FIFA U-17 World Cup 2017: Honduras get ready for the big event as they confirm 21-man squad

The Honduras U17s
The Honduras U17s

What's the story?

Honduras have announced their 21-man squad for the FIFA U-17 World Cup that will take place in India next month. Honduras qualified for the tournament by finishing second in the group stages of the 2017 U-17 CONCACAF Championship and progressing till the group tie-breakers, missing out on the finals after a 3-0 loss to the USA.

In case you didn't know...

Honduras have managed to qualify for the last six FIFA U-17 World Cups in a row with a quarterfinal position as their best ever finish. Los Catarachos won their first-ever match at a FIFA U-17 World Cup in the 2013 tournament which took place in the UAE, and believe it or not, this was actually their third tournament in their history. It took them seven matches in six years to win their first game, an interesting stat.

The heart of the matter

Head coach Jose Valladares, who has coached the team on two previous occasions in 2013 and 2015, has plenty of experience and also coached the Honduras team that had their best result in their history in 2013. The players that he has chosen to represent the nation are as follows:

Goalkeepers: Carlos Banega (Comayaguga), Jordy Castro (Real Espana), Alex Riveira (Motagua)

Defenders: Axel Gomez (Olimpia), Gustavo Vallecillo (CARDVA), Santiago Cabrera (Honduras Progreso), Alexander Bahr (Atlanta Silverbacks), Cristian Moreira (Vida), Emilio Campos (UdeG)

Midfielders: Carlos Mejia (Vida), David Cardona (Real Juventud), Gerson Chavez (Real Espana), Joshua Canales (Olimpia), Everson Lopez (Motagua), Alessandro Castro (Atlanta Silverbacks), Luis Palma (Vida)

Forwards: Kenneth Martinez (Motagua), Reynaldo Bodden (Victoria), Jorge Flores (Orientacion Maritimo), Asaf Cacho (Motagua), Patrick Palacios (Real Espana)

What's next?

Honduras have been drawn in quite a difficult group along with the likes of Japan and France, so progressing will be no easy task. Honduras will play their opening game against Japan on 8th October at 8 pm IST. The game will take place at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium in Guwahati. All three of Honduras' group games will take place in the same venue.

Author's take

The Honduras squad this year is definitely not lacking in the talent department. The extremely talented Carlos Meija will definitely be one to watch as the player scored in four out of five games in the U-17 CONCACAF Championships. Meija also managed to score a hattrick among his impressive tally of seven goals, winning the Golden Boot despite Honduras not winning the tournament.

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Edited by Abhijit Bharali