Honduras - Team Fact Sheet

10 Funky Facts about the Honduran World Cup Football Team

When you think of Honduras, you think of...uh...perhaps beaches or timber or hurricanes. Or perhaps the fact that their military just kicked out the president because he wanted to change the constitution.

OK, so it's hard to think of much, but that just means that a sport like football takes on a huge dimension in the lives of the 8 million Spanish-speaking Hondurans who worship their national team. And happily, that team has done them proud by qualifying for the 2010 World Cup.

But even if you don't know much about the country, you better get to know the football team, because they're sure to make an impact.

So here's the top 10 facts you need to know about the Honduran football team:

10. The Honduran football team is nicknamed Los Catrachos (patriotic name for Hondurans), La Bicolor (the two-colour, after the flag and uniform) & La H.

9. Honduras played in its first World Cup in 1982 when they were bounced in the First Round. They were scrappy though. They drew 1-1 against Spain, 1-1 against Northern Ireland, but then lost to Yugoslavia 1-0. Almost there guys.

8. This will be the Hondurans' second World Cup appearance. To get there, they just scraped through by beating El Salvador 1-0 to edge out Costa Rica for a spot. Great effort.

7. Honduras is coached by the Colombian Reinaldo Rueda. A former Physical Education professor and coach of Colombia, Rueda joined Honduras in 2006. He's already made a major impact, getting them qualified for their first World Cup in years. Sweet!

6. Honduras' captain is Amado Guevara who also has the most caps (130). Nicknamed El Lobo (The Wolf), he's been an attacking midfielder on the national side since 1994.

5. Carlos Pavón is Honduras' top scorer with 56 goals. But check this out: the dude has bounced around to 20 different clubs in the last 18 years! Settle down, bro! He's also played for his national side since 1993, bringing real quality. Keep it up, Flight Risk.

4. Honduras' first international match was also their biggest defeat: Guatemala slaughtered them 10-1 in 1921. But look who's got the last laugh now! Honduras is a top-40 team, going to the World Cup. Guatemala is ranked 125th - in no-where's ville. Revenge is sweet, isn't it La H.

3. FIFA ranked Honduras 39th before the 2010 World Cup, though they have been as high as 20th back in 2002. Their appearance in the 2010 World Cup suggests they're climbing the ladder once again.

2. Honduras is the only Central American football team to defeat & eliminate Brazil in a tournament (Copa América 2001 in quarterfinals). Might they do the same at the World Cup?

1. Honduras was the first Central American football team to score 2 goals at a World Cup tournament. They got one against Spain and then one against Northern Ireland in 1982. They're sure to get a couple more this time too.