On January 31, Beijing time, the 10th round of the North American Division of the World Preliminary Round, Bonilla scored in the first half, and Seren locked in the second half of the stoppage time, and Salvador counterattacked Honduras 2-0 away. El Salvador won the second world preliminary round, and the whole team celebrated passionately after the game, even shedding tears.
El Salvador is currently ranked 70th in the world and Honduras is 76th. In the first 9 rounds of matches, Salvador won 1, drew 3 and lost 5 to get 6 points, and Honduras 3 draws and 6 losses to bottom with 3 points, and the strength of the two teams is relatively close. Moreover, both teams have basically lost the possibility of qualifying for the World Cup.
Despite this, El Salvador has come up with a better performance. In the 35th minute, Enrico Hernandez's direct pass from the ribs, Bonilla swung past the opposing defender and goalkeeper in the penalty area, and the freehand shot was successful, and Salvador broke the deadlock and led 1-0. The 31-year-old is currently playing for Thai Premier League side Porto Thailand, waiting until round 10 to score his world cup debut.
With a goal ahead, Salvador took the initiative to recover, ceded possession to Honduras, and patiently played counter-attack. In the 92nd minute, Celen used his personal ability to carry the ball into the box, forced a shot at the opposing two defenders, and the ball hit the inside of the far post and into the net, 2-0! El Salvador sealed the victory once and for all.
The moment Seren hit the ball in, his teammates couldn't help but revel, kneeling on the ground and clenching their fists and roaring. The final whistle blew, the Salvadoran team reveled, and some players were excited and tearful. Why would an ordinary World Cup make Salvadoran players so excited?
First, el Salvador reached the final stage of the World Preliminary Round after eight years, and they won two games. Second, El Salvador overthrew Honduras again in 53 years, last time back to the distant June 1969, when they won 3-2. Therefore, this 2-0 match is undoubtedly a team-level victory.
With El Salvador winning, they also overtook Jamaica to 6th in the table and are currently eight points behind Panama at no. 4, not losing all hope of reaching the World Cup. We Global Football believes that the probability of El Salvador achieving a miracle is 0.15%!
El Salvador, located in Central America with a population of just 6.48 million people, has played in the World Cup twice, most recently 40 years ago. It is worth mentioning that El Salvador is actually similar to the level of our national football team, and the value of the whole team is only more than 7 million euros, and the national football team is 15.9 million euros.