Hurting Luis Palma Makes Celtic Vow After Honduras Collapse

Luis Palma has perhaps been the Celtic player most in the headlines over the course of this international break.

The winger netted a tidy brace for Honduras in the first leg of their CONCACAF Nations League quarter-final last week.

Coming off the bench with half an hour to go, the 24-year-old broke the deadlock with a close-range strike before putting his country in the comfort zone in the last 10 minutes with a fine finish into the far corner.

Palma was named in the latest EAFC 25 Team of the Week alongside Erling Haaland and Cristiano Ronaldo for his antics despite his country’s collapse in the second leg against Mexico.

Indeed, Honduras lost 4-0 away from home in the return tie. Palma was hooked at half time, culminating a harrowing evening for the 24-year-old.

He was asked post-match if he will now look to work hard when he returns to Celtic: “Yes,” he frankly told Deportes TVC (via RecordSport).

“Work, there is no choice but to work and to keep looking for opportunity.”

The next international break isn’t until March 2025. Honduras will look to bounce back after their capitulation in Mexico: “We had to play an intelligent Game and we didn’t,” said Palma.

“We’ll keep working and look for the mistakes in this Game to continue to work. It’s very hard to lose. No one likes it. We are hurt as a group but we have to move forward.

“There are many play-off Games coming to go to the World Cup. We are aware of what we stopped doing and what we can do.”

Given Celtic’s upcoming gruelling fixture run, Palma will likely get an opportunity to impress Brendan Rodgers soon, although, this season at least, he is continually failing to take his chances at club level. It feels like he is a square peg in a round hole at Parkhead.

The winger always impresses for his country, but his Celtic slump over the past 12 months has been quite something.