CURITIBA, Brazil (AP) Eduardo Laing will no longer be mentioned in quite the same way in Honduras.
Up until Friday's goal by Carlo Costly in a 2-1 loss to Ecuador, Laing had been the last Honduras player to score a goal in the World Cup.
That was on June 21, 1982 in the Spanish city of Zaragoza when Laing's 60th-minute goal clinched a 1-1 draw against Northern Ireland. Scoring goals didn't seem so difficult at that time for the Central American team. Earlier in the tournament it had drawn with host Spain 1-1.
Though Honduras came last in its group and failed to qualify for the knockout stages, few would have thought it would take until Friday, June 20, almost 32 years to the day, to score again in a World Cup.
Costly put Honduras ahead in the 31st minute Friday after he latched onto a long ball following a misjudgment from Ecuador defender Jorge Guagua.
The goal ended a 511-minute drought and saved Honduras from posting some World Cup records. Without a goal in its previous five World Cup matches- its other appearance after 1982 was in 2010 - Honduras matched the tournament record of Bolivia and Algeria.
If Costly's goal had come just seven minutes later, Honduras would have been on its own in terms of minutes without a goal at a World Cup. As it stands, it is second behind Bolivia's 517 minute stretch.
Honduras coach Luis Fernando Suarez said he wasn't interested in the milestone, just in the fact that his team lost 2-1. Languishing in bottom spot in Group E after two defeats, Honduras has only a very slim chance of qualifying for the knockout stages.
