Los Catrachos quickly turned into the underachieving son that rah-rah Concacaf boosters glossed over quickly while boasting about the exploits of the more successful progeny. Once the Hondurans discovered they couldn’t hack their way past France or Switzerland, there didn’t seem to be much of a plan B. At least they managed a goal against Ecuador, really the lone enjoyable moment amid three losses. The Central American nation is now 0-6-3 all-time at the World Cup. This latest tournament was arguably a step backwards from the zero-goal showing in South Africa -- back then at least they managed a draw against Switzerland.
Things were so bad that Honduran federation president Rafael Callejas reportedly emailed his Concacaf counterpart Jeffrey Webb and apologized for his nation’s showing at the tournament. Roll that around in your head for a moment. When you’ve reached a position where you feel you need to apologize to Concacaf for embarrassing behaviour, you’ve really managed to tunnel your way a few stories below rock bottom. Just to pick one cringeworthy example: this is an organization formerly run by a guy who allegedly tried to line his own pockets with money earmarked for Haitian earthquake relief.
Fan anger
Hondurans themselves were also generally upset, if it’s possible to gauge the zeitgeist through online articles and the angry comments beneath them. And as journalists picked over the carcass of the team’s World Cup performance, some unflattering stories began to seep out. Take first-choice keeper Noel Valladeres. He plays his club football for the Honduran club side Olimpia. It’s one of the most popular teams in the country, but most of its players probably earn wages that would make a CFL player blush. That’s if they’re getting paid at all. This juxtaposes uncomfortably with the bling garnered by the team’s European-based players, and probably with its MLS ones too.
Nine of Honduras’ 23-man World Cup squad play professionally in Honduras. This includes regular starters like Valladares, defender Brayan Beckeles, midfielder Luis Garrido and mainstay striker Carlo Costly. In other words, a reasonably important chunk of the squad.
In fact, Valladeres told a Honduran radio station last Friday that the players who play abroad “look down” on their home-based compatriots. All the countries in the Americas - both north and south - deal with a similar situation, but when you are one of the poorest in the hemisphere it’s not hard to imagine that situation would be magnified. The radio host also highlighted comments on social media about players from Honduras' foreign legion rolling into Brazil sporting Gucci shoes and Channel handbags. We’re clearly not talking the DEFCON 1 level of dressing room insurrection seen within say, the Cameroon squad, but the implication is that all may not have been harmonious.
Generational change
The good and/or possibly bad news for Honduran supporters is that this squad will undergo something of a generational change. In Brazil, its median age was 28. Players like Valladeres (37), Carlo Costly (32), Victor Bernardez (32) and Maynora Figueroa (31) will slowly cede starting spots to the Andy Najar’s and Juan Carlos Garcia’s of this world. The team will probably sport a different look at this year's Copa Centroamericana and next year's Gold Cup, along with a soon-to-be announced new manager. The change will accelerate throughout qualifying for Russia 2018.
The broader question facing Honduras is where to go from here? The obvious answer is the 2018 World Cup. But after two straight showings that can charitably be described as flame-outs (both times arguably one of the tournament's worst squads) qualification may be a struggle. Costa Rica has firmly entrenched itself as number three in the Concacaf pecking order, at least amid the afterglow of their quarterfinals run. Its squad is younger and will soon feature more players at higher levels in Europe, including goalkeeping hero Keylor Navas at Reald Madrid and Joel Campbell at Arsenal. The Ticos are also better endowed resource-wise, and desperate to avoid the long drought that followed their run to the final-16 at the 1990 World Cup.
And while there's no serious challenges from below (yeah, sorry Canada), Honduras doesn’t boast any up-and-coming players or coaches or ideas to excite fans and leave them expecting more at the next Word Cup. Against the backdrop of the country's fairly huge societal problems, implementing the sort of long-term, centrally planned framework to take that next step is kind of hard. That's the reality. At least for now, Honduras may have reached peak soccer.
As good as it gets
The counter-argument is that Honduras - its supporters, its players - should be happy with qualifying for a World Cup at all, ever. It’s a remarkable achievement for such a small country facing its tsunami of issues. It’s not as if the past eight years represent moments lost and opportunities missed. The phrase ‘Golden Generation’ is relative. Honduras has enjoyed a talented collection of footballers, yes, but hardly talented enough to accomplish much more than they did.
The internet is littered with clips of television and radio commentators screaming, shrieking, crying and squealing with joy as "their" team wins this trophy or qualifies for that tournament. They're all entertaining, and some are more genuinely moving than others, but you'd be hard pressed to find a more ecstatic few moments of sheer release than the
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