The Portland Timbers return to CONCACAF Champions League action this Tuesday as they host defending Honduran Liga Nacional 2014 Clausura champion CD Olimpia at Providence Park (7pm PT, FOX Sports 1, TICKETS).
This will be the third group stage CCL match for Olimpia as they previously beat Alpha United twice—once in Guyana winning 1-0, and once in Honduras winning 6-0. They currently sit atop Group 5 with six points. In the opening of the 2014 Liga Nacional Apertura domestic campaign, Olimpia is in second place with a 3-1-2 record and +10 goal differential.
But what else do we know about this Honduran team? Here’s XI notes to learn ahead of Tuesday’s match.
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CD Olimpia, founded in 1912, originally began as a baseball club but eventually morphed into a soccer team.
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Known as Los Leones (the Lions) or Los Merengues (for their traditional white kits), their club crest includes a lion at the center wearing a crown.
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One of the most decorated teams in Central America, Olimpia has won 28 Liga Nacional championships—the most in all of Honduras.
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Their passionate supporters group is known as La Ultra Fiel or “The Faithful.”
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The team’s home field is Estadio Nacional Tiburcio Carías Andino. Nicknamed El Nacional, the stadium first opened its doors in 1948 and is currently shared with cross-town rival CD Motagua. The two teams’ intense derby battles are known as the Clasico Capitalino. The Timbers will play their final group stage match against CD Olimpia at El Nacional on October 21, 2014.
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Olimpia is no stranger to international competition having won the CONCACAF Champions Cup—the earlier version of the CCL—in both 1973 and 1998. They were also runners-up in 1985 and 2000. They qualified for the 2014-15 CCL by winning the 2014 Liga Nacional Clausura.
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Olimpia has retired only one player’s number in over a century of play: #11 for Wilmer Velásquez. Velasquez had four different stints with Los Leones, scoring—depending on what stats you follow—over 200 some goals in over 450 competitive Liga Nacional matches. He is the all-time leading goalscorer for Liga Nacional.
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Defender Javier Portillo, midfielders Carlos Will Mejía and Romell Quioto, forward Anthony Lozano and goalkeeper Noel Valladares were all part of Honduras’ 2014 FIFA World Cup team. Valladares was the national team captain for all three matches for Los Catrachos’ Group E play.
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In fact, Valladares is one of the most well-known Honduran players ever. Beginning as a third-choice goalkeeper with CD Motagua in 1996, Valladares scored 3 goals as an emergency striker. Returning to his goalkeeping duties, he went on to play 368 matches for Los Aguilas before coming to cross-stadium rival CD Olimpia in 2006 where he has since appeared in 427 matches. Valladares has 122 caps for the Honduran national team and played in the 2010 and 2014 FIFA World Cups. Playing for Honduras in the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup in the U.S., Valladares was named Best Goalkeeper of the tournament.
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Forward Fredexion Elvir had a hat trick against Alpha United in their 6-0 CCL victory in Honduras while Lozano had a brace (see highlights above). Lozano has trialed with Tottenham Hotspur in the EPL and has had a loan stint in the Spanish second division.
- In the current CCL format, Olimpia has a record of 13-9-6 over the course of 28 games played (group stage and knockout) since 2008. Their best CCL finish was as a quarterfinalist in the 2010/11 edition. Olimpia are 0-1-3 lifetime against MLS competition in the current CCL format.
