CONCACAF gets slighted for being a "Big Two" and little 33. I always took that to be a fact, and didn't bother much with CONCACAF outside of Mexico. But the tightness of the hex through 8 match days caused me to wonder what about these two "other" teams fighting for a qualification spot. Below is an overview of what Honduras brings to the table:

The National Team

Current FIFA Rank: Highest FIFA Rank: Average FIFA rank: World Cup Appearances: Last US points in Honduras:	42 20 (9/2001) 51 1 (1982) 3/28/01 (2-1)

	Big Results Since 2006 World Cup	Surprising Losses Since 2006 World Cup
8/12/09	4-0 versus Costa Rica
4/1/09	3-1 versus Mexico
1/30/09		0-1 versus Panama
1/12/09	2-0 versus Chile in US
11/19/08	1-0 versus Mexico
5/30/08	1-1 versus Venezuela in US
3/26/08	2-1 versus Columbia in US
2/6/08	2-0 versus Paraguay
9/12/07	2-1 versus Ecuador
8/22/07		0-2 at El Salvador
6/17/07		1-2 versus Guadeloupe in US
6/10/07	2-1 versus Mexico in US
4/19/07		1-3 versus Haiti
1/27/07	1-1 versus Denmark
8/16/06	0-0 at Venezuela

Honduras is part of tightly packed group of countries in the FIFA rankings that includes the likes of Costa Rica, Sweden, Columbia, Japan, and Algeria. Their win list over the last four years has some good to midlevel teams on it, while their bad losses have been few with the exception of an up and down 2007. However, the inconsistency that is the mark of the teams with similar rankings has kept them from gaining the respect that they could have.

Historically, they have tended to give up points in home matches when they have need them. They missed the hex in 2006 when they drew four times in their six games in a difficult semifinal group (Costa Rica, Guatemala, Canada, Honduras). That year, a win at home against Costa Rica on the final match day, would have sent them through to the hex; however, all the could muster was one of those four draws. In 2002 qualifying, they came in a close fourth in the hex, being bested by Costa Rica, Mexico, and the US. That year, a second to last match day win at home to T&T would have left them needing either a draw at Mexico or a US loss on the last day to punch their ticket to the World Cup, but they lost 1-0 for T&T’s only win of the hex that cycle, effectively eliminating them.

In other competitions, the theme has been similar. In the UNCAF Nations Cup (the Central American championship) this year, their 1-0 loss to Panama in the semi-finals kept the host country from an anticipated final against Costa Rica. Their Gold Cup run this year ended against a US “B” side in the semifinals. In the 2007 version of the Gold Cup, Honduras managed to win their group, including a win against Mexico, before losing in the quarterfinals 2-1 to Guadeloupe. Honduras is talented enough to be a dangerous team. Yet, they are inconsistent enough for the US to come away with points in this match.

Domestic League

Highest League: Number of Teams: League Season: League Structure: Champion Determined By: Current Champion:	Liga Nacional de Futbol 10 Split season (autumn and spring) Single table home and away Four team playoff with two legged rounds CD Olimpia

Like many other Latin American countries, Honduras plays crowns two champions per season, one in the autumn, the Apertura; and one in the spring, the Clausura. Honduras has their own equivalent to the “Big Four” with CD Olimpia, Motagua, Real Espana, and Marathon. One of these teams has won every title since the 2001 Clausura and are the top four in the standings of this year’s Apertura. Three of the four qualified to this year’s CONCACAF Champion’s League. Olimpia was knocked out in the preliminary stage by Arabe Unido of Panama, while Real Espana beat Liberia of Costa Rica to advance to the group stage, where they are third in Group D and missing out on qualification to the knockout phase by goal differential. Marathon got Honduras’ automatic berth to the group stage where it is tied with DC United in points but also behind in goal differential in Group B. As you can see in the player pool below, the national team players from Honduras almost exclusively come from these 4 clubs.

Player Pool

Bold designates named to team roster for upcoming US match.

Pos	Name	Club	Country
GK	Victor Coello	Marathon	Honduras
GK	Ricardo Canales	Motagua	Honduras
GK	Noel Valladares	Olimpia	Honduras
GK	Donis Escobar	Olimpia	Honduras
DF	Maynor Figueroa	Wigan Athletic	England
DF	Víctor Bernárdez	Anderlecht	Belgium
DF	Marvin Chávez	FC Dallas	USA
DF	Erick Norales	Marathón	Honduras
DF	Mauricio Sabillón	Marathón	Honduras
DF	Mario Beata	Marathón	Honduras
DF	Emilio Izaguirre	Motagua	Honduras
DF	Ivan Guerrero	Motagua	Honduras
DF	Oscar Bonieck García	Olimpia	Honduras
DF	Sergio Mendoza	Olimpia	Honduras
DF	Johnny Palacios	Olimpia	Honduras
DF	Osman Chávez	Platense	Honduras
DF	Carlos Palacios	Real Espana	Honduras
MF	Wilson Palacios	Tottenham Hotspur	England
MF	Hendry Thomas	Wigan Athletic	England
MF	Edgar Álvarez	Bari	Italy
MF	Julio César de León	Torino	Italy
MF	Ramón Núñez	Cruz Azul	Mexico
MF	Mauricio Castro	New England Revolution	USA
MF	Roger Espinoza	Kansas City Wizards	USA
MF	Amado Guevara	Toronto FC	Canada
MF	Danilo Turcios	Olimpia	Honduras
MF	Melvin Valladares	Real Espana	Honduras
MF	Emil Martinez	Beijing Guoan	China
FW	David Suazo	Internazionale	Italy
FW	Carlo Costly	GKS Bełchatów	Poland
FW	Luis López	Durango	Mexico
FW	Walter Martínez	Marathón	Honduras
FW	Saul Martinez	Marathón	Honduras
FW	Jerry Palacios	Marathón	Honduras
FW	Georgie Welcome	Motagua	Honduras
FW	Carlos Pavón	Real Espana	Honduras
FW	Allan Lalín	FK Khazar Lankaran	Azerbaijan

If you found this useful, interesting, or helpful, drop a note in the comments and I'll try to do something similar for the Costa Rica match.