By Miguel Rapetti
May 28, 2024, 10:34 PM EDT
The technical director of the Honduras national team, the Colombian Reinaldo Rueda, announced this Tuesday the 30 players who will be part of the squad for the start of the Concacaf qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup against Cuba and Bermuda respectively.
Rueda called six players who play abroad and the rest correspond to the local tournament, with the main novelty being midfielder Alexy Vega, who currently leads the Honduran soccer scoring table after scoring 14 goals with the Marathón club.
The big absentee is international Alberth Elis, who came out of an induced coma last February after suffering a severe blow to the head during a match between the French club Girondins de Bordeaux and Guingamp.
The Catrachos will host the Cuban team on June 6, at the José de la Paz Herrera Stadium in Tegucigalpa, and will visit Bermuda on the following June 9, at the Bermuda National Sport Center.
Rueda led the “H” to the 2020 World Cup in South Africa and now his goal is to qualify the Hondurans for the 2026 World Cup, which will be organized by the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Those summoned by Rueda are the following:
Goalkeepers: Luis López (Real España), Edrick Menjívar (Olimpia) and Jonathan Rougier (Motagua).
Defenders: Javier Arriaga (Marathón), Joseph Rosales (Minnesota United/USA), Wesly Decas (Motagua), Carlos Meléndez (Motagua), Luis Vega (Motagua), Carlos Argueta (Motagua) and Marcelo Santos (Motagua); Julián Martínez (Olimpia), Maylor Núñez (Olimpia) and Andy Najar (Olimpia); and Devron García (Real Spain).
Midfielders: Jorge Álvarez (Olimpia), Carlos Pineda (Olimpia), Edwin Rodríguez (Olimpia); Kervin Arriaga (Marathón), Francisco Martínez (Marathón), Alexy Vega (Marathón); Jhow Benavídez (Real España), Carlos Mejía (Real España); Deybi Flores (Toronto FC/Canada), Alexander López (Olancho), David Ruiz (Inter Miami/USA) and Luis Palma (Celtic/ESC).
Forwards: Rubilio Castillo (Motagua), Michaell Chirinos (Olimpia), Antony Lozano (Almería/ESP) and Bryan Róchez (UD Leiria/POR).
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