TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras - Reinaldo Rueda, who qualified Honduras for the World Cup for the first time since 1982, resigned as manager of the Catrachos on Wednesday.

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The 53-year-old Colombian, who has coached that country's senior team as well as its under-17, under-20, under-21 and under-23 teams, leaves Honduras after more than 3½ years.

"It's better that we take a step to the side because the atmosphere and environment is not the best," Rueda said reading from a prepared statement while appearing with his coaching staff. "I didn't want to be the reason for the lack of unity due to what's been happening in Honduras following the World Cup.

"We wanted to leave through the front door and not through the back door."

Despite making the World Cup finals for only the second time, Honduras lost all three games in South Africa and was eliminated in the first round.

"I made a chart of the factors why we didn't have a good World Cup. We had 11 injuries and that had never happened to us," Rueda said. "We wanted that fourth match but we can't. We had the choice and we didn't take advantage of it. We were in the toughest group."

Rueda said he was offered a contract to remain as coach of Honduras on May 1, more than a month before the start of the World Cup, but he didn't want to be "an opportunist."

"We never spoke about money," he said. "I always had the desire to continue but I didn't want to divide the country."

Rueda joins Mexico's Javier Aguirre of Mexico in stepping down. Of CONCACAF's three World Cup qualifiers, only Bob Bradley of the United States remains on the job.

"I have two offers from Central American national teams, one from the UAE (United Arab Emirates) and one from Ecuador," Rueda said. "If I leave Honduras, I can't continue in Central America. I couldn't be that disrepectful."