Widely expected to be the whipping boys of Group H, Honduran hopes of achieving respectability at the World Cup could lie with Tottenham midfielder Wilson Palacios.

A powerful, energetic and box-to-box midfielder, Palacios can also play on the right-flank and is one of the country’s most distinguished players in their history.

 

However, the success of helping his national side reach their first finals since 1982 was marred by the kidnap and murder of his 16-year-old brother by an armed gang in his homeland.

Palacios contemplated retiring from a career that began at Olimpia, but the midfielder soldiered on and helped Tottenham clinch fourth place in the Premier League this season.

A loan spell at Birmingham three years ago was Palacios’s first taste of English football, and his reputation for a tough tackling and unforgiving midfielder grew at Wigan.

It prompted Spurs boss Harry Redknapp to spend £13m for his services in January 2009.

To overcome such a personal tragedy and produce regularly for his club and country demonstrates that Honduras, though unlikely to qualify from their Group, have a real gem in their ranks.