Roger Espinoza and the Honduras Olympic Team have given hope to Honduran soccer fans with their first two results during the group phase of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. Honduras first tied Morocco 2-2 on July 26 in the Group D opener. Espinoza started and played the full 90 minutes in the first Olympic appearance of his career.
Three days later, Honduras upset a Spain side featuring three players from the team that recently won Euro 2012 to increase their chances of securing a spot in the knockout phase. Espinoza earned the game-winning assist to lift Honduras to the 1-0 victory. Fellow Major League Soccer professional Jerry Bengtson, from the New England Revolution, has scored all three goals for Honduras so far in the tournament. His game-winner against Spain was scored on Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea following a well-struck cross from Espinoza.
Sporting Kansas City travels to New England for their second meeting in two weeks on Saturday. Both Espinoza and Bengtson are expected to miss the match, pending results from their final game in the group phase on Wednesday against Japan.
Espinoza will miss the group stage finale due to caution accumulation after acquiring a yellow card in each of the team's first two games, but a win or draw on Wednesday would qualify Honduras for the next round. However, with a loss to Japan, Honduras would have to hope for Morocco to draw or lose to Spain. Honduras will be eliminated if they lose to Japan and Morocco win by a two-goal margin.
