Honduras (National Football)

Honduras goalkeeper Buba Lopez had to be removed from Wednesday's 3-0 loss against the United States at halftime due to hypothermia. 

The temperature at kickoff for the World Cup qualifier was just three degrees Fahrenheit at Allianz Field in Saint Paul, Minnesota. 

Soccer writer Grant Wahl reported that Honduras forward Romell Quioto also left the game due to hypothermia. 

Even before the game was played, the United State Soccer Federation's decision to play the contest in Saint Paul in the dead of winter, when frigid conditions are the norm, drew criticism:

Pressing your geographical advantages in World Cup qualifying is nothing new in the CONCACAF region. Games are played in the sweltering heat in certain locations, or at high altitudes in others. USMNT players are accustomed to hostile crowds on the road. 

But there is a difference between gaining an advantage based on where you play and actively putting players at risk. Given that two Honduras players had to be treated for hypothermia, Wednesday's game clearly veered into the latter. 

Even players like the USMNT's Timothy Weah and Matt Turner didn't seem thrilled with the decision to play the game in Saint Paul, despite the three points:

And Honduras manager Hernan Dario Gomez didn't mince words, either before the game or after.

"It’s not normal," he told reporters before the game. "It's inconceivable that a power in every sense would bring you here to play a game and get a result. ... The game hasn't started, but I can't wait for it to end. Because it's not for enjoying, it's for suffering."

"Football is not possible in those conditions," he added after the contest.

Former Honduras international and Wigan Athletic left-back Juan Carlos Garcia died overnight from leukaemia. He was 29.

The Latics confirmed the news on their official website on Tuesday in a statement, which noted "his wife and family were close to him" when he died. 

Additionally, Wigan relayed comments from club chairman David Sharpe:

"This is such tragic news and we send our deepest condolences as a club to Juan Carlos' family and friends who have had to sit by and watch this sad story unfold over the past few years.

"We have offered what support we can but, despite the best possible treatment at Christie's Hospital, Juan Carlos has tragically not been able to beat this terrible illness. At just 29 years old, he was far too young to be taken and our thoughts are with his family at this sad time."

Garcia was diagnosed with leukaemia back in early 2015, and he eventually returned to Honduras in late 2017.

He represented his country on 34 occasions and made two appearances at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, in Group E clashes with Ecuador and Switzerland. 

Garcia was a youth graduate of Honduran club Marathon, whom he left for Olimpia in 2010.

He joined Wigan on a free transfer in 2013 and made one appearance for the north-west club, against Manchester City in the League Cup, before moving to Tenerife on loan in August 2014. 

So long, Honduras!

Switzerland was the last executioner of Los Catrachos in their worst World Cup appearance.

For the third time in their history, La H left the tournament after the group stage. Luis Fernando Suarez's boys didn't grab a single point, and they became the third team to lose all three games.

Honduras had a rough opening match, as they faced France. The Europeans didn't have Franck Ribery on the roster because he suffered a last minute injury that sidelined him from the tournament.

But Karim Benzema was sharp and ready to tackle the challenge. He scored a brace, which could have been a hat-trick, but his last goal was ruled as an own goal by goalkeeper Noel Valladares.

Honduras never stood a chance. They created two opportunities, sent seven crosses—and failed to complete them all—and won 50 percent of their aerial duels.

To make things even worse their key man, Wilson Palacios, was sent off in the first half after receiving two yellow cards.

Perhaps many thought that the match vs. the Les Bleus was lost even before it started, but the second clash, against Ecuador, would be the perfect opportunity to take a step forward to finally qualify to the knockout stage.

Honduras took advantage of Ecuador's shaky defense, especially in set pieces and opened the score with a powerful header by Carlo Costly.

But Ecuador found the way to defeat Valladares, mainly with Enner Valencia's individual efforts, eventually putting the ball away twice to bury La H's hopes.

The third game was even worse. Switzerland needed to tie or win it to secure their ticket to the knockout stage, and their victim would be Honduras.

Xherdan Shaqiri bagged the opening goal just six minutes into the game with a perfect shot from outside the box.

It would be his first of three goals, which puts him as the second Swiss to score a hat-trick in a World Cup, just behind Josef Hugi who accomplished the feat in 1954 against Austria in the quarterfinals.

What went wrong?

Everything. Honduras conceded eight goals, one less than Cameroon and Australia and is one of three teams that lost all their matches. The Indomitable Lions and the Socceroos are the other two.

However, Honduras sat higher under FIFA's seeding parameters, La H was 34th, Australia 57th and Cameroon 59th.

Nevertheless, their performance was worse, and it was more noticeable because, on paper,their group was easier.

Their rivals in Group E included France that won the 1998 World Cup and qualified to this edition through the playoffs.

Ecuador were making their third appearance in the World Cup and made it to Brazil 2014 thanks to the goal difference. Uruguay also had 25 points, but their goal difference was equal to zero.

Switzerland led Group E of the UEFA qualifying, which included Iceland, Slovenia, Norway, Albania and Cyprus; their best performance in World Cups came in 1934, 1938 and 1954, when they advanced to the quarterfinals.

In return, Honduras had a dream qualifying process, which included a key victory against Mexico at the Estadio Azteca.

Los Catrachos proved to be the weakest CONCACAF team on the tournament. Costa Rica, Mexico and United States won at least one game.

Nervousness was evident, plus they lacked creativity and depth. Different from other teams that didn't have the ball much but managed to surprise their rivals, Honduras played a very traditional and boring football.

If there's a silver lining to this story, perhaps it is that for the first time La H played back-to-back World Cups and that they showed more determination in their confederation, but there's still a long way to go.

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Spain has been eliminated from the men's Olympic tournament after losing their second straight game to Honduras. After losing to Japan 1-0 on the tournament's opening day, Spain failed to score once again and fell to Honduras 1-0. 

Honduras got on the scoresheet early on in the match, as Jerry Bengtson scored in the seventh minute. Bengtson's goal against Spain gave him three for the tournament after he recorded a brace against Morocco in Honduras' first-day draw.

Spain dominated possession against Honduras and out-shot them 24-7. Despite the 24 attempts, only six ended up being on target. Honduras had three shots on target, including the crucial game-deciding goal.  

Spain entered the tournament as a favorite to win gold and bows out in embarrassing fashion. After dominating the world football landscape for the last four years, Spain will not add Olympic gold to their resume.

With Spain out of the tournament, Brazil is the far-and-away favorite of the tournament after playing entertaining football the first two matches. They close out their campaign against New Zealand in a game they should have no trouble with.  

On the final day of group play, Spain plays a Moroccan side fighting for their tournament lives. The match won't matter for Spain, as they cannot advance in any case. They are stuck on zero points, while Honduras (four) and Japan (six) would advance ahead of them even if they won their last match.

It's not only a disappointing result for Spain, but it's surely embarrassing as well after their team talked about adding the gold medal to their list of recent accomplishments.  

Playing their first match in South Florida since 2004, the U.S. Men's National Team gave Jurgen Klinsmann his first win as U.S. head coach as they won 1-0 over Honduras on a rainy Saturday at the Sun Life Stadium. 

Playing on Saturday without their key players, Saturday's match was a comedy of errors as both squads missed their opportunities to produce numerous goals. The United States was missing Landon Donovan while Honduras was without Wilson Palacios. 

Seeking his first win as U.S. head coach, Jurgen Klinsmann started Tim Howard; Steve Cherundolo, Michael Orozco Fiscal, Carlos Bocanegra (capt.), Timmy Chandler; Kyle Beckerman; Danny Williams, Maurice Edu, Brek Shea; Clint Dempsey, and Jozy Altidore. 

Playing the 4-1-3-2 formation, the United States was matched against Donis Escobar; Osman Chavez, Maynor Figueroa (capt.), Jhonny Leveron, Jerry Bengston; Julio Cesar De Leon, Alfredo Mejia, Carlo Costly, Boniek Garcia; Mauricio Sabillion, and Roger Espinoza. Managed by Luis Suarez, Honduras played the 4-2-2 formation. 

In the first 30 minutes of the match, both teams had their share of opportunities to produce a goal. Both teams managed to cancel the other team's attempt until Clint Dempsey scored a goal in the 36th minute. By accepting a pass from Orozco Fiscal who seconds earlier accepted a cross from Brek Shea, Dempsey was able beat his defender Mauricio Sabillion off the dribble before he blasted the ball with his left foot for the goal to give the United States a 1-0 lead. 

Moments following the goal, Honduras tried to advance the ball with an aggressive push until the ball was intercepted. With tempers beginning to mount up Honduras Boniek Garcia was issued a yellow card for his card on Edu. In addition, Jozy Altidore was also given a yellow card as he was booked for dissent.

With Honduras unable to produce a game-tying goal, the first half ended with the United States leading 1-0. Despite the rainy weather, both teams made an effort to attack the opposing goalkeeper. In the first half, the United States had a 6-5 shot and 3-2 corner kick advantage. Despite a 3-2 shots on goal advantage, Honduras wasn't able to produce a goal. 

In the second half, it was evident that weather played a huge factor. The United States tried to take a 2-0 lead when Danny Williams took a shot on goal only to have Donis Escobar block his shot in the 50th minute. A few minutes later, Honduras was able to beautifully advance the ball where Boniek Garcia took a shot on goal from the left side but Tim Howard was in position to make a save. 

Following this sequence of missed opportunities, both the United States and Honduras continued this tragedy. In the 54th minute, Jozy Altidore beautifully passed the ball to teammate Brek Shea who wasn't covered and who have given the United States a 2-0 lead had he not overran the ball. 

With opportunities to tie the match, Honduras missed consecutive opportunities in the 55th & 57 minutes of the match. Boniek Garcia misfired his shot just wide of the post followed by Jerry Bengston's header which sailed wide off the mark. 

In an effort to take a 2-0 lead, Jozy Altidore misfired his his shot and in the 66th minute Oguchi Onyewu rebound of Escobar's blocked shot sailed past the crossbar. Following this sequence of plays, the Honduras wasn't able to capitalize of the U.S. misfortune as they continue to miss their equalizing attempts in the 73rd and 75th minutes. 

In the 85 minute, it appeared Clint Dempsey has scored his second goal of the match as he hammered home his second goal of the match. Unfortunately for him and the fans who were watching, it was disallowed because of he was called for a foul on Maynor Figueroa.

For the remainder of the match, neither team was able to score a goal and the final was a 1-0 United States victory over Honduras. For Jurgen Klinsmann, this was his first of many wins as the Head Coach of the United States Men's National Team.

Following their match against Honduras, the United States will face Ecuador at Red Bull Arena on Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2011 at 7 p.m. ET. Fans will be able to watch Tuesday's International Friendly on ESPN 2, ESPN 3, and Univision. 

Cesar Diaz covers Soccer for LatinoSports.com. He also writes for USSoccerPlayers.com; your source for American Soccer news brought to you by members of the U.S. National Team. Easily accessible, you may reach Cesar at cesar@latinosports.com and at Twitter at @CoveringSoccer.

Playing in front of 18,322 fans at Red Bull Arena on Saturday night, Colombia clearly outclassed Honduras and overwhelmed Los Catrachos goalkeeper and team captain Noel Valladares in their 2-0 dominating win. 

Colombian forward Teofilo Gutierrez was his team's playmaker on Saturday night as he scored both goals in their shutout victory. From the beginning to the end of the match, Colombia attacked the net and had no reservation of slowing down.

Colombia had a 19-14 shot advantage, supplemented by the team's 8-3 shots on goal dominance against Honduras. In the first half, Valladares almost single-handedly prevented Colombia from scoring a goal as he made five of six successful saves.

Unfortunately for Valladares, his teammates were unable to match his intensity for much of the first half. As a result, Colombia was able to move the ball well and attack the net from all angles with reckless abandon and confidence.

Despite the fantastic saves from Valladares, Colombia refused to deviate from their plan of attack and was awarded a penalty kick when Teofilo Gutierrez was fouled in the penalty area in the 24th minute of the first half.

With the opportunity to give Colombia a 1-0 lead, Gutierrez's scored his first goal of the night in the 25th minute when he successfully converted his penalty kick and easily blasted the ball to the back of the net. Fortunately for Honduras, being down 1-0 finally woke the rest of team up as they picked up the tempo and made a strong effort to tie the match.

Honduras best attempt at tying the match was at the 36th minute when defender Maynor Figueroa penetrated the penalty area as he shake-and-baked Colombian defenders. With his opportunity to level the match, Figueroa's shot from 12 yards out missed its mark as it sailed over the crossbar.

In the second half, Honduras squandered another opportunity to tie the match when Jerry Bengston's header hit the post. Moments later, Hendry Thomas earned his second yellow card and automatic red card when he was called for his second reckless foul of the evening in the 51st minute.

Honduras didn't play a man down for very long because Colombia’s Adrian Ramos was given a red card for a reckless foul in the just 54th minute of the match.

Unable to produce a goal in the second half, Honduras fell behind 2-0 when Gutierrez produced his second of the match in the 72nd minute. In a sequence of plays, Colombia's Dayro Moreno accepted a cross from the left side of midfield and attempted to head a goal from inside the box.

Unfortunately for Moreno, his header was blocked by Valledares. Fortunately for Colombia, the rebound fell into the open space where Gutierrez was there as he blasted the ball into the vacant net.

With a 2-0 lead, Colombia had every intention of scoring as they took a couple of shots in their effort to produce another goal. With both teams unable to produce a goal for the duration of the second half, the match ended in a 2-0 Colombia victory.

Following the match, I had the opportunity to interact with some of the fans in attendance and they voiced their approval of the match. Both sides felt that Colombia was the better team and believed the reason Honduras lost was because of their inability to fire the ball towards the back of the net.

Two young fans, Harold and Eduardo, summed it best when they said that Colombia had executed their offense superbly while being able to make adjustments on defense whenever Honduras would attempt to attack the net.

Regardless of the outcome, Saturday night at Red Bull Arena was a spectacular evening for the fans as they cheered and appreciated seeing their national teams battle it out for their entertainment.

Cesar Diaz covers Soccer for LatinoSports.com. He also writes for 5 Points Press & USSoccerPlayers.com ; your source for American Soccer news brought to you by members of the U.S. National Team. Easily accessible, you may reach Cesar at cesar@latinosports.com and at Twitter at @CoveringSoccer.