Most people know what’s been implied when someone says one thing or another is “on steroids.” Bigger, badder, ripped to the gills, literally or metaphorically, positive or not, the meaning is understood. A sense that abilities and characteristics are enhanced well beyond normal because how else could something get that way.
After his team lost to the Los Angeles Football Club last Tuesday night, Elias Burbara, president of the Honduran club Real España, could have used the tired expression to convey what he saw in San Pedro Sula, though it falls short of how he actually felt.
Standing in the tunnel of Francisco Morazán Stadium moments before his group, the current leaders of Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional de Honduras, was about to appear in a continental competition for the first time since 2000, Burbara couldn’t believe what he saw representing LAFC.
Who should arrive to face Real España at a proud moment earned under the success of third-year Costa Rican head coach Jeaustin Campos?
Robots made by artificial intelligence, Burbara thought. Terminators programmed to score goals.
Speaking with Spanish language sports publication Diario Deportivo Diez the day after the Honduran club football’s worst defeat in CONCACAF, Bubara lauded LAFC for the 6-1 destruction. He thanked them for respecting everybody involved by showing up to compete. And, in the process, exposing just how wide the chasm is between the region’s best and his side.
“None of our players was going to catch them,” he said, “but even if you lent our defenders a motorcycle they still wouldn’t have caught them.”
From physically imposing high-performance machines to a traveling contingent of more than 50 staff, including front office and ownership, LAFC set up shop in a manner Burbara had not seen before.
“It’s something totally different than here in Honduras,” he said. “Not even close.”
Trotting out the identical top-choice team that a few days later shut out Lionel Messi and Inter Miami in its MLS opener, LAFC brought its full force down on Real España’s head.
Denis Bouanga’s second hat trick in CONCACAF play and Son Heung-min’s four goal contributions (three assists) in his Champions Cup debut were among the many moments that prompted Burbara to view LAFC as if the club arrived from another dimension.
“They could easily compete in the English Premier League, I think,” he said.
Looking upon LAFC as a “role model,” Burbara intended to absorb what he could about how the Black & Gold operate through the conclusion of the first-round series on Tuesday night at BMO Stadium, and then run an A-Z diagnostic of his organization while initiating a plan to physically transform his players over the next year.
“I have a lot of questions for them and I’m definitely going to ask,” he said.
At a minimum, the two will get to engage for another 90 minutes.
Finishing the job and reaching next month’s Round of 16 against Costa Rican power Alajuelense is all that’s on the mind of LAFC head coach Marc Dos Santos. In the midst of four games over 12 days to start the year, Dos Santos immediately quieted doubters who said he was not the right person to lead this group of players.
“Everybody is going to be important in the run we have,” he said.
Opening his LAFC head coaching ledger in Honduras before slaying Messi in the Coliseum, MDS is positioned to show off the roster’s depth – Amin Boudri, Tyler Boyd, Mathieu Choiniere, Ryan Hollingshead, Nathan Ordaz, Artem Smoliakov, Kenny Nielsen, Ryan Raposo, Jude Terry and others – if he wishes to prior to a return to MLS play in Houston this weekend.
REAL ESPAÑA at LAFC
What: CONCACAF Champions Cup, Round 1, second leg
When: Tuesday: 7 p.m.
Where: BMO Stadium, Los Angeles
TV/Radio: FS2, TUDN/1330 AM, 1230 AM
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