There are three brothers on the Honduran team which is an historic first at a World Cup. Forward Jerry Palacios joined the team before it’s loss to Chile on Wednesday. Jerry was called into the team to replace injured player Julio Cesar de Leon. He joins brothers Wilson and Jhony.
It was poignant move, considering that a fourth younger brother, Edwin, was found dead last year after being kidnapped in 2007. Edwin, 16, was taken from his parents’ house in La Ceiba on the Atlantic Coast by armed bandits in October 2007. A ransom of $500,000 was paid by his family but he was not returned. His body was discovered in a remote rural area a year ago. Two imprisoned members of the Mara 18 gang led investigators to a his remains.
“Everything I do in football is for Edwin. He is watching over me,” said Wilson Palacios who plays for Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League.
Edwin was a talented player who had already played for Honduras’ under-23 team and the under-17s.
His mother Orfilia Suazo, had pleaded on national TV, asking the kidnappers to “release my little Edwin Rene.”
Sadly, kidnapping of the relatives of soccer players is common. In the span of of five months in 2005, the mothers of five Brazilian player, including Robinho and Fabiano were kidnapped.
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