TOKYO, Japan – Honduras began their 2020 Tokyo Olympics with a narrow 1-0 defeat to Romania in Group B play on Thursday at the Kashima Stadium in Kashima, Japan.
Honduras enjoyed a solid start and mustered the first scoring chance of the night when a right-footed shot from Carlos Pineda took a slight deflection and forced Romania GK Mihai Aioani into a tough save.
Later in the half in the 39’, Jorge Benguche was on the verge of breaking the deadlock in favor of the Catrachos when he managed to round Aioani, but from a narrow angle Benguche’s shot was cleared at the last moment by the Romanian defense.
The lone goal of the game came in the dying moments of the first half via a Romania corner kick. The ball was curled in deep into the Honduras area and Elvin Oliva’s attempted headed clearance instead went into the Honduras net, making it 1-0 to Romania.
Substitute GK Michael Perello, who replaced starter Alex Guity at halftime, made several big saves to keep Honduras to within a goal, but the Catracho attack were unable to land anything on target to truly trouble Aioani in the Romanian net by the time the final whistle sounded.
Honduras will look to bounce back in their next match on Sunday against New Zealand.
