It's pretty simple for Honduras: earn a draw in Jamaica and advance to their second consecutive World Cup. Lose and become huge Costa Rica fans, hoping that they can keep Mexico from a win that would vault El Tri into third and the Catrachos into a play-off with New Zealand.
Jamaica vs. Honduras, 2014 World Cup qualifying: Preview and TV schedule
Honduras need just a point to qualify for the World Cup, and they may not even need that.
Rich Schultz
Luckily for Honduras, Jamaica don't have a thing to play for. They have been mathematically eliminated from World Cup contention, a failure the Reggae Boyz were resigned to even before it was confirmed by Friday's loss to the United States. Jamaica didn't call in a handful of their best players for these two matches, instead choosing to transition to a younger team in hopes of building a team that can compete in the 2015 Gold Cup and the following year when 2018 World Cup qualifying begins.
There is a faction that believes Jamaica’s young and untested squad has more to prove than the experienced side would have, but regardless, this isn’t the best the Reggae Boyz have playing with the edge one comes to expect from World Cup qualifying. It is a weakened squad -- at least until 2015 when this could be their best team -- and Honduras are plenty happy with it.
The Catrachos have an excellent team and are coming off of a stereotypical Honduras win over Costa Rica. They were hardly ambitious, but they were physical and took the chances they had to come away 1-0 winners. That figure to be the case again on Tuesday, where Luis Garrido and Wilson Palacios are expect to hold down the center with Roger Espinoza pinching in to make things unbearable on the Reggae Boyz through the middle.
Honduras’ steel in the center should keep Jamaica from being able to strike on the counterattack, where they can be deadly with their blazing speed, and if Honduras can successfully keep them from striking quickly then they should be well on their way to at least a draw. That is all they need anyways.
One point to the World Cup. Again.
Match date/time: Tuesday, October 15; 9:30 p.m. ET
Venue: Independence Park, Kingston, Jamaica
TV: BeIN Sport Espanol (U.S.)
Streaming: BeIN Sport Play (U.S. and Canada)
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