Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up
NBCSports Header Logo

Overlooked and Underloved: Panama vs. Honduras

Honduras Panama Wcup Soccer

Panama’s Blas Perez celebrates after scoring during a 2014 World Cup qualifying soccer game against Honduras in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, Friday, June 8, 2012. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)

AP

No MLS action this week? No worries. We’ll adjust.

American fans will be glued to the United States against Antigua & Barbuda on Friday evening. Then, maybe you’ll focus on Guatemala-Jamaica or Canada-Cuba. That would be wrong, we tell you.

The real action is Panama-Honduras. Estadio Rommel Fernández. Get there. Or, more likely, watch it on television.

The reasons?


  • The battle for the top of group C. Honduras clinches the Hex with a win. Panama puts itself in prime position to qualify for the final round, with only a match against group whipping boy Cuba remaining.
  • Plenty of MLSers in action: Honduras has Victor Bernardez, Marvin Chavez, Roger Espinoza, Oscar Boniek Garcia, Mario Martinez, and Jerry Bengtson. Panama boasts the dynamic duo of Gabriel Gómez, Blas Perez.
  • Honduras wants revenge after Panama beat them 2-0 in San Pedro Sula.
  • The timing works: It’s after the U.S. match, a nice comedown after the Stars and Stripes (hopefully) earn three points.

Okay, you’re right. This is a stretch. Watch US-A&B. Then celebrate. Then, take a deep breath, and don’t sleep on the two Central American nations. What, you have something better to do on a Friday night? We certainly don’t.