SAN PEDRO SULA, HONDURAS—There’s no mistaking game day here.
Not only was a national holiday extended through Tuesday for the Canada-Honduras World Cup qualifying match, but the media coverage was intense and exhaustive.
With the match set to kick off at 2 p.m. local time, at least two morning TV news programs began broadcasting live from Estadio Olimpico shortly after 7 a.m. On another channel, a man dressed in a replica of the white jersey Honduras wore in the match was demonstrative as he took phone calls from viewers discussing the game.
It turned out to be prophetic.
At the stadium, the party started early and went on well after the Hondurans’ 8-1 victory.
Under the watchful eye of upwards of 400 police officers inside the stadium and another 50 outside, fans began arriving hours before kickoff. Guns, plentiful in a city with the highest per capita murder rate in the world, could not be brought in by fans.
Canadian reporters, who had been given assurances they would be protected in the press box — which was actually in the open, surrounded by fans — did, however, have a police officer with a very large rifle standing just a couple of metres away.
But the fans were festive and welcoming even well before kickoff when the result was in doubt. Many thanked the Canadian reporters, including the Star, for coming.
One woman came over shortly after the foreign reporters settled into their seats and asked to take a picture. She then gave a thumbs up.
A full two hours before kickoff, the stadium was three-quarters full. By the time the two sides walked out onto the pitch to a deafening roar, fans had taken every seat and spilled into the aisles.
There was polite applause for “O Canada.” But every single person in the stadium appeared to be singing the Honduran national anthem, a display that sent chills down the spine.
Each Honduran goal was greeted with an ear-splitting roar. Despite all the energy exerted before kickoff, there was enough left to celebrate all eight times.