SAN PEDRO SULA, Honduras.- Hondura´s Real Espana declared itself ready for the two challenges that await them in the last semester of the year, the Torneo Apertura of Honduras and its debut in the Scotiabank Concacaf League 2018.
La Maquina, returns to the Concacaf competitions since it was last in the 2014-15 edition of the Scotiabank Concacaf Champions League.
The team based in San Pedro Sula, which has just celebrated 89 years of foundation on July 14, has played four preparation matches and one official game. In the friendly matches, they lost 1-2 against Lobos UPNFM, 1-2 against Municipal of Guatemala, and then beat two goals to one to Honduras Progreso and tied 1-1 in his last test against Municipal of Guatemala.
In their first match for the 2018 Hondura´s Copa Presidente on Sunday at the John F Kennedy Stadium in Ocotepeque against FC Congolon, Real Espana won three to zero. Ivan López penalty kick, Mario Martinez, and Mikel García scored the goals of the triumph.
Before facing Tauro FC in the first leg of the Scotiabank Concacaf 2018 Round of 16 final, Real Espana will play the opening match of the Apertura Tournament against Juticalpa FC on Sunday at the Estadio Juan Ramon Breve but the coach, Uruguayan Martín García - who guided the Realeza to his last title in the 2017 Clausura - his team of collaborators have already studied their adversary in the SCL.
"We have been analyzing Tauro for some time now with my coaching staff and we know that it will be a tough opponent. It is a good team, in these instances of Concacaf are complicated matches for both. For us, as we do for them, we will be very hard for them. " "We will analyze until the last day of how your strategy will be to face that first match in Panama and be able to define at home."
One of the challenges that Real Espana will have to overcome both in the local League and in the SCL 2018 is the lack of definition that suffered in the Clausura 2018 tournament in Honduras that cost not to be able to repeat the title as the players aspired and the body technical. The coach Martín García is aware of this.
"The past tournament one of the deficits that the team had was the lack of a goal. We are a team that handles the ball very well, with a lot of depth, with many arrivals by the bands, but it is a reality that we are lacking that player who has enough peace to be able to get it. I would be more worried if we were a team that did not generate anything. " The Uruguayan said.
With two fronts in the agenda, a reinforced team with three players with international trajectory as the defender Johnny Leveron, the midfielder Alfredo Mejia the Uruguayan forward Maximiliano Callorda, García believes that his team is up for great things.
"The team has been evolving in good form in what is logical of a preparation stage. Our fifth match was for the President Cup that is already official and we won 3-0, we are going well "finished García.
Real Espana will play the first leg of the second round of SCL 2018 against Tauro FC on August 2 at Estadio Agustin Muquita Sánchez and the return on the 9th of the same month at the Metropolitan Olympic Stadium in San Pedro Sula.