Honduras = The Hawaii Rainbow Warriors (Football)

The Hawaii "H"

The Honduras "H." See? They're like twins!

Candidly, Honduras was by far the hardest team in this World Cup field for which to find a match. Los Catrachos ("Catracho" is a word that refers to both the team as well as to Honduran people in general. It is derived from the surname of 19th century General Florencio Xatruch, who successfully defended the country from an invasion by a crazy American lawyer and his private army... this actually happened. "Filibuster" meant something rather different back then than it does now.) have no significant historical accomplishments or memorable players to speak of. They're playing in just their 3rd World Cup ever and have never won a match. They've only gotten past the semifinals of the CONCACAF Gold Cup once (and lost the final).

However, they are a very dangerous team in qualifiers played at their home ground in San Pedro Sula. Los Catrachos have managed to cut down the U.S. and Mexico at home on several occasions. Similarly, Hawaii can also be giant killers at home due to how long it takes to travel there, and the many potential distractions for visitors to the islands. This is especially true for bowl games played in Hawaii. Honduras are also the only international fútbol team (or at least the only one in this World Cup) whose logo is just a giant letter "H."It resembles the logo used by the Rainbow Warriors (who were formerly just the Warriors, and before that the Rainbow Warriors, and before that just the Rainbows). Honduras's largest exports are sugar cane, tropical, fruit, and coffee, so there's that similarity too! (Just a few more straws to grasp at, then we can all move on to more exciting and relevant teams!)

Honduras got a very fortunate draw into Group E, with Switzerland (the weakest seeded team), France (who can be erratic at times), and Ecuador (who had one of their best players die last year). Unfortunately, they looked completely overmatched in their first group game with France, even before they had a player sent off which obviously made their talent disadvantage that much worse. That was hardly unexpected, since France are probably the strongest side in Group E. But even against the less talented Ecuadorian and Swiss teams, Honduras will have to play at a much higher level to have a chance of getting out of the group, or even just their first ever World Cup win.