Wilson Palacios

At 39 years old, Wilson Palacios has this physical status:

Wilson Roberto Palacios Suazo (Spanish pronunciation: [wilsom pa.lasjos]; born 29 July 1984) is a Honduran former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder.

He played for Victoria and Olimpia in Honduras before transferring to England, where he competed for Birmingham City and Wigan Athletic. He joined Tottenham Hotspur in 2009, mainly playing central defensive midfield as he did for Wigan, though Spurs' right midfielder Terry Jones was also used. Palacios joined Stoke City in August 2011 for an undisclosed fee estimated to be around £6 million. In his four seasons at Stoke, he struggled to make a difference, but he left the club in 2015. He spent a time in the North American Soccer League with Miami before returning to Honduras, where he competed for Olimpia and Real Sociedad. In December 2019, he was resigned from office.

He was a regular fixture for Honduras from 2003 to 2014, assisting them in qualifying for and playing at the 2010 and 2014 FIFA World Cups.

Personal life

Palacios is Milton, Jerry, Johnny, and Edwin's brother. Edwin, a boy of 14 years old, was kidnapped by five armed men from his family's house in La Ceiba on October 30, 2007. Edwin was released in November 2007, but the family paid a £125,000 ransom, but this was not to be the case. Palacios' mother made a televised appeal for the kidnappers to start communicating with them in January 2009, pledging that Palacios' big-money transfer to Tottenham would only increase the kidnappers' demands, as well as a call for assistance from the British authorities. Palacios' staff received the transfer fee, but the player's salary was not considered, according to her, and the family's situation was difficult for him.

Following a confession by two members of the 18th Street gang, police discovered a body in El Paraguso's municipality of El Paraguso that they suspected to be Edwin's remains on May 8. On compassionate leave, Palacios returned home to Honduras the next day. The body was confirmed as the of Edwin on May 28 and his funeral was held in La Ceiba the next day. Wilson Palacios, despite his loss, joined the national team on May 30th to train in preparations for the World Cup qualifying games against the United States and El Salvador.

Palacios' vehicle was confiscated by Staffordshire Police in September 2011 after he failed to issue them with his driving licence.

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Club career

Palacios, as well as brothers Milton, Jerry, Johnny, and Edwin, began his career with Victoria, where the five players were later transferred to Olimpia.

Palacios made 102 appearances and scored 32 goals for Olimpia. He quickly rose to international prominence after winning five league titles with Olimpia in the 2002–03 Apertura tournament, as well as the 2005–06 Clausura tournaments. He is best remembered for scoring a goal against Marathón in the final minutes of a game in 2006 to become Honduras' champions.

Palacios, who had enjoyed his time in Honduras, wanted to make his name in the European leagues. Palacios revealed on July 14, 2007 that he would fly to Serbia for a few months for a trial with Red Star Belgrade. He remained for less than a month, and despite impressing during his time with the club, he did not join the club after the Red Star refused to pay a salary of at least US$1.5 million for a three-year contract. Palacios also tested with Cagliari, AS Monaco, and Arsenal.

Arsenal's Arsène Wenger, the city's manager, recommended a trial that went well, and he signed a six-month loan on August 31, 2007. He made his debut on September 22nd in a goalless draw with Liverpool at Anfield, and Birmingham boss Steve Bruce, who likened Palacios to a young Paul Ince, said in October that Birmingham intended to make his loan permanent. Bruce left Wigan Athletic, but the player's absence following his brother's abduction meant that new boss Alex McLeish had not had enough of him to sign him permanently.

Palacios recalled Bruce at Wigan Athletic for an undisclosed fee on 11 January 2008 and made his debut against Derby County the following day. He became an integral part of Bruce's system and was connected to Manchester United, Liverpool, Bayern Munich, and Real Madrid. Bruce said on January 16, 2009, a pactually agreed deal with Tottenham Hotspur for Palacios was "like losing his right arm" and that he did not want to work with "one of the best midfield players in the country"; he said that leaving Palacios was "about losing his right arm"; he said that leaving Palacios was "like losing his right arm." The agreement was confirmed five days later.

Despite being concerned about moving to London from the north-west of England where he was ruled, Palacios has signed personal terms with Tottenham Hotspur, committing his future to the club until 2014. The club announced on Monday that they had agreed a £12 million contract for Palacios and that the player had completed his medical, but that the transfer could only be completed after he received a work permit. He made his Tottenham debut in a 3–2 loss to Bolton Wanderers on January 31 and assisted with the second goal after Bolton goalkeeper Jussi Jääskeläinen parried Palacios' shot and Darren Bent put in the rebound.

Since he had some good results in the Spurs midfield, his battling appearance in his second match against local rivals Arsenal earned him the man of the match award. He was tying for the 2009 Football League Cup Final. After a through ball by Robbie Keane, Palacios scored his first goal in English football against Hull City on August 19, 2009. Palacios pointed to the heaven in honor of his murdered brother Edwin, whose body had been discovered earlier this year. Harry Redknapp praised Palacios' ability to make Tottenham a challenge to play against, comparing his style and results to Graham Roberts'. He appeared in 43 games for Tottenham Hotspur in the 2009-10 season, as well as helping the club qualify for the first time in the UEFA Champions League. Palacios was limited to 16 starts in the Premier League this season, but he did play a major part in Tottenham's campaign to the Champions League's quarter-finals.

Palacios joined Stoke City in 2011 after a four-year deal for an undisclosed fee was disclosed as £6 million; his Spurs teammate Peter Crouch joined Stoke on the same day. Both made their debuts against Liverpool on September 10 in a 1–0 victory. However, his Stoke career was halted due to a knee injury and tonsillitis, and he finally got his first league start on December 21 at Manchester City. Palacios was never a regular during the season, but he did start the majority of the team's European matches. Tony Pulis, the manager, admitted that his fitness level and a long-running knee injury had been the issue, and that the fans would not get the best of him until he had undergone a complete pre-season training program. However, he was unable to make it into the starting lineup in 2012–13; he made just four league appearances, all as a substitute.

Palacios was named by Mark Hughes to begin the 2013-2014 season in a way that was away from Liverpool, but he weakened during the warm-up and was admitted to hospital where he underwent what was described as a minor surgical procedure. Palacios had more playing time under Hughes in 2013-2014, playing 21 times in the Premier League, finishing ninth in the Premier League. In the summer of 2014, Stoke tried to sell Palacios to Middle Eastern club Qatar SC, but the club announced that he did not have a medical exam. In the 2014–15 season, Hughes selected Palacios just five times for the matchday squad; on both occasions, he was an ineffective replacement. He was released at the end of the season after making 53 appearances in four years. Stoke chairman Peter Coates defended his signing: "He was such a good player at Wigan and Spurs, but he only lost his job to [Luka] Modri." We certainly felt we were getting a good player at the time, but for whatever reason it hasn't worked out. I'm sure he has suffered with personal issues in the past – his brother was kidnapped and killed in 2009 – but often you don't know the reason why things don't work out. We're sorry because it has cost us a lot of money, but it's also a disgrace for the player because his career hasn't progressed. We've all failed. We did, because he did."

Palacios did not sign with Hull City after being released from Stoke. Palacios joined Miami FC, the newly formed North American Soccer League club. He made 18 appearances during the 2016 season before being released in November 2016.

He returned to Honduras, where he competed for his old club, Olimpia, and Real Sociedad. In December 2019, he declared his abandonment from playing with the intention of becoming a players' agent.

International career

With the Honduras national team, Palacios wore the number 8 jersey. He made his senior squad debut against Paraguay in April 2003 and went on to play 97 matches with Honduras, scoring four goals in a career spanning four decades. Palacios, who works with David Suazo, is one of the best-known Honduran international players.

Honduras made a historical triumph by including Jerry, Johnny, and Wilson Palacios in their squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. They were the first trio of brothers to represent a single nation in the World Cup.

Palacios was suspended in the first half of the 2014 World Cup against France for two bookable offences; Honduras lost 31-0.

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