MIAMI.- Honduras is looking to follow up their third-place finish at the 2019−20 Concacaf Nations League finals with a memorable run in the 2021 Concacaf Gold Cup, their 15th appearance in the tournament.
Uruguayan manager Fabian Coito called up a squad of younger players to the 2019 tournament that provided his national side experience in a tough group that included quarterfinalists Curacao and eventual semifinalists Jamaica.
This time around Coito has called a more balanced squad that is looking to better their group stage finish two years ago and perhaps even match the final appearance of that historic 1991 team -- Honduras’ best finish in the competition.
“I think that combination of the coach following up and giving them the opportunity for this Gold Cup will be very important,” said Honduras team captain and Houston Dynamo man Maynor Figueroa via a Dynamo press conference. “I think that with what we did in the Final Four we realized that we are up for great things, but we have to go from there and aim higher.”
Figueroa, Honduras’ all-time leader in national team appearances, is making his seventh Gold Cup appearance and returns with a feeling of unfinished business after getting as far as the semifinals on two occasions. He was one of three players over the age of 30 called up by Coito in 2019.
Returning to the Gold Cup for the first time since the 2017 edition is Houston Dynamo MF Oscar Boniek Garcia for his sixth participation in the competition. Garcia and Figueroa are the only players on the 2021 Honduras roster with over 100 caps, experience that they will look to share with the younger players on route to a lengthy run.
“Sacrifice on the behalf of the players,” said Garcia via a Dynamo press conference on what can be expected from Honduras at the Gold Cup. “Of course, being able to aspire to the Cup, which is what we really want, to obtain that cup that we have been denied and we hope that the opportunity can be given to us to conquer it.”
