Quarter-finals: France – Colombia – Belgium – Costa Rica
Round of 16: Chile – Uruguay – Mexico – Greece – Nigeria – Algeria – Switzerland – USA
A: Croatia – Cameroon B: Spain – Australia C: Ivory Coast – Japan D: Italy – England
E: Ecuador – Honduras F: Bosnia – Iran G: Portugal – Ghana H: Russia – South Korea
HONDURASWorld Cup progress: Group stage Team rating: 3 Top scorer: Costly (1) |
It was an unsurprising end for Honduras at the World Cup, who finished bottom of Group E with no points and just one goal, writes Sam Lewis.
Home time for Honduras
Honduras went into a difficult group with little expectations and, whilst that can sometimes lift an underdog to play above itself, free of the pressure that often weighs down the powerhouses around them, it proved not to be the case for Honduras.
Three games, three losses, one goal. It’s the report card that that would read ‘must do better’ for the tournament proper, but qualification in itself was an achievement for the tiny Central American nation.
A 3-0 rattling at the hands of France preceded a 2-1 loss to Ecuador with aXherdan Shaqiri hat-trick ending the Hondurans’ World Cup adventure in ignominious, but entirely expected fashion.
The Coach – Luis Fernando Suarez
How do you set up a side that is expected to lose every game by a significant margin? For Suarez, it appeared that he told his players to go out there, have some fun and end some careers. Five yellow cards and a red in three games, it’s safe to say they listened.
Player of the Tournament – Carlo Costly
Despite the odds against them, Costly provided Honduras with one positive – a goal against Ecuador that was his country’s first in the World Cup Finals since 1982. It was also the only goal Honduras scored all tournament and came in the team’s second loss of three.
Memorable moment
20 minutes after escaping red for stamping on Paul Pogba, Wilson Palacioswas dismissed for holding the midfielder in the box. Karim Benzemadispatched the penalty and it was all downhill from there.
Results
| 15-Jun-14 | France | 3-0 | Honduras | Group E |
| 20-Jun-14 | Honduras | 1-2 | Ecuador | Group E |
| 25-Jun-14 | Honduras | 0-3 | Switzerland | Group E |
| Group E | P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts |
| France | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 7 |
| Switzerland | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 6 | 6 |
| Ecuador | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| Honduras | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 0 |
Squad
| No | Pos | Player | Apps | Goals | Assists |
| 1 | GK | Luis Lopez | – | – | – |
| 18 | GK | Noel Valladares | – | – | – |
| 22 | GK | Donis Escober | 3 | – | – |
| 2 | D | Osman Chavez | 1 | – | – |
| 3 | D | Maynor Figueroa | 3 | – | – |
| 4 | D | Juan Montes | – | – | – |
| 5 | D | Victor Bernadez | 3 | – | – |
| 6 | D | Juan Carlos Garcia | 2 | – | – |
| 21 | D | Brayan Beckeles | 3 | – | – |
| 20 | M | Jorge Claros | 3 | – | – |
| 7 | M | Emilio Izaguirre | 2 | – | – |
| 8 | M | Wilson Palacios | 2 | – | – |
| 9 | M | Jerry Palacios | 1 | – | – |
| 10 | M | Mario Martinez | 1 | – | – |
| 12 | M | Edder Delgado | – | – | – |
| 14 | M | Oscar Garcia | 3 | – | – |
| 15 | M | Roger Espinoza | 3 | – | – |
| 17 | M | Andy Najar | 2 | – | – |
| 19 | M | Luis Garrido | 2 | – | – |
| 23 | M | Martin Chavez | 2 | – | – |
| 13 | A | Carlos Costly | 3 | 1 | – |
| 16 | A | Rony Martinez | – | – | – |
| 11 | A | Jerry Bengtson | 3 | – | – |
For a complete review of the 2014 World Cup, check out the next issue of Soccer Italia, written by the team at Football Italia and available on worldwide subscription.
