Suarez claims blame for Honduras´ poor form

Honduras coach Luis Fernando Suarez claimed the blame for his team’s 4-2 loss to Israel on Sunday lies with him.

Israel struck three times in the second half at Houston’s BBVA Stadium to hand Honduras their second loss in the space of four days with Suarez’s men set to open their FIFA World Cup campaign against France on June 15.

In their past six games, Honduras have won just once.

Honduras have just one more pre-tournament friendly against England before they face France in Brazil but despite losing to Turkey and Israel in the United States, Suarez remained calm.

“I’m not worried,” Suarez said after Sunday’s match.

“I know we have time. The bad tactical moves were my fault. Although I didn’t want (the loss), it was predictable.”

Suarez started a large number of fringe players versus Israel and struggled to break down the UEFA member’s 4-5-1 formation.

Although the introduction of experienced quartet Maynor Figueroa, Jerry Bengtson, Carlo Costly and Victor Bernardez at half-time saw Honduras cancel out Eran Zahavi’s opener two minutes after the break, Suarez’s men remained poor and deservedly lost.

“If anybody is responsible for the lack of cohesion, it’s me,” Suarez said.

“We had to run some risks to avoid problems at the Cup. Although I don’t like how we performed, some of it was predictable. I’m the blame for all of this loss and I take responsibility.”

Israel coach Eli Guttman added he expected Honduras to be in better shape with the World Cup just around the corner.

“I’m sure almost two weeks before the World Cup, they should be better,” Guttman said.

But Suarez maintained the friendly was not a complete waste of time, underlining the importance of Luis Garrido’s cameo off the bench, with the Olimpia defensive midfielder having been struggling with an injury.

“It was not all bad, Luis Garrido played and we’re glad that’s good,” the 54-year-old coach said.

“Also some individual performances left me very satisfied.”

Honduras will take on England in Miami on Saturday, while they will face Ecuador and Switzerland after their World Cup opener versus France.