Cuba and Honduras will battle for a place in the top two of Group B when both sides face each other on Thursday in a CONCACAF Nations League fixture at Estadio Felix Sanchez in the Dominican Republic.
On matchday two, the Cubans collected their first-ever victory in League A, defeating Suriname 1-0, putting them a point above La H for second, with the latter winning 4-0 over Grenada.
Match preview
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Halfway through the new Nations League campaign, Yunielys Castillo has to be thrilled with what his side have displayed, going unbeaten to this point of the tournament and currently positioned to make the quarter-finals.
After conceding the second-most goals at the Gold Cup this past summer (nine), the Cubans have been much more disciplined on the back end to this point in Nations League play, without a goal conceded thus far, while giving up just one in their last seven group fixtures in this competition, although those first five encounters came in League B during the 2022-23 campaign.
With their victory at home to Suriname last month, they maintained their dominance versus Caribbean nations at this tournament, unbeaten in seven successive fixtures against that region. However, Thursday will be the first time they face a Central American side in this competition.
Los Leones del Caribe have lost four of their previous five matches played against teams from Central America, failing to score in each of those defeats, with their lone victory over that stretch coming in an away friendly versus Belize last year (3-0).
It has been more than a half-century since Cuba claimed a victory over the Hondurans, defeating them 3-1 in a CONCACAF Championship fixture in November 1971, while they have lost five successive matches to La H in all competitions by a combined score of 13-0.
The Cubans have not trailed a Nations League game since losing their League B opener versus Guadeloupe (2-1) in June 2022, though their 20th-minute strike on matchday two of this season's tournament was the first time they ever found themselves ahead in a League A fixture.
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The third time was the charm for Reinaldo Rueda, who picked up his first victory since being reappointed as the Honduran manager last summer.
It took his side until the tail end of the first half on matchday two to finally break through against Grenada, the first time this team had found the back of the net since rehiring Rueda, in what was a dominating performance, with Honduras having 73% possession and firing 12 efforts on target, without conceding a single shot on target to the opposition.
That 4-0 triumph was the most significant margin of victory for Los Catrachos since beating Grenada by that same score at the 2021 Gold Cup, as this side have been on the receiving end of some lopsided results this year, with two of their four defeats being by three or more goals.
It was also just the first time since a 1-0 victory in March versus El Salvador that the Hondurans had managed to score the opening goal, with Los Catrachos having won their last four matches when doing so.
Honduras have only lost one of their four Nations League contests played in the Caribbean since the first edition of this tournament in 2019-20, conceding a goal or fewer in each of those encounters, with that lone defeat coming on matchday one this season against Jamaica (1-0).
La H have not lost an encounter in which they have netted multiple times in nearly two years, when they squandered a 2-0 lead, conceding three goals in the final 13 minutes, as they suffered a 3-2 defeat at home to Panama in a November 2021 World Cup qualifying match.
Team News
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There will be a few Cubans selected for this encounter seeking their first senior caps on the international stage, including Reidel Sanchez, Karel Perez and Ismel Morgado.
Alejandro Delgado and Christian Valiente made their first appearances for Los Leones del Caribe against Suriname, replacing Daniel Diaz and Yasniel Matos in the second half of that encounter.
Willian Pozo-Venta scored his third international goal off a nice counterattack on matchday two, and Raiko Arozarena shut the door after that, stopping the three Suriname shots that he faced for his second successive clean sheet in this competition.
Romell Quioto has featured in three successive matches for his club side CF Montreal after missing most of the MLS campaign with a hamstring injury, and he was one of 13 foreign-based players selected to the Honduran side for this encounter, with Alberth Elis, Bryan Rochez, Rigoberto Rivas and Kervin Arriaga being some of the other big names joining La H.
Daniel Carter made his first senior appearance for Honduras in their previous Nations League encounter, with the striker, who features locally for Real Espana, replacing captain Anthony Lozano late in the second half.
A brace from Edwin Rodriguez and goals from Lozano and Luis Palma were more than enough to give the Hondurans a comfortable triumph over Grenada, with Edrick Menjivar collecting a clean sheet on that occasion.
Cuba possible starting lineup:
Arozarena; Morejon, Piedra, Cavafe, Corrales; Sanchez, Perez, O. Hernandez, Pozo-Venta, Matos; Paradela
Honduras possible starting lineup:
Menjivar; Maldonado, Vega, Najar; Alvarez, Acosta, Rodriguez, Lopez, Rivas; Quioto, Elis
We say: Cuba 0-3 Honduras
We have to believe the Cubans plan will be to try and suffocate Honduras by hanging back, though the Central Americans have brought an experienced side with proven goalscorers to this encounter, and we think that experience will eventually find a way through Cuba's backline, which could open the floodgates for La H.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joel Lefevre
