International Friendly Preview: Honduras v Turkey

Honduras hope Thursday’s friendly with Turkey will mark the start of an impressive run of form that will be carried into the FIFA World Cup.

With the nation preparing for their third finals appearance, and a second in succession, Luis Suarez and his men will see the clash with Turkey as a chance to provide a warning of their credentials.

Honduras are yet to win a match at a World Cup finals, having drawn two and lost one of their group fixtures in 1982, with just a goalless draw against Switzerland to show from their trip to South Africa four years ago.

Friday’s game in Washington is the first of a trio of friendlies ahead of their Group E opener against France on June 15 and Suarez is clear on his team’s objective.

“We are putting an order in Honduras and that is to get to the next round, the second round,” he told Republica Deportiva.

“We know it is a reality that is not easy to realise, but we have players with great professionalism.”

After lining up against Turkey, Honduras will face Israel on Monday, before their tournament preparations conclude against Roy Hodgson’s England side on June 7.

They qualified from the CONCACAF section in relative comfort, claiming the last of the automatic places by four points from nearest challengers Mexico, having won four of their 10 matches in the final group phase.

Carlos Costly and Jerry Bengtson were two of the main reasons for their successful campaign, both scoring four times to account for eight of the team’s 13 goals in total.

Turkey will have to keep that duo under wraps if they are to prevail on Thursday, with Fatih Terim’s side enjoying positive recent results as they look forward to their UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying campaign having failed to make it to Brazil.

After a 6-1 thumping of minnows Kosovo last week, a 2-1 win against Republic of Ireland on Sunday showed their ability to overcome sterner tests.

Ahmet Ilhan Ozek and Tarik Camdal were the goalscorers in Dublin, and Turkey have now won their last five matches, all of which have been friendlies, a run which may have helped to assuage the disappointment of failing to reach the World Cup for the third time in succession.

Terim has used a number of young, inexperienced players in recent games as the country look to build for the future and avoid further qualification failure.

Terim and his men will also take on the United States on June 1 before their squad will break up for the close-season ahead of the Euro qualifiers beginning in September, but for now their focus will be on Thursday’s game and a chance to extend their winning run to six matches.