Wilson Palacios

Wilson Roberto Palacios Suazo (born 29 July 1984) is a Honduras Association football who plays for English Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur F.C.. Wilson Palacios played as a midfielder for previous club Wigan Athletic F.C., but at Club Deportivo Olimpia Wilson Palacios played regularly on the right of midfield.

Club career

Victoria

Palacios, along with Wilson Palacios brothers (Milton Palacios Suazo, Jerry Palacios, Johnny Palacios and Edwin Palacios), started Wilson Palacios career as a association football with Club Deportivo Victoria, from which all five players were later transferred to Club Deportivo Olimpia.

Olimpia

Wilson Palacios made 102 appearances and scored 32 goals for Club Deportivo Olimpia. Wilson Palacios became one of the idols on the team and quickly started to attract international attention after winning five league titles with Club Deportivo Olimpia in the Liga Nacional de Fútbol de Honduras 2002-03 Apertura tournament, as well as the Liga Nacional de Fútbol de Honduras 2003-04 Clausura, Liga Nacional de Fútbol de Honduras 2004-05 Clausura, Liga Nacional de Fútbol de Honduras 2005-06 Apertura and the Liga Nacional de Fútbol de Honduras 2005-06 Clausura tournaments. Wilson Palacios is especially remembered for scoring a goal from the half-way line against Club Deportivo Marathón in the final minutes of a game in 2006 to win the Liga Nacional de Fútbol de Honduras 2005-06 Clausura tournament and become champions of Honduras.

After having a very successful career in Honduras Palacios looked to achieve greatness in the European leagues. On 14 July 2007 Palacios announced that Wilson Palacios would travel to Serbia to go on trial with Red Star Belgrade for a period of one to two months. Wilson Palacios only stayed for about a month and despite impressing during Wilson Palacios stay, Wilson Palacios did not join the club due to economic reasons. The club refused to pay the cost that Club Deportivo Olimpia demanded. After Wilson Palacios trial in Serbia, Wilson Palacios traveled to France to try Wilson Palacios luck with AS Monaco FC. However, due to unknown reasons, Wilson Palacios did not sign a contract and returned to Honduras.

Then, reports in the Honduran press stated that Palacios had gone missing during August 2007, until Wilson Palacios father stated that Wilson Palacios was actually in London having a trial period with Premier League club Arsenal F.C..

Birmingham City

On 24 August 2007 Birmingham City F.C. announced that after a recommendation from Arsène Wenger they were offering Palacios a trial with a view to a six month loan (football), which was agreed on 31 August 2007. Wilson Palacios made Wilson Palacios debut for Birmingham against Liverpool F.C. at Anfield in a 0–0 draw on 22 September. In October 2007 manager Steve Bruce, who likened Palacios to a young Paul Ince, said that Birmingham intended to make Wilson Palacios loan a permanent transfer. but the player's absence following Wilson Palacios brother's kidnap meant that new manager Alex McLeish had not seen enough of Wilson Palacios to sign Wilson Palacios permanently.

Wigan Athletic

On 11 January 2008, Palacios re-joined Bruce at Wigan Athletic F.C. for an undisclosed fee, and made Wilson Palacios debut the following day against Derby County F.C.. Wilson Palacios became an important piece in Steve Bruce's scheme and was linked to the likes of big clubs like Manchester United F.C., Liverpool F.C., FC Bayern Munich, and Real Madrid C.F.. Then on 16 January 2009 Steve Bruce declared that the deal with Tottenham Hotspur F.C. for Palacios was "virtually agreed". However, Wilson Palacios bemoaned the loss of Wilson Palacios "right arm" and declared Wilson Palacios didn't want to lose "one of Wilson Palacios best players" after Wilson Palacios has become "one of the best midfield players in the country". However, despite Bruce's attempts to keep Wilson Palacios at the JJB Stadium, the deal was confirmed five days later.

Tottenham Hotspur

Despite having reservations about moving to North London from North West England where Wilson Palacios was settled, Palacios agreed personal terms on a five-and-a-half year contract with Tottenham Hotspur F.C., committing Wilson Palacios future to the club until 2014. On January 21, 2009, the club announced to the London Stock Exchange that they had agreed a fee of £12 million for Palacios and that the player had agreed personal terms and passed Wilson Palacios medical, but that the transfer could only be completed once Wilson Palacios received a work permit. Wilson Palacios made Wilson Palacios Tottenham debut in a 3–2 defeat to Bolton Wanderers F.C. on 31 January, and assisted with the second goal after Bolton goalkeeper Jussi Jääskeläinen stopped Palacios' low shot and teammate Darren Bent put in the rebound. Wilson Palacios battling performance in Wilson Palacios second match, against local rivals Arsenal, earned Wilson Palacios the man of the match award. Since then Wilson Palacios has had some excellent performances in the Spurs midfield.

International career

Wilson Palacios wears the number 8 jersey with the Honduras national football team. Wilson Palacios has played 62 matches with Honduras where Wilson Palacios has converted 4 goals since 2003. Wilson Palacios is also one of the most well-known Honduran international players alongside David Suazo.

International goals

Personal life

Wilson Palacios is the brother of Milton Palacios Suazo, Jerry Palacios, Johnny Palacios and Edwin Rene Palacios Cacho. On 30 October 2007, Wilson Palacios 16-year-old brother (at the time) Edwin was kidnapping by five armed men from the family home in La Ceiba.

In January 2009, Palacios' mother made a televised appeal for the kidnappers to open communication with the family, expressing her need to find out if Edwin was still alive, her fears that Palacios' big-money transfer to Tottenham would only strengthen the kidnappers' demands, and a request for help from the British authorities. She stressed that Palacios' team received the transfer fee but the player has only Wilson Palacios salary, and that the family's situation is distressing for him.

On 8 May 2009 it was announced that, following a confession from two leaders of the 18th Street gang, police had found a body in the municipality of El Paraíso which they believed to be the remains of Edwin.
Palacios returned home to Honduras the following day on compassionate leave.

On 28 May 2009, the DNA results on Wilson Palacios brother's remains came back positive. They buried Wilson Palacios the following day in La Ceiba, Honduras. On 30 May 2009, despite Wilson Palacios loss, Wilson Palacios joined the Honduras National Football Team to train in preparation for the World Cup Qualifying games against the United States of America and El Salvador.

Honours

Club

Club Deportivo Olimpia

- Liga Nacional de Fútbol de Honduras 2002-03 Apertura
- Liga Nacional de Fútbol de Honduras 2003-04 Clausura
- Liga Nacional de Fútbol de Honduras 2004-05 Clausura
- Liga Nacional de Fútbol de Honduras 2005-06 Apertura
- Liga Nacional de Fútbol de Honduras 2005-06 Clausura