Tonight, football fans and Belizeans generally may be a little downcast because of this evening's loss to Honduras one-nil in the final of the Copa Centroamericana. But football experts agree, it was a very respectable loss. Belize was a decided underdog against a world class Honduran team which was better conditioned, more experienced and more patient. And even with all that - they only scored a single goal in the 67th minute in a game they had to win.
We asked Marlon Kuylen (quee-lyn) of the FFB executive for his post mortem on the game:..
Marlon Kuylen
"The team played very well. Honduras as you know is a very experienced team, they are the defending champions on this tournament, they are a World Cup qualifying - they are playing to go to the next World Cup. Our showing was impressive. The Honduras team as I said are professionals, their patience paid off, they are experience and there were some fatigue on our part."
Daniel Ortiz
"While the country was looking at the game hoping for a Hail Mary, there were some that said that they predicted that we would have lost. How do you respond to them in light of the performance from the National Team?"
Marlon Kuylen
"This 1-0 loss is a very respectable loss. Most people thought that we would get blown-out. In fact they though so when we went into the tournament. It's a very respectable loss, we've done very well. It's not over yet, we will play for the third place match on Sunday and kudos to the Belize team."
Daniel Ortiz
"Sir, what's the competition going to be like for that third place game? We have the next two teams who are going to match up. Tell us about each team if they should have to face us in a third place game."
Marlon Kuylen
"We already tested Costa Rica and you know we loss 1-0 in that match. My prediction is that Costa Rica will go all the way. I think we will face Salvador which I think will be a easier opponent for us because of the size. Our team is bigger than theirs."
As he mentioned, Belize now prepares for the third place game which will be played on Sunday afternoon against either El Salvador or Costa Rica - which you can see live right here on Channel 7.
After that match, the National Team returns to Belize on Monday at around 4 p.m.
They will get a hero's welcome home because Football Federation of Belize has organized a motorcade from Brodies on the Northern Highway, where they will travel down Central American Boulevard, down Cemetery Road to Albert Street, and they end at the Yabra Field. We'll have coverage on Monday.
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