Trio of Palacios brothers create World Cup first

Wilson, Johnny and Jerry Palacios have set a World Cup record thanks to Jerry’s call-up into the Honduran squad in place of injured Torino star Julio Cesar de Leon.

Jerry Palacios, a striker with Chinese club Hangzhou Greentown, was an emergency call-up after Leon had to pull out with a leg injury on the eve of the tournament, and now the Central Americans have three brothers in their squad – a first in World Cup history.

All three hail from the town of La Ceiba, and Jerry, the eldest at 29, joins Johnny, 24, and Wilson, the 26-year-old who plays for English Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur.

Wilson has had injury problems of his own to deal with after straining a leg muscle in the run-up to Wednesday’s match with Chile which will open the Hondurans’ Group H programme. But he is expected to be fit in time.

“He is pretty much 100 percent and right now it seems he will be fine,” said Carlos Velasco of the squad’s backroom staff.

But Jerry’s promotion into the squad came at the price of a bodyblow for De Leon, nicknamed “Rambo”, who has taken his injury badly.

“Rambo is feeling very down and is very sad at missing out on the World Cup,” team doctor Raul Perez told reporters.

FIFA communications official Pekka Odriozola told AFP: “I can confirm we received a request to okay the switch and it has been accepted.”

Under FIFA rules a squad switch has to be made 24 hours before a country’s first match at the tournament.

For the Palacios family, the call-up of Jerry is a boost to morale three years after younger brother Edwin was kidnapped in the politically troubled Central American country.

Although a 150,000-dollar ransom was paid, his body was discovered in a remote rural area.

“Everything I do in football is for Edwin. He is watching over me,” Palacios told Honduran reporters on arrival in South Africa, where Honduras are preparing for only their second appearance in a World Cup.