The long wait is over. The Honduras Under-23 is launching its dream of qualifying for the upcoming Olympic Juices by facing Haiti this Friday (1:30 pm) at the Jalisco Stadium for the start of the CONCACAF Pre-Olympic.
The Bicolor led by Miguel Falero landed on Tuesday in Guadalajara, Mexico with the hope of sealing the ticket.
The catracho team only has 19 players available. Rigoberto Rivas, from the Queen of Italy, will not count for this meeting, who will be integrated until Monday 22.
Falero in the preview of the meeting he raised his voice to complain about the schedule. “It’s inappropriate, something I didn’t understand for a group leader,” he said.
Although the coach did not want to give details of the starting 11, players such as Alex Güity, Denil Maldonado, Kervin Arriaga, Edwin Rodríguez and Douglas Martínez are expected to start.
The Caribbean will face the match with a single goalkeeper for the loss of Mark Emy-Florestal, Who did not get the Mexican visa due to inconsistencies in their documentation.
They will also not have Christopher Attys at the helm of Inter Milan, who rejected the call-up.
Honduras is looking for its fifth place in the Olympics, fourth in a row
Honduras in this tournament is located in Group B along with Haiti, El Salvador and Canada. His goal is to advance to the semifinals and there look for one of the two tickets to the Tokyo Olympics.
Honduras has qualified for five Olympic Games, 3 in a row.
Ever since it made debut in the Olympic match in Sydney 2000, the Honduran selection was only absent in Athens 2004. In this PreOlympic one the catrachos go by their fourth consecutive classification and they will do it under the command of Falero, that was assistant of Luis Suárez in the process in London 2012.
Douglas Martínez, MLS Real Salt Lake striker, could be vital to the squad.
In contrast, Haiti has never qualified for the Olympic football tournament while El Salvador only came once so far and was in the 1968 Mexico City edition.
Honduras Vs. Haiti
Time: 1:30 p.m.
Stadium: Jalisco
Broadcast: TVC (TUDN or Fox Sports 2 for the United States)
Possible 11 from Honduras: Alex Güity, Wesly Decas, Denil Maldonado, José García, Cristopher Meléndez, Kervin Arriaga, Jonathan Núñez, Edwin Rodríguez, José Mario Pinto, Darixon Tornat and Douglas Martínez.