Rony Martinez (white jersey) will help Olimpia on the offensive end during the 2018 Honduran Clausura and the 2018 Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League. (Photo: Mexsport)
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras – Olimpia announced Friday the signing of forwards Rony Martinez and Diego Reyes.
The duo are expected to add offensive punch to a side that recently lost forward Roger Rojas and midfielder Luis Garrido to Costa Rica’s Alajuelense, after being eliminated from the 2017 Honduran Apertura playoffs at the semifinal stage.
Martinez, who was with China’s Baoding Yingli Yitong for the last six months, is a proven scorer in the Honduran league. With Real Sociedad, he topped the goal charts in the 2013 Clausura (12 goals) and was the overall top scorer in the 2013/14 (22 goals) and 2016/17 (22 goals) campaigns.
The 30-year-old has netted two goals in 15 appearances for Honduras, competing in the CONCACAF Gold Cup (2013: 4 games/1 goal v Haiti) and Copa Centroamericana (2014: 2/0).
Reyes’ career has been spent mostly in the Honduran league (Real Sociedad, Marathon). Earlier this year, he had a short spell with Greece’s Larissa, but returned to play with Real Sociedad in the 2017 Apertura, striking for six goals in 18 games.
Similar to Martinez, the 6-foot-2 Reyes has international experience with Honduras. In order to earn some of his 13 caps, the 27-year-old has played in the CONCACAF Gold Cup (2013: 1/0) and the Copa Centroamericana (2017 champion: 3/0; 2014: 3/0).
Olimpia won the 2017 Scotiabank CONCACAF League and will compete in the Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League for the 10th consecutive time next year. The Leones will open play in the Round of 16 against the New York Red Bulls (1st leg: February 22, home; 2nd leg: March 1, away).
