Honduras es un equipo fuerte: Bocanegra
The U.S. team doesn’t usually hold press availability a few hours after arriving in a foreign country for a World Cup qualifier, but due to the intense interest in the match in Honduras, U.S. captain Carlos Bocanegra and assistant coach Mike Sorber (who speaks Spanish due to his several years playing in the Mexican First Division for Pumas), held a short press conference this evening at the team hotel. The event was attended by about 25 journalists and at least seven TV cameras, as well as one TV hostess who just had to have her picture taken with Bocanegra after the PC broke up.
A few selected quotes from Bocanegra:
On the arrival in Honduras and the match:
«It was an easy trip in. During our bus ride over here, people were waving to us on the streets and you can see there is a lot of excitement for the game. On Honduras, they are a good team. This will be our fourth time playing them this year, so both teams are familiar with each other. We are aware of their record at home during in qualifying, 8-0, so we know it’s going to be a difficult match. Both of us are trying to qualify for the World Cup on Saturday night so we’re excited.»
On the recall of Honduran and Inter Milan forward David Suazo:
«It’s going to be a difficult game with him or without him. Obviously, with Suazo back, he’s a good striker, playing in Italy. We know his qualities, but there will be no surprises between the teams. We know each other well. We know whose missing for their team and they know whose missing for our team. It’s going to be a difficult match no matter what.»
On if there is extra security for the team here in Honduras because of the situation:»Whether we play in Central America or Europe, the security is the same everywhere for us. It’s not a big difference. We come down here to concentrate on the game and we don’t worry about all the other stuff.»
When asked to predict which three of the four top teams in the Hexagonal would qualify outright:
«There’s a lot to play for in these last two games, it’s tight at the top, but honestly, we are worried about ourselves and we’ll let the other stuff work itself out, but we do feel Honduras is a very strong team.»
