KINGSTON, JAMAICA – El Salvador GK Henry Hernandez expressed high aspirations ahead of Monday’s Group C opener against Curacao, an encounter that will be the first Concacaf Gold Cup match to take place in Jamaica.
“We start the tournament with high hopes, with all the interest to ascend the standings, match-by-match, to the places where we want to get to,” said Hernandez in a pre-match press conference on Sunday.
The San Salvador native enters the tournament as a debutant, but the 34-year-old is more than ready for the moment with a club career that spans 17 years and has seen him conquer seven domestic league titles.
Current national team manager Carlos de los Cobos, the man who awarded Hernandez his national team debut in 2007, has showed faith in the goalkeeper by naming him the 23-man roster as the team captain.
“I’ve only had the privilege of competing in the [Concacaf] Nations League and I was a goal away from taking the Golden Glove Award,” said Hernandez. “For me it’s a very special challenge, it’s a competition I’ve always wanted to participate in and, overall, to win it.”
La Selecta arrived in Kingston last Tuesday and, despite being unbeaten in the all-time series with a 4W-3D-0L record, has expressed they will not take the Caribbean nation lightly.
“We know it will be difficult, we know it will be complicated but we trust in the quality of the group, we trust each of the boys, both on and off the field, so we hope to give a good version of the national team of El Salvador and leave the name of the country held high,” concluded Hernandez.
