Honduras / Dave Farrar / 19 May 2010 / Leave a comment Free £25 Bet

You'll recognise a few of their players from the Premier League or Serie A but the rest are a bit of an unknown quantity to your average football fan. Whether they can surprise their Group H opponents remains to be seen but they're a wickedly tempting price to get out of their group...

"The question that we have to ask ourselves is are they good enough to qualify at [5.9]? The price certainly looks too big, and there’s no way that the Swiss should be half that, but given that Spain will almost certainly win all three games, the Hondurans will probably have to beat Chile to qualify."

The best ever generation of Honduran players finally qualified automatically for the World Cup, but only just, after they blew their big chance against the USA. Now that they've reached a second Mondial, they will feel that they have a great chance of getting through the group, and I certainly wouldn't write them off, they have too many good players.

Wilson Palacios and Maynor Figueroa have impressed in the Premier League, as has Hendry Thomas, a young man who looks about 57 year old. The question that we have to ask ourselves is are they good enough to qualify at [5.9]? The price certainly looks too big, and there's no way that the Swiss should be half that, but given that Spain will almost certainly win all three games, the Hondurans will probably have to beat Chile to qualify.

That's the key game in this group, and I think that the fact that it's their opening game is a bonus. Underneath the bigger names, though, there's not a huge amount of depth, and the big results in their qualifying campaign all came at home. There is a suspicion that they may not be the best travellers.

Coach

Reinaldo Rueda

Rueda was responsible for many years for youth football in Colombia, and after seeing him upset the odds at more than one Toulon tournament, it's no surprise that he has done such an excellent job with Honduras. A man who never played professional football, but one who is certain to the best out of this group of players, both tactically and individually.

Key Players

Wilson Palacios

He's his country's best player, maybe best ever player, and was an inspired signing by Wigan four years ago. He's since moved up a level and settled in at Spurs, looking far better in their midfield than the likes of Didier Zokora before him and turning into a key player in their fourth placed finish. Obviously he'll have his hands full in the Honduran midfield, but he has Hendry Thomas for company, and those two will make sure that this isn't the team's problem area.

Amado Guevara

Guevara will play down the left hand side of midfield, and he fits the bill as the talented Honduran player of whom you won't have heard. He's played for seven years in the MLS and has shown himself to be inventive and reliable. He's another one of those players who looks better internationally than he does for his club side.

David Suazo

Bundles of talent, too much inconsistency. Suazo is top class on his day, a man who was good enough to go to Inter and score 8 goals in 9 starts for them back in 07/08, all of that on the back of a 22 goal season at Cagliari. Since Inter, he has struggled with injury, only managing four goals on loan with Benfica and three at Genoa this season. At his best though, he is strong and very quick, as well as an excellent finisher. And if he can get himself fit for two weeks in South Africa, he could be a revelation

Recommended Bet:

They're certainly too big to qualify at [7.2], but I think Spain and Chile will go through, so on pure value terms, back them to qualify at that price if you want. I won't be doing, as I don't think they're QUITE good enough.

Tags: David Suazo, Honduras national team, Honduras players, Meynor Figueroa, Wilson Palacios