DENVER, Colorado – After a difficult 2019 Concacaf Gold Cup in which Honduras were unable to advance past the group stage, the Catrachos came back and enjoyed one of the best performances of any side in the region in the 2019-20 Concacaf Nations League with a first-place finish in Group C of League A.
Honduras posted a 3W-1D-0L record, with eight goals scored and just one conceded against a pair of tough group opponents in Martinique and Trinidad and Tobago.
For veteran DF Maynor Figueroa, the progress and improvement shown by Honduras in that period made the suspension of football during the Covid-19 pandemic all the more frustrating.
But now finally Figueroa and his teammates are back on the field in the CNL Finals at Empower Field at Mile High in Denver, Colorado, with the hope that the performances they displayed in the CNL group stage can carry over into the CNLF, starting with Thursday’s semifinal versus the United States.
“We found a way of playing that was on the ascendency. We hit our stride in the Nations League and we were improving, but then the pandemic came along,” said Figueroa in an exclusive interview with Concacaf.com.
“It’s not starting from zero, but it will be important to remember all the good things that were done at that time and continue on that path. We now have a wonderful opportunity against a great opponent, but most importantly we need to focus on our own game,” added Figueroa.
In the time since the pandemic, getting together a full squad for Honduras has proven difficult, but the optimism of the experienced Figueroa, a player with 165 caps to his name, is intact.
“We need to maintain that memory of how we played in those Nations League games. We have played some friendlies since, but the conditions with this pandemic did not allow us to have all of the players that the coach wanted, and that made it difficult. Since then, we have tried to do what the coach wants. Players have come in and they have taken advantage of their opportunities and that is important because in the end, there is good competition within the squad,” concluded Figueroa.
