By Clemente Lisi - NEW YORK, NY (Jun 5, 2009) USSoccerPlayers -- Don’t expect Honduras – eager to earn a World Cup berth for the first time since 1982 – to just roll over and become CONCACAF road kill when they play the United States on Saturday night in Chicago.
For starters, not only will Soldier Field be teeming with Honduran fans passionately cheering in the stands (possibly half of the over 50,000 fans expected in attendance could be waving the blue and white), but coach Reinaldo Rueda will have captain Amado Guevara, a player very familiar with American players, calling the shots on the field.
“Amado is one of our best players,” said Rueda, speaking through a translator earlier this week following practice in sunny Fort Lauderdale. “I always expect a lot from him on and off the field.”
The 33-year-old veteran may list teaching Spanish to his English-speaking Toronto FC teammates as one of his favorite activities on the team’s website, but it’s his playing skills and knowledge of the American game that his Honduran teammates want to gauge from him during this crucial World Cup qualifier.
“I play in [MLS] and I know how difficult it can be to make it here,” admitted Guevara, the most-capped player on the Honduran team with 123 appearances. “I’m always telling my [Honduran] teammates to never underestimate American players.”
Guevara played for three seasons for the NY/NJ MetroStars (where he was named League MVP in 2004), before the club dealt him to Chivas USA. After spending a season in exile with Honduran club Motagua in 2007, Guevara returned to MLS a year later to play in Toronto.
Guevara, who has prospered in Canada, has an arsenal of abilities that should keep the US defense plenty busy. A combination of speed and a deadly right foot makes Guevara a player Bob Bradley’s men need to fear. He scored two goals in a 3-1 win over the visiting New England Revolution two weeks ago and as a result was named MLS Player of the Week – an accolade that further shows how important a player he has become for the Canadian club.
Guevara is the heart in Rueda’s 4-4-2 formation, feeding passes to forwards and using his wicked long-range shooting to befuddle opposing goalkeepers on dead balls. At times, Rueda likes to morph his side into a 4-3-3, pushing Guevara forward and changing his duties from playmaking midfield general to pure striker.
As for the US match, Guevara said he’d relish taking on Toronto FC teammate Marvell Wynne. In fact, the defender could very well see playing time against Honduras given the US’s ever-growing injury and suspension list (the loss of Frankie Hejduk and Michael Bradley being the biggest). Impacting the Americans further is that they will be on just three days rest after playing a very-tough Costa Rica team (while losing 3-1) on the road, while Honduras will come in rested.
“I really respect [Wynne] a lot, but I will play hard against him and the entire US team,” he said. “I want to win and I'm hoping to get a good result.”
Along with Guevara, the Catrachos will feature striker former Galaxy striker Carlos Pavon his likely partner upfront Carlos Costly. The duo combined for three goals in March during a stunning 3-1 win over Mexico that eventually cost coach Sven Goran Eriksson his job. Although the team only has two strikers on their call-up list (David Suazo remains sidelined with a knee injury), Honduras should not be worried about quantity.They have quality on attack, especially with Pavon. The striker - currently the team’s all-time goals leader with 51 - has been vital, particularly in qualifying with his aggressiveness in the box.
Midfielder Julio Cesar de Leon, who plays for newly-promoted Serie A side Parma, is the only starter from the Mexico game who won’t be available due to suspension, leaving a gaping hole in the middle that Rueda has still has not decided how to patch up.
For most people, Honduras entered the Hexagonal with fourth in mind. That placement would give the Catrachos a chance of reaching the 2010 World Cup finals by setting up a match-up against the fifth-best team from South America in a two-game playoff. Now, they're looking to get to South Africa automatically.
“There are no favorites in this game,” said Rueda. “All I know is that we’re two teams both trying to get to the World Cup.”
Clemente Lisi is the author of “A History of the World Cup: 1930-2006.” Contact him at: CAL4477@yahoo.com.
