will be his duty to feed the strikers and take shots from outside the box. Although traditionally lacking when called up for international duty, under Rueda he has shown new promise, and he will be integral to the coaches plans.

My Prediction: Group H 3rd/4th place. This is the only team I can not easily be confident in the placement. I do not think they will move on, but I have a feeling they may still leave the tournament with the world smiling at them, because I believe they will be huge entertainers.

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