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Those waiting for confirmation that Douglas Martinez has signed for New York Red Bulls II won't have to wait too much longer. The tournament is more or less into its final week now, with the Classification Stage due to run from February 27 to March 3, and the final due to be played on March 5. Martinez is reportedly due to join NYRB II after Honduras is finished with the CONCACAF U-20 Championship, and that will be soon enough.
How soon will depend on how Los Catrachos fare in the Classification Stage. The tournament has now divided into two groups of three. As the runner-up in Group A, Honduras is grouped with the winner of Group B, Panama, and Group C runner-up, Costa Rica. Finish in the top two of those three, and the Hondurans have a U-20 World Cup to look forward to in May. Win the group and there's a CONCACAF title to chase on March 5.
But first things first: Panama. Los Canaleros were lucky-loser entrants to this tournament: Guatemala was bounced out of the competition due to its Federation's dispute with FIFA, and Panama was the next-best team in qualifying. For a team that isn't really supposed to be here, Panama has looked good: winning its group with a perfect record and beating the USA along the way.
Count Los Canaleros, therefore, as favorites to at least get to the World Cup from here. But Honduras was arguably unlucky not to get a point out of its group stage match against Mexico (Los Catrachos missed a penalty). This is an intriguing match-up between two teams who should be feeling confident after the group stage.