Preview: French Guiana vs Honduras,CONCACAF Nations League League A
Soccer News 2024/10/09 03:41
For an inexperienced side at this level, French Guiana have proved to be a formidable defensive unit, conceding just once in the Nations League this season, a 1-0 defeat to Nicaragua.
They picked up their first point in Group A on the second matchday, holding one of last year's quarter-finalists to just two shots on target.
While they have been clinical at the back, conceding just once in their last three games, Jean-Claude Darcheville's men have failed to find the back of the net in three of their last four matches in all competitions.
French Guiana have not suffered consecutive defeats in the same Nations League campaign since a 1-0 loss to Grenada in 2019, followed by a 2-0 defeat in Belize the same year.
A defeat on Thursday, combined with a draw between Jamaica and Nicaragua, would officially end their chances of reaching the knockout stages of the tournament.
In their first and only previous meeting with the Hondurans, French Guiana recorded an impressive 3-1 victory in a Gold Cup play-off match in March 2015, but lost 3-0 in the return leg in Honduras to fail to qualify for this competition.
After a strong opening game in which they defeated Trinidad and Tobago 4-0, Honduras paid for their sloppy defending in the second half against Jamaica.
The defeat brought to an end a four-match winning run at home in the group stage of the tournament, as they lost their first Nations League match in Honduras since June 2022, when they went down 2-1 to Curacao.
Counting their 2-0 Nations League quarter-final defeat to Mexico at the Estadio Azteca last season, Los Catrachos are winless in their last four away games in the competition, scoring just once in that time.
Reinaldo Rueda's side are just one point off a top-two spot in Group B, and a win on Thursday would put them through to one of the automatic knockout stages.
Since scoring five unanswered goals in a 6-1 thrashing of Bermuda in a 2026 World Cup qualifier in June, the team have lost their last two matches in all competitions when level at half-time.
Honduras have won their last two matches against French Guiana by a combined score of 6-0, but have not won on Caribbean soil since beating Curacao 1-0 in a 2022 Nations League match in June.
Five of the players who started French Guiana's game against Nicaragua remained in the starting eleven for the second matchday: Mickael Colino, Gregory Lescot, Loic Baal, Thomas Vancaeyezeele and Ludovic Baal.
Fei-Hong Faham replaced Donovan Leon between the sticks against Trinidad and Tobago and made two stops to keep a clean sheet in only his second appearance for the national team.
Honduras made three changes to their starting eleven between the first and second matchdays, with Luis Lopez replacing Edrick Menjivar between the sticks and Cristopher Melendez coming in for Maylor Nunez.
David Ruiz was the other newcomer to replace Alexander Lopez in the starting eleven, and the Inter Miami midfielder scored the only goal against Jamaica.
French Guiana possible starting lineup:
Leon; Colino, Lescot, Letard, Marmot; Nemouthe, Lo. Baal, Vancaeyezeele, Lu. Baal, Galas; Sarrucco
Honduras possible starting lineup:
Menjivar; Najar, Maldonado, Vega, Rosales; Rodriguez, Arriaga, D. Flores, Palma; Ruiz; Lozano
Prediction:French Guiana 0-3 Honduras
French Guiana VS Honduras stream and TV listing
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CONCACAF Nations League
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