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VIDEO: TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras -- On the eve of World Cup qualifying matches that could well prove decisive in continuing the chase for Brazil 2014, Honduras has unleashed a youth revolution of sorts. For the crucial upcoming pair of matches against Cuba, head coach Luis Suarez called no fewer than seven of the Olympians he coached to unparalleled heights at London 2012. For good measure, the Colombian even added three more U-23 players to the ranks.
With World Cup qualifying survival hanging in the balance, the present is undoubtedly a delicate moment for Honduras to call on the youth. But the outstanding performance the Catrachos put in at the Olympics meant generational change was sure to come sooner rather than later.
In England, Honduras surprised just about everyone but themselves by emerging from a group that boasted Spain, one of the pre-tournament favorites. Then the Central Americans gave world heavyweight Brazil all it could handle before bowing out in a spectacular quarterfinal match at historic St. James Park in Newcastle.
Once upon a time, reaching such heights would have been the stuff of legends for a Honduran national team. The times, though, are changing fast in Central America, where Honduras has re-emerged as a power to rival Costa Rica for regional dominance, and even challenge CONCACAF giants Mexico and the United States.
As much as the accomplishment in England was to be revered, the Olympic process has quickly served Suarez and his Honduran side as a building block as the Catrachos look towards improving on South Africa 2010. This time around, just making the World Cup won't satisfy. The Hondurans want to make the same sort of impact in Brazil as they managed in Great Britain.
To have any hope of doing that, though, Honduras may well need full points from their upcoming pair of duals with Cuba, currently propping up the Group C table of the CONCACAF semifinal round. The islanders have already fallen to Canada at home, and while the Hondurans managed a hard won point away to Canada on match day two, the Catrachos are still looking up at the Maple Leafs and group leader Panama.Anything short of full points when they visit the Caribbean on Friday afternoon would do major damage to the hopes for a second straight World Cup bid.
Enter the youth, as Suarez hopes to inject some of the wide-open style of play and never say die attitude of his Olympians into the full team. Mario Martinez, fresh off a move to Major League Soccer powerhouse Seattle Sounders, and Arnold Peralta, an Olympic revelation, may assist in the Catracho midfield.Defenders Orlin Peralta and Jose Velazquez, who helped the Central Americans to their famous 1-0 blanking of Spain in England, are on hand to help steady the defense.
"We're hoping to represent Honduras well," Martinez said after one of his first training session in Seattle last week. "We want to raise the country up very high."
Despite the preponderance of Olympic veterans, Suarez looked beyond the Olympic team for several additional young players. Other youths in the squad include 20-year-old forward Wilmer Fuentes of Marathon and 21-year-old attacker Roby Norales of Motagua, both of whom, along with Orlin Perlata and Olympic goalkeeper Jose Mendoza, will be looking for their first full caps in blue and white. Throw in full team veteran Roger Rojas - just 21 - who failed to make the Olympic team due to the depth of talent the Catrachos enjoy up front, and it's a virtual youth bonanza for the Hondurans.
"I don't think playing on the youth national teams is a condition for calling someone to the national team," the coach said at the press conference announcing the call-ups. "If we did that, we'd have to rule out a number of players. What's important is how they're playing football."
Of course, all the youth is balanced by veteran talent. And it's the veterans who promise to do much of the heavy lifting in the crucial series with Cuba. Honduras' well-chosen Olympic overage players, Jerry Bengston, Roger Espinoza and Maynor Figueroa, are sure to have substantial roles for the full team once again. In fact, given Bengston's goal scoring exploits at the Olympics, Espinoza's defiant performance against Brazil, and Figueroa's English Premier League experience, that trio also looks set to help infuse the Olympic spirit into the full team.
In the case of Espinoza, the Sporting Kansas City midfielder carries a disciplinary suspension into the away match against Cuba, but Suarez said that he feels the midfielder is all the same a vital part of the team: "We feel he's a special case, who deserves the call-up based on all he's done lately," the coach said. "He won't be available for the first match, so we've called in an additional player beyond the 23 that FIFA normally allows."
So as the Canadians and Panamanians square off elsewhere, Suarez will be conspiring to put all the pieces together to boost Honduras to the top of the semifinal table in one fell swoop. If he succeeds, he'll do it largely behind a youth revolution that may have been somewhat overdue in Honduran lands, on the heels of the timeless exploits of the generation of Guevara, Pavon and Nunez.
But after the triumphs of the 2012 Olympic Games, the time for a new generation looks ripe in la hache, just in time to bolster the chase for the 2014 World Cup.
