Honduras have lost two of their only three friendly match encounters in 2010. Their amazing 3-1 defeat of the United States on January 24 was in fact their last victory of the year so far. On March 3, Los Catrachos got humbled 2-0 by Euro 2008 semi-finalists Turkey. They failed to bounce back from their worrying form as they went down 1-0 against 2007 Copa America hosts Venezuela last month.
Against tiny side Belarus on Thursday, Honduras will be obliged to pull out a good result. The CONCACAF side will have mountains to climb during the 2010 World Cup as they have been drawn with top seeds Spain, FIFA’s home land Switzerland, and South America’s Chile. Preparations haven’t gone well as things currently look like based on results. However, popular manager Reinaldo Rueda is expected to turn things around. Wilson Palacios, Amado Guevara, and Julio Cesar de Leon are players that can inspire the team through their talent. Besides, forwards David Suazo and Carlos Costly are also deadly in front of goal.
So basically, Honduras are a much bigger side than Belarus on paper like in terms of history. Ranked more than 40 places below Honduras who occupy the 38th spot in the world’s chart, Belarus have much to do as they look forward to improving on their past performances ahead of the 2012 European championship qualifiers. During the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign, they finished fourth with 13 points in a group that contained England, Ukraine, and Croatia among other low-profiled teams. On Thursday, they will play as hosts to Honduras with the aim of getting the most out of their opponents.
