Andy Najar out of Copa Centroamericana for Anderlecht

Luis Fernando Suarez, head coach of the Honduran National Team, has told Honduran press that Andy Najar will not be on the team that is competing in the Copa Centroamericana due to the fact that Suarez does not want to interfere with Najar's time with Anderlecht. The top five teams from the Copa Centroamericana, which runs from 18 January to 27 January 2013 and was formerly known as the UNCAF Nations Cup, advance to this summer's CONCACAF Gold Cup; that being said, it is five teams out of seven participants, with Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama the nations who contest this Cup. You would think that Belize and Nicaragua would be the easy favorites to fail to qualify, but stranger things have happened.

This admissions seems to go against what D.C. United general manager Dave Kasper told the press. In a statement to Steve Goff, among others, Kasper said "We've been discussing a training opp for Andy [Najar]. Nothing finalized yet." Now, the Honduran press likes to sometimes jump the gun on rumors, but I see no real reason that Suarez would say that Najar is out of a tournament and at Anderlecht if it was not true.

However, none of this clarifies the question of whether or not Najar's time at Anderlecht is a training opportunity or a full blown trial. The semi-secrecy around it could very well be because D.C. United is trying to downplay the full nature of it, or it could legitimately be because all of the details are not yet ironed out. My gut feeling, based on nothing, is that this is closer to a full trial than D.C. United would like to admit and there is a scientifically significant possibility that we could lose Andy Najar this offseason. Regardless of what happens, Najar's time in the District is limited and we shall see where he ends up.