The Honduras vs Costa Rica Gold Cup quarterfinal will be played this Sunday, July 21, 2013 (4:00 PM Pacific) at the M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore. Honduras and Costa Rica are in for a Central American classic this Sunday, where the winner will access the semifinals. Honduras reached the quarterfinals after finishing 1st in Group B with 6 points; Costa Rica finished 2nd in Group C, also with 6 points.
Both Honduras and Costa Rica enter the quarterfinals with 2 wins and a loss. They are also similar both offensively and defensively. Honduras has scored 3, and received 2, while Costa Rica has scored 4 and received 1. Looking at the stats, Sunday’s game will be a very close encounter between two teams that have good defenses but poor scoring.
Honduras has had a series of poor performances in the tournament. They are playing with an alternate squad, and they finished 1st in their group, but they have still to face a superior opponent. The game against the ‘bicolor’ will serve to understand their real level. Defensively, Honduras is set, but offensively they have to improve drastically, as their current form will not be sufficient to defeat the United States or Mexico if they continue their run in the Gold Cup.
Like Honduras, Costa Rica has fared well on defense, while offensively they have been regular at most. They faced weak opponents like Belize and Cuba, where they were only able to score 4 times; as a perspective, the United States scored 10 goals against those same rivals. That shows that Costa Rica’s alternate squad is very weak on offense, therefore attacking will be their main focus against Honduras.The winner of this quarterfinal will face the winner between the USA and El Salvador in the semifinals.
Honduras vs Costa Rica Prediction
The Honduras vs Costa Rica quarterfinal match will be intense and physical between two soccer rival nations. Honduras was not all spectacular in the group stage, and on Sunday they face their biggest challenge thus far into the competition. Meanwhile, Costa Rica also has several aspects to fix, but their defense was superb in Group C by only allowing 1 goal; the winning goal against the USA ten minutes before the end of the match. Sunday’s match will have no favorite, therefore the best counter-attacker will win. The Honduras vs Costa Rica match will end 1-1 in regular time; Costa Rica will win in penalty kicks.
Honduras vs Costa Rica TV Schedule
The Honduras vs Costa Rica Gold Cup match will be televised this Sunday, July 21, 2013 on Fox Soccer Channel and Univision at 4:00 PM Pacific.
