MIAMI, Florida – A pair of Central American sides will square off on Tuesday night with a berth in the Scotiabank Concacaf League quarterfinals at stake, as CD Marathon of Honduras host Guatemala’s Antigua GFC at the Estadio Olimpico Metropolitano in San Pedro Sula, Honduras.
Antigua GFC reached the Round of 16 by eliminating Independiente of Panama in the Preliminary Round in a dramatic 4-2 penalty shootout win following a 0-0 draw.
GK Victor Ayala came up with a number of big stops in both regulation and the shootout to lead his team to the next round.
The Round of 16 are uncharted waters for Antigua in what is their second SCL appearance, so it will be imperative for the likes of Josue Martinez and Nicolas Martinez to finish their chances against the Catrachos.
Marathon will make their 2020 SCL debut after qualifying with the best aggregate record among non-champion clubs in Honduras during the 2019-20 season.
El Monstruo Verde are appearing in their second SCL and will be motivated to avoid a repeat of last season’s disappointing elimination to Comunicaciones when a late goal conceded resulted in a 3-2 aggregate defeat.
Marathon boast a squad with a number of promising young players, including MF Edwin Solano Solany, a 24-year-old player who scored in last season’s SCL and has already been capped by the Honduran National Team.
While Tuesday’s contest marks the first ever SCL meeting between the two sides, Marathon have faced Guatemalan competition before in the SCL in the aforementioned 2019 Preliminary Round series with Comunicaciones.
Kick-off is scheduled for 10:30 PM ET and can be seen via TSN.ca/TSN App (Canada), TUDN (USA-Spanish), FS1 (USA-English), ESPN 2 (Central America) and Fox Sports 2 (Mexico).