Belize vs. Honduras in UNCAF football match
The National A Team squared off with Honduras in that country’s capital last night in the Union Centro Americana de Fútbol (UNCAF) Nations Cup. The tournament is played every two years for the CONCACAF national teams of Central America: Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama. The tournament has been held since 1991 and doubles as a qualifying event for the CONCACAF Gold Cup. This year’s competition is being hosted by Honduras which also came first in 1993 and 1995 and placed in the top four on five other occasions since the inception of the tournament. Last night Channel Five aired one of the opening games in which Belize played against Honduras.
The tenth edition of the biennial Central American championship is being played at Estadio Nacional Tiburcio Carias Andino in Tegucigalpa. The eleven day UNCAF tournament began Thursday night with a double header event which featured Belize versus host country Honduras. The tournament is divided into two groups. Group A features El Salvador, Honduras, Belize and Nicaragua. Group B features current champ Costa Rica, Guatemala and Panama.
The game started fast. Honduras’ Carlos Pavon won a penalty after drawing a foul from Belize’s Shannon Flowers. In the twenty-fifth minute, Guevara pulled the ensuing spot kick just wide of the left post. Though he missed the kick, opportunity knocked twice for Guevara. That second chance came seven minutes later when Belizean Harrison Roches connected with Honduras’ Mario Guerrero as he crossed into the area. Roches got a yellow card and that set up the penalty shot for Guevara. This time Guevara shot to the same side, but was able to tuck the ball inside the left post past goalkeeper Woodrow West. Honduras got its first goal. The first half ended with Belize, zero, and Honduras one.
Guevara was expelled in second-half. Belizean Goal Keeper Woodrow West opened up the second half with a prayer. He played excellent defense and kept out most attempts by the invaders. Honduras’ Carlos Pavon then set up the shot for Walter Martinez in the sixty-first minute of the game and the score became Belize zero and Honduras two. Belize was down but not out. A couple shots failed to connect to the goal post but the team was getting closer to scoring. Near the end of the game, in the fortieth minute of the second half, Belize’s Lisbey Castillo made an auto goal. He kicked the ball off the Honduran defender and it sailed up and into the goal post. That would be the team’s only goal and time ran out for team Belize.
At the end of the night El Salvador and Nicaragua drew with one goal each Belize lost to Honduras with a score of 1-2. The results put Honduras atop Group A with a second round of matches Saturday. Group B is to play Friday night with three-time defending champion Costa Rica facing Panama. Reporting for News Five, Jose Sanchez.
