They divided honors. A goal by Darlin Mencía in extra time allowed Honduras to start the stage under the direction of Spanish coach José Francisco Molina with an agonizing draw (2-2) against a Peru that continues to resist victory with Brazilian Mano Menezes on the bench.
The Peruvian ‘bicolor’ seemed to have victory within their reach after going ahead on the scoreboard on two occasions with a double from Jairo Vélez, who made his debut as a scorer with the Andean team.
But when everything seemed to be in Peru’s favor, Mencía’s goal came in the 94th minute, when he headed a loose ball inside the area into the net.
The tie rewarded the brave proposal with which the Honduran team started the contest, which, as coach Molina has never tired of repeating over and over again in the preview, wants to be the protagonist with the ball.
But if the ‘catrachos’ took control of the ball from the start, the first to strike was the South American team, which after 7 minutes of play took the lead on the scoreboard with a goal from Jairo Vélez, an Ecuadorian midfielder who has become a Peruvian national.
A goal incomprehensible without the skill and speed of Joao Grimaldo who, after overtaking his pair on the left wing, reached the baseline to assist Yoshimar Yotún, who left the ball facing Vélez to make it 1-0.
A result that did not discourage Honduras, which tried to turn the situation around through possession, although José Francisco Molina’s men lacked a little more bite to generate real danger.
Quite the opposite of Peru, which generated numerous problems every time it managed to get the ball to the wings, especially the right where Vélez and the Peruvian-Danish winger Oliver Sonne were a constant headache for the Central American defenders.
However, when the second Inca goal seemed closer, the tying goal for Honduras came, in a play in which Kervin Arriaga made clear all the immense talent he possesses in his right leg.
The Spanish Levante player served an excellent ball in the 45th minute for Luis Palma to make it 1-1 after getting rid of the Peruvian goalkeeper Pedro Gallese with a subtle maneuver inside the area.
A tie that barely changed the script of the match in a second half in which Honduras continued to err on the side of excessive academicism, with a lot of possession of the ball, but without the speed and depth to generate real danger.
Unlike the Peruvian team, which needed a simple corner kick to take the lead again (2-1), thanks to a new goal from Vélez who headed into the nets in the 58th minute from a corner taken by Jairo Concha
A score that coach Molina tried to turn around with up to six substitutions in the final quarter of an hour, which served to give the ‘catrachos’ the spice they had lacked until then, but they missed their mark.
Until Darlin Mencía scored in extra time the final 2-2 that allowed Honduras to start the Molina era with a draw against a Peruvian team that still has not won under coach Mano Menezes.
This is how they aligned
– Peru (2): Pedro Gallese, Oliver Sonne (Marco Huamán, m.46), Miguel Araujo (Fabio Gruber, m.46), Alfonso Barco, Marcos López (César Inga, m.75); Jairo Concha (Adrián Quiroz, m.68), Jesús Castillo (Erick Noriega, m.46), Yoshimar Yotún (André Carrillo, m.46); Jairo Vélez (Jesús Pretell, m.82), Alex Valera, Joao Grimaldo (Kenji Cabrera, m.68).
– DT: Mano Menezes (Brazilian).
– Honduras (2): Edrick Menjivar, Cristopher Meléndez, Giancarlos Sacaza, Julián Martínez (Luis Vega, m.76), Joseph Rosales (Mencía, m.76); José Reyes (Deybi Flores, m.60), Kervin Arriaga (Edwin Rodríguez, m.81), Rigoberto Rivas (Exon Arzú, m.81); Dereck Moncada (Alenis Vargas, m.60), Jorge Benguché (Erick Puerto, m.76), Luis Palma (Mike Arana, m.81).
– DT: José Francisco Molina (Spanish).
– Goals: 1-0, m.7: Vélez. 1-1, m.45: Palma. 2-1, m.58: Vélez. 2-2, m.94: Mencia.
– Referee: Guillermo Cuadra Fernández (Spain). He showed a yellow card to Concha, Castillo and Inga for Peru; and Reyes and Rivas for Honduras.
– Incidents: Friendly international match held at the Ontime Butarque stadium in Leganés (Madrid).
(With a report from Javier Villanueva, from EFE)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQCSNtNI4lg
