Cuba and Honduras will battle for a top-two finish as they face off in the CONCACAF Nations League. The Cubans defeated Suriname 1-0 on matchday two to earn their first-ever victory in League A. It moved them a point ahead of La H in second place after that team’s 4-0 victory over Grenada.
Preview (Cuba vs. Honduras)
Yunielys Castillo must be delighted with the performance of his team at this point in the new Nations League campaign. They have gone undefeated in the competition and are in a position to advance to the quarterfinals. The Cubans, gave up the second-most goals at the Gold Cup this past summer (nine). They have been much more disciplined defensively in Nations League play up to this point. They have conceded just one goal in their last seven group games. Their first five games took place in League B during the 2022–23 season.
They haven’t lost in seven straight games against Caribbean teams in this tournament thanks to their triumph over Suriname at home last month. However, Thursday will be their first encounter with a Central American team in this competition. Los Leones del Caribe have failed to score in each of their past four defeats against Central American opponents. Their lone victory during that time span came in an away friendly against Belize last year (3-0).
Cuba last defeated Honduras 3-1 in a CONCACAF Championship match in November 1971, more than 50 years ago. Since then, La H has defeated Cuba five times in a row across all competitions. Since losing their League B opening to Guadeloupe (2-1) in June 2022, the Cubans had not trailed. It was a dominant performance from his team, with Honduras holding 73% of the ball. They had 12 shots on goal while allowing no shots on goal to the opposition. Since defeating Grenada by the same score at the 2021 Gold Cup, Los Catrachos’ 4-0 victory was their biggest margin of victory. However, this team has suffered some lopsided defeats this year. Two of their four losses came by three goals or more.
Team News
Several Cubans have been chosen for this match, including Reidel Sanchez, Karel Perez, and Ismel Morgado. They are all vying for their first senior caps on the international stage. In the second half of that match against Suriname, Alejandro Delgado, and Christian Valiente made their Los Leones del Caribe debuts in place of Daniel Diaz and Yasniel Matos. On matchday two, Willian Pozo-Venta scored his third goal for his country following a superb counterattack. Raiko Arozarena shut the door on Suriname’s last three shots to earn his second straight competition clean sheet.
Romell Quioto was one of 13 foreign-based players chosen to the Honduran side for this match, with Alberth Elis, Bryan Rochez, Rigoberto Rivas, and Kervin Arriaga among the other notable names joining La H. Quioto has appeared in three straight games for his club side CF Montreal after missing most of the MLS campaign with a hamstring injury. In their previous Nations League match, Daniel Carter, a striker who plays locally for Real Espana, earned his maiden senior Honduras debut, coming on late in the second half to replace captain Anthony Lozano. The Hondurans defeated Grenada easily thanks to goals from Lozano and Luis Palma, as well as a brace from Edwin Rodriguez.
Although Honduras has brought an experienced team with proven goal scorers to this match, we have to assume the Cubans’ strategy will be to try and suffocate Honduras by hanging back. However, we believe that experience will eventually find a way through Cuba’s backline, which could open the floodgates for La H.
Cuba 0 – 3 Honduras
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