How big is Andy Najar in Honduras?
Well, his family members are interviewed regularly by thedomestic sporting press and kids in his hometown dream of growing up to ‘belike Andy’. And all that wasbefore Najar’s 114th minute assist on Gerson Rodas’ game-winninggoal punched Honduras' ticket to the 2012 Olympics on Saturdaynight.
“I’m so grateful to god for this opportunity,” Najar said ina Spanish-language interview Monday. “You play in these games for the love of your country and its people andeveryone who supports us. We madehistory, and these are moments that I’ll never forget.”
The Olympics will be Najar’s biggest platform yet, but it’sunlikely that the added pressures of the Summer Games will bother him much. This winter, Najar spent time trainingin North London with English giants Tottenham Hotspur. The experience, which took Najar as faraway from home as he’d ever been, made the 19-year-old a better player andprepared him for the close scrutiny of international competition.
“It helped my game a lot,” Najar said of his two-week stayat fabled White Hart Lane. “Thespeed of the game was so fast, and now when we go over there this summer I’llalready have an idea of how things work in England.”
Najar’s continued development was never more evident than onthe sequence that is quickly becoming a thing of legend in Honduran soccercircles. With an Olympic bid onthe line, and El Salvador’s defense tiring, the indefatigable winger made thebiggest play of his young career. Locked in a one-on-one battle with El Salvador’s left back, Najarcreated just enough space to chip a cross over goalkeeper Yimmy Cuellar. Rodas – streaking in on the far post –had little to do to seal El Salvador’s fate.
After the match, Najar and his teammates celebrated wildlyon the field at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park. The reactions were similar across Honduras, especially in Najar’shometown where his relatives dared not miss a minute of the action.
“I admit I watched the game against El Salvador alone,” Andy’sgrandmother told Honduran newspaper Diez. “At the end, I was very happy.”
“This is a unique moment,” added his uncle. “We never imagined this. It is extremely difficult for a playerfrom this area to triumph.”
But triumph Najar has, and now he wants more. Despite Honduras’ underdog status, theprecocious midfielder believes that his country can shock the world come August.
“We have a great team,” Najar explained. “We will expect to go far, that is thegoal. And of course, to win amedal.”
