Our prediction for this match:
Saturday’s friendly at Stadio Toumbas pits together Greece and Honduras, the two teams who face each other for the first time on the international stage. The Greeks are preparing for the World Cup qualifier against Georgia, meaning that boss John van ‘t Schip is likely to mix the squad in Saturday’s clash. Talented PAOK attacker Christos Tzolis (19) is pushing for a start.
Honduras boss Fabian Coito Machado, on the other hand, will use this match to test as many players as possible. Los Catrachos are likely to adopt a cautious approach against Greece, and, taking everything into account, we believe that there is a big value in betting on draw. As always, a man to keep an eye on in the away team will be Jerry Bengtson, who has netted 21 goals in 57 appearances for the Honduras national team to date.
Highlighted Player (Stefanos Kapino):
Stefanos Kapino is a professional footballer who plays for Greek side Olympiakos as a goalkeeper. He started his senior career at Panathinaikos, Olympiakos’ bitterest rivals and he made 41 league appearances for Oi Prasanoi. Kapino played for Bundesliga side Mainz in the past as well, but he made no more than two league appearances for the German outfit in the 2014/2015 season.
In 2015 he 196-cm-tall shoot-stopper signed a three-year deal with Olympiakos for a fee of €2 million, but he played just three league games for the Thrylos in the 2015/2016 Greek Superleague campaign. Stefanos Kapino, though, won the national championship with Olympiakos in 2016, while clinching the 2014 Greek Cup with the club.
Kapino is a footballer of Albanian descent, but he represents Greece on the international stage. On 15 November, 2011 he made his debut for the Greek national team in a friendly match against Romania. He became the youngest footballer to play for Greece at senior level (17 years and 241 days).
Highlighted Team (Honduras):
Honduras are a national football team from Central America that qualified for the World Cup finals for the first time in 1982. Los Catrachos did well to share the spoils with hosts Spain at the showpiece tournament, but they eventually failed to book their place in the knockout stages.
Honduras participated at the 2010 and the 2014 FIFA World Cup finals as well, but they failed to impress at the tournaments in South Africa and Brazil. Winning of the 1981 CONCACAF Championship is undisputedly the team’s biggest success and it has to be noted that they finished the final round in top position in the standings, two points clear of El Salvador and three above Mexico.
Los Catrachos were beaten by Canada in the 1985 Gold Cup final, with the team finishing the 1991 tournament as runners-up as well. Wilson Palacios, who used to play for the likes of Tottenham Hotspur and Stoke City as regarded as one of the most notable footballers who represented Honduras national team on the international stage.