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Gold Cup Preview: Canada vs. Honduras
The Gold Cup quarterfinals get under way on Saturday with Canada versus Honduras. Goal.com's Greg Lalas previews the match-up.
Jul 17, 2009 5:16:50 PM
By Greg Lalas
Who: Canada vs. Panama
What: Gold Cup quarterfinals
When: 5 pm ET, Saturday, July 18
Where: Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, Pa.
Despite crashing out of World Cup qualifying, Canada showed in the group stage of the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup that they have the quality to be a strong side in the region. A win against El Salvador and a draw with Costa Rica, both of which are still in World Cup qualifying contention, gave the Canadians top spot in Group A. Their reward for success is a quarterfinal meeting with Honduras, one of the teams that sealed Canada’s elimination from World Cup play, most notably with a 2-1 victory in Montreal last September.
Honduras, who are at the tournament without many of their big guns, including Amado Guevara, David Suazo, and Wilson Palacios, played just well enough in the group stage to advance. Wins over Haiti and Grenada bookended a disheartening loss to the USA, who won Group A. While political turmoil has rocked the Central American nation in the past month, Los Catrachos have steadily gotten the job done. It hasn’t always been pretty or lived up to the expectations, but it has been effective enough.
Hart and Soul
Interim Canada manager Stephen Hart, the native Trinidadian who took over for the fired Dale Mitchell in April, understands the diverse nature of CONCACAF football and the deliberate style that is most effective against the various opponents. The slow, possession game hasn’t thrilled observers, but it’s earned results, which have instilled in the side some much-needed confidence.
The midfield, especially, led by Deportivo la Coruna’s Julian De Guzman and FC Copenhagen’s Atiba Hutchinson, has done well to control the pace of the game. Against the Hondurans, who like to sit back and counterattack, they will have to be careful about staying organized and not becoming to over-anxious. In the attack, the keys have been Real Salt Lake’s Will Johnson and Toronto FC’s newly acquired Ali Gerba. Gerba leads the team in goals with two, while Johnson’s tireless work and eagerness to jump into the offense can provide a spark to surprise a young Honduras defense.
Fountain of Youth
As most observers know, this is the golden era of Honduran football. But the next generation looks bright, too. Only two players on the Catrachos’ 23-man Gold Cup roster are over 27, as manager Reynaldo Rueda looks to test his young guns. So far, other than a 10-minute stretch against the USA, they’ve done just fine, and Honduras have to be considered the favorites to reach the semifinal.
The most experienced team-member, Carlo Costly, is the centerpiece of the attack. The Belchatow striker found the net twice in the group stage, including notching the winner against Haiti. Big and quick, he has all the tools to be successful at the highest level. Same goes for his striker partner, Walter Martinez, who started all three group games but only struck once, in the 4-0 trouncing of Grenada.
The question mark for Honduras is in the defense, where the back four’s collective inexperience makes them vulnerable. Other than Osman Chavez, none of the defenders has more than 9 caps, and they struggled first against the quick, strong Haitians, who nearly pulled off an upset, and then against the United States, whose interchanging play knifed through the backline. Canada isn’t as creative or gifted as the US, but Gerba is the kind of attacker that could cause the Honduras defense fits.
Projected Canada Line Up
-------------------Sutton------------------
Stalteri---Jakovic---McKenna---Klukowski
-------------------De Guzman------------------
Johnson---Bernier---Hutchinson---De Jong
----------------------Gerba-------------------
Projected Honduras Line Up
------------------Escobar------------------
Norales---Acevedo---O. Chavez---Medina
-----Palacios---Valladares---Espinoza-----
------------------Costly------------------
----------Lalin----------Martinez----------
Goal.com Prediction
Canada 2-2 Honduras (Canada advance on penalties)
Greg Lalas is editor of Goal.com Magazine.
Who: Canada vs. Panama
What: Gold Cup quarterfinals
When: 5 pm ET, Saturday, July 18
Where: Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, Pa.
Despite crashing out of World Cup qualifying, Canada showed in the group stage of the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup that they have the quality to be a strong side in the region. A win against El Salvador and a draw with Costa Rica, both of which are still in World Cup qualifying contention, gave the Canadians top spot in Group A. Their reward for success is a quarterfinal meeting with Honduras, one of the teams that sealed Canada’s elimination from World Cup play, most notably with a 2-1 victory in Montreal last September.
Honduras, who are at the tournament without many of their big guns, including Amado Guevara, David Suazo, and Wilson Palacios, played just well enough in the group stage to advance. Wins over Haiti and Grenada bookended a disheartening loss to the USA, who won Group A. While political turmoil has rocked the Central American nation in the past month, Los Catrachos have steadily gotten the job done. It hasn’t always been pretty or lived up to the expectations, but it has been effective enough.
Hart and Soul
Interim Canada manager Stephen Hart, the native Trinidadian who took over for the fired Dale Mitchell in April, understands the diverse nature of CONCACAF football and the deliberate style that is most effective against the various opponents. The slow, possession game hasn’t thrilled observers, but it’s earned results, which have instilled in the side some much-needed confidence.
The midfield, especially, led by Deportivo la Coruna’s Julian De Guzman and FC Copenhagen’s Atiba Hutchinson, has done well to control the pace of the game. Against the Hondurans, who like to sit back and counterattack, they will have to be careful about staying organized and not becoming to over-anxious. In the attack, the keys have been Real Salt Lake’s Will Johnson and Toronto FC’s newly acquired Ali Gerba. Gerba leads the team in goals with two, while Johnson’s tireless work and eagerness to jump into the offense can provide a spark to surprise a young Honduras defense.
Fountain of Youth
As most observers know, this is the golden era of Honduran football. But the next generation looks bright, too. Only two players on the Catrachos’ 23-man Gold Cup roster are over 27, as manager Reynaldo Rueda looks to test his young guns. So far, other than a 10-minute stretch against the USA, they’ve done just fine, and Honduras have to be considered the favorites to reach the semifinal.
The most experienced team-member, Carlo Costly, is the centerpiece of the attack. The Belchatow striker found the net twice in the group stage, including notching the winner against Haiti. Big and quick, he has all the tools to be successful at the highest level. Same goes for his striker partner, Walter Martinez, who started all three group games but only struck once, in the 4-0 trouncing of Grenada.
The question mark for Honduras is in the defense, where the back four’s collective inexperience makes them vulnerable. Other than Osman Chavez, none of the defenders has more than 9 caps, and they struggled first against the quick, strong Haitians, who nearly pulled off an upset, and then against the United States, whose interchanging play knifed through the backline. Canada isn’t as creative or gifted as the US, but Gerba is the kind of attacker that could cause the Honduras defense fits.
Projected Canada Line Up
-------------------Sutton------------------
Stalteri---Jakovic---McKenna---Klukowski
-------------------De Guzman------------------
Johnson---Bernier---Hutchinson---De Jong
----------------------Gerba-------------------
Projected Honduras Line Up
------------------Escobar------------------
Norales---Acevedo---O. Chavez---Medina
-----Palacios---Valladares---Espinoza-----
------------------Costly------------------
----------Lalin----------Martinez----------
Goal.com Prediction
Canada 2-2 Honduras (Canada advance on penalties)
Greg Lalas is editor of Goal.com Magazine.
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