Monday, May 30, 2011

Concacaf general secretary Chuck Blazer warns Caribbean football officials as corruption investigation continues

     It looks like Chuck Blazer has had a riff with his long time buddy from Trinidad and Tobago, Jack Warner. This about face from Blazer seemed to have happened when the USA did not get the World Cup bid. My country did have the best bid when you compate most factors however the USA already hosted a World Cup. The problem was there was back room conversation that the yanks not bid for 2018 which was assumed to go to England. the yanks should bid for 2022 instead. Most corporate decision are made at informal meeting anyway.


Once neither got bids "there was something rotten in Denmark", the smell of corruption and lies was everywhere. Chuck Blazer was either influenced for the US soccer federation or just had enought of Warner. I assume the first. Warner has a lengthy list of alleged controversies.



1. T&T made the World Cup. The federation would split the money with the players. The federation said they only made about 18.2 million and expenses were 17..9. The Trinidad government claimed the federation received 173 million and comparing to other countries we can see who is lying. The players who argued for thei $ were then blackballed from T&T international play. The countries national team has suffered tremendously. They have not made the Gold Cup 2009 or this year Gold Cup.

2. Warner publicly criticized England claiming no one in Europe likes England and they neither should nor host a World Cup. He said he would vote for Spain, Italy or France. These 3 countries had already hosted World Cups. England has to gets it’s national team to fly to T&T to play T&T in 2008. Warner reverses his stance on England because he make $ when England played T&T. Warner has 40 votes for CONCACAF and he keep the Caribbean in line the way he wants.

3. 2006 WorldCup it is believed Warner sold tickets and profited over a million for selling good tickets. Warner was found guilty but it was his son who took the fall.

4. 2004: When T&T played Scotland Warner wanted Scotland to pay him directly with a check. Scotland football president John McBeth said “we don’t do that”. Warner that approached other members of Scotland federation seeking this personal money. Disgusting

5. 2018 bid was seeking out bribery money for his votes. He wanted 2.5 million for building an education building in Trinidad. We all know when Warner get $ it disappears. He never pays back his fines.

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Belize Defense force out of CL...no proper stadia...Bull shit


Dr. Bernie Chimillio
 Belize is the small central American country on the east Coast. This countr is granted one slot in the CONCACAF Champions League. The winner of this season goes to Defense Force.

but wait a minute...CONCACAF   officials claim they do not have the proper lighting for the stadium. This is "bull shit". This country need to participate...and the excuse CONCACAF gives is "lighting."

Lets back up....FIFA funded the goal project so Belize could have a playing pitch FIFA qualified. Land was donated and building were built to house the school to teach Belize soccer.

Now we finally get to see a Belize participate in the Champions League and CONCACAF say no ...dues to lighting....Play the frikin game in the day you shit bums!!!!

As for Belize...why do I suspect Dr. Bernie Chimilio is as corrupt as the next soccer official.

This is not the last time we heard about Bernie. Last WCQ Belize played their home game in the states...i believe Houston vs. Mexico. The Belize federation made over 1 Million...no doubt to pay Bernie and staff for their well deserved efforts.......


below is the quotes from the Belize web site. The same company funded the light project. Well what the #$%$% happened. I know if this crap happens in the business world, heads roll and people are fires. However in soccer and politics the same bull shit continues with the same corrupt players.
"This report will feature pictures of the completion project. The lights were not part of Goal project II however, the FFB received assistance from a local company who completed the facility by complementing the monies received by the FFB from FIFA. In addition, this same company funded the lighting infrastructure. "

This is the Belize field with the lights in back, what happened?

Your thought on Bernie and Belize?

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Costa Rica replaces Japan in Copa America





Japan has been struggling since the earthquake, flood and nuclear reactor. They have backed out of the Copa America.

this opened the door for Costa Rica.

Costa Rica will play in Group A with Argentina, Colombia and Bolivia.
This is the Tico's 4th appearance...

Mexico is CONCACAF other participant in the tournament

Saturday, May 7, 2011

Bermuda National Stadium



    Bermuda is the nation that will NOT be participating in the preliminary rounds in CONCACAF World Cup qualifiers. They will be the 6th team to be placed in Pot D withthe 5 winners. I quick look at Bermuda beautiful stadium.
The Bermuda National Sports Center is the name of this venue. It is located in Hamilton Bermuda. I am guessing it's attendance for a soccer game is 5,000.

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Gold Cup historical attendance

Wikipedia is wrong. There is bad information that is being spewed and quoted about the Gold Cups attendance. Boggers and other so called football experts are making bad assessments about past Gold Cup’s attendance. Well I spend well over 3 months trying to figure out what the attendance is. You can to if you have time. Go to the CONCACAF.com web site. Go to News and click on the link that says TSG.
         The TSG has the Technical Report from past Gold Cups. The 2009 Gold cup has the past stats for attendance of all the Gold Cups. I got a spread sheet and plug the attendance numbers in. Remember if the game was a double header I DID NOT count the attendance twice. Why because they are the same people in the stands from the first game and the second double header.

My friend who are out there that multiply the average attendance with the number of games are almost doubling that “REAL” attendance figures. It is a simplistic way to make a point but unfortunately “you” are wrong. If you do not believe me just go to the stats of each gold Cup starting on page 56 and continue through page 60. It has all attendance for each group. Please take note when looking at attendance before 2005 there were double headers. These double headers had 2 different groups. So eg in the 2000 Gold Cup Group A and B had double headers. That means 2 teams from group A played and 2 teams from group B played. The attendance for that day is the same. Why….they were the same people and you can not add the same people twice.

Well he are my stats with total attendance and average attendance for the past Gold Cups.


Warner reelected President as CONCACAF celebrates 50th anniversary

When I thin of Jack Warner I think of all the corruption stories. Why is that? It seems that if someone runs against him, Warner will win in a landslide. Warner is a T&T resident. He looks out for the Caribbean nations. IT someone from Central America, Mex or the States ran against him and the a few caribbean nation did not vote for Jack, they would be in a heep of trouble if Jack won the election.
    Since the majority of nations are from the Caribbean it is unlikely Warner would lose. So goes the soccer world.......FIFA face corruption charges...warner mentioned!

Back room dealings Miami

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Anguilla vs Dominican Republic

Dominican Republic CAribbean Cup 2011 DR

Dominican Republic stadium in San Cristoba


Anguilla is another British overseas territory but is a full CONCACAF member. Anguilla is at the top of the Caribbean chain of islands, East of Puerto Rico. There are only about 14,000 inhabitants on this tiny tropical island. This is the second least in population in the Caribbean. Their coach is Scott Cooper who is a native Anguillan. Anguilla usually calls upon players from the English semi-professional (barroom league-weekend warriors) teams. Particularly the Sloth town area of England has players that have some type of birth connection to Anguilla. FIFA does not list a pro league of any kind. My guess they will no be any good.
Dominican Republic splits the island of Hispaniola with Haiti. Dominican Republic has slightly over 10 Million in the population. Only Cuba has a bigger population. Dominican Republic also has more people than all the Central American Nations (except Guatemala). Most Dominicans are poor with an average GDP per capita of $5,228 per year. This is a very poor country. Baseball dominates the sports world there The Dominican Republic is the nation I see with the most potential with in CONCACAF.. However with a population over 10 Million it is easy to find footballers. They have a pro league consisting of 8 Clubs. The Dominican Republic was one of the first Caribbean nations to benefit from the goal program. FIFA funded a headquarters and playing pitch in the country’s second largest city San Cristobal – a 15-minute drive from the capital Santo Domingo. This is where the Dominican Republic hosted the Caribbean Cup 2011 qualifying games. The stadium only holds 2,800 but is a newer stadium built in 2003. This is where I expect the Dominican to play their World Cup Qualifier games. Their coach is Cuban Clemente Hernandez who took over in 2010. Their star players are 2 attacking FW. Jonathan Fana at age 24, plays for the Puerto Rico Islanders. He is fast and has a nose for the goal. FW Daryl Batista is only 22 years He scored 5 goals in the Caribbean Cub qualifying game against the British Virgin Islands. They outplayed Dominica however it was Dominica that won the Caribbean Cup game 1-0. The Dominican Republic also has a number of young talents in European youth programs.

Look for the Dominican Republic to dominate this series, scoring multiple times. They have the players and the talent to crush Anguilla. The big question is how many fans will attend this preliminary game in Dominican Republic.




Dominican Start Player Jonathan Fana (Puerto Rico Islanders)

Bahamas vs Turks and Cacaos Islands

The Turks and the Cacaos Islands (TCI) are British overseas territories in the Caribbean. The TCI is made up with the bigger Cacaos and the smaller Turks island, similar to Trinidad & Tobago. This territory is located just above Haiti. It is at the lower area of all the Bahaman Islands. The population is only 36,000. The GDP is average for a Caribbean Island at roughly $17,500 per person. Like most island territories TCI relies heavily on tourism for income. The TCI football Association TCIFA only started in 1996, the year MS started. They do not have a long tradition. They have a football league but there are only 4 teams that play. The goal program has provided most of the funding for a building to house TCIFA officials and a field w/ light to play under. This tiny population did not want to waste $ on World Cup Qualifying games. The TCIFA wanted to promote the youth teams. However FIFA insistence to participate in World Cup Qualifying cycle CTI will comply. FIFA still funds the TCIFA with the goal program. Their current coach is Matt Green. Matt will only have a hand full of players to pick from so he is glad he is only going up against the Bahamas. The TCI did not play in the Caribbean Cup (funding) so it will be hard to judge them. The game should be competitive.
The Bahamas
Happy Hall, Bahamas defender

The Bahamas is not a territory but now a stable developing country. The nations is made up of 29 islands. The estimated population is about 350,000 which make Bahamas the 9th most populous Caribbean team in CONCACAF. Most of the people are located in the capitol of the Bahamas, Nassau. I visited there twice and remember being able to get weed very easily. I did not stay on the resort but mixed in with the locals. The Bahamas also has beautiful beaches in Nassua. The Bahamas relies heavily on tourism for it income and does very well. The GDP is roughly $21,878 which is great for such a big population. They are referred to as the Baha Boyz. They have the Bahamas Football Association that has been established since 1967. They do have a football league that started in 1996 (MLS first year 1996). The league had is called New Providence Football League and had 7 clubs participate. The coach is a Brazilian named Neider dos Santos. He coached the Guyans national team from 2002-2004. He also presently coaches a club in Jamaica so he will be on double duty the summer. The team will be mostly made up from players from this league. . Happy Hall is a young strong defender who just signed a 2 year contract with Dayton Dutch Lions FC of the USL Pro league.


Prediction
The match up. The Bahamas should beat the TCI. I do not believe the TCIFA wants to fund the team to participate in Round 1. The Bahamas has 350,000 and the TCI only has 36,000, that is 1/10 of potential players to pick from. The Bahamas has an established league with 8 teams, the TCI only has 4 teams in it domestic league. I see the Bahamas as the better team. Hopefully both nations enjoy the experience.

Monday, May 2, 2011

CONCAC AF Preliminary draw ....Aruba vs. St. Lucia

St. Lucia national team in Suriname during Caribbean Cup



Aruba is a tiny island off Venezuela. I visited there once. Aruba has beautiful beaches and very clear water. I do not think of soccer when I think of Aruba. For a small island it has about 103,000 people. Aruba is one of the richer Caribbean islands having per capita income of about 23k per year. Yes they have a football league established in 1960. They play in Trinidad Stadium, Aruba. Trinidad Stadium seats about 5,000 spectators. Their coach is Epi Albertus who is Aruban. He just started in 2010. He will compromise his team mostly from the Aruban Division di Honor, the top league in Aruba. This league is well established since 1960. There are 10 clubs in the top league and it has 2 lower leagues for regulation. Aruba seems to have all the right pieces in place to compete in the Caribbean but they have a terrible national team. They played 2 games in 2010 and lost both. 0-3 to Curacao and 0-3 to Venezuela. The national team never played in 2009. They played 4 games in 2008 losing 0-3 to Antigua and Barbuda, 0-1 to Antigua and Barbuda (home game) then they tied Curacao 0-0, lost 1-3 to Grenada. I had to go back to 2000 to find a win. The win was against the then hapless Puerto Rico.

St Lucia has about 174,000 in populations. The per capita is about $10k per year for its residents. This is a poor island but has a newer stadium called George Odlum Stadium in Vieux Fort, St Lucia. The Stadium fits about 7,000 spectators. St Lucia had no money to maintain the stadium built by the Chinese government in 2000. It recently received $ to fix this newer fixture. Their coach is a St Lucia native Terrence Caroo. Saint Lucia last World Cup Qualifying they won their first round against Turks and the Caicos Islands. (3-2 aggregate). Then they lost 9-1 on aggregate in the second round to a strong Guatemala team. St Lucia has recently played in the 2010 Caribbean Cub and were stuck in a most difficult group. St Lucia had to travel to Surname in South America. There they only lost 0-1 to the host. Then they lost 1-2 to Guyana a neighboring South American Country. Then they tied Curacao 2-2. Both of the St Lucia proved to be a competative team here in South America. The team will mostly come from the newer top pro league in St Lucia. The top league will be called the Premier Division. The Premier division will have 8 clubs. There is relegation to a 8 club First Division. The First division also has regulation to the second Division. 2011 will be the first time for this (3 tier )setup.

I believe St Lucia has the expereince of playing in the Caribbean Cup against 3 strong teams. This experience will propell them past Aruba to reach Round 1.

Sunday, May 1, 2011

Battle of the Virgins

Venton James (13) and Roger Alexander of the British Virgin Islands during their World Cup 2010 South Africa Qualifying match on Sunday, March 30, 2008.

British Virgin Islands vs. US Virgin Islands

British Virgin Islands


British Virgins Islands is another British overseas department. The population is about 27,000 from a 2005 census. The main sports on the island are cricket and soccer. They have a pro league with 9 teams. Their coach is Avondale Williams who is a native Islander. He has coach then from 2001-2008…now again he is coaching. They did not have a home pitch last World Cup Qualifying cycle so hopefully they will play one of these games at home. They will wear green shirts with bright yellow shorts and yellow socks.                                                                                                                                               The 2006 World Cup Qualifying they lost 0-10 aggregate to St Lucia. 4 year later they put in a much better performance against the Bahamas. Both games were played in the Bahamas and both games were a tie 2-2 and 3-3. They were bitch slapped by the Dominican Republic 0-17, then slapped again by Dominica 0-10 in the 2010 Caribbean Cup. These games were in the Dominican Republic. They could not defend nor could they score. I doubt much has changed from last year.

US Virgin Islands

           The U.S Virgins Islands has a much bigger population (about 110,000) than the British Virgin Islands. …therefore more virgins (ha ha not funny). The main sports are baseball, basketball and American football. There are 3 main islands St Thomas, St Croix and St John. They may play in the capitol of St John’s Charlotte Amalie. Lionel Roberts Park is listed as their national stadium than holds about 9,000 spectators which is huge. Hopefull they can get a big crowd this cycle.           Their coach is Craig Martin. Craig was a Canada national team player from 1983-1984 making about 6 appearances. USVI has a domestic league but can not get info on it. Their overall record is 1 win, 5 draws and 20 losses. Their only win was against British Virgin Islands. They also tied British Virgin Islands twice in 2008. The dashing Eagle is nothing to brag about. USVI has not competed since 2008. They lost 0-10 to Grenada in St. George, Grenada in World Cup Qualifying.

               I do not know which Virgin will perform better. The British Virgin Islands at least tried to compete in the Caribbean Cup. I am going to pick the US Virgin Islands to advance. Since St Thomas populations in the 2000 census was 51,181 which is almost double BVI alone. Ths USVI has 4 times (over 100,000) as many potentail players to pick from than the BVI. I think Craig Martin can pull the team togather and advance.

FIFA now has CONCACAF preliminary match ups



Belize National Team in Rommel Stadium, Panama
 
FIFA will decide at the end of May of the “new” CONCACAF World Cup Qualification is ok. I believe this is great for most CONCACAF nations. FIFA will decide in late May in Switzerland. June 3rd and 7th are the preliminary round dates. This does not give me much time to look at these nations. So I will start now. What I always want to look at is a counties population. Then try to see if they have a competitive domestic league. It is always fun to see the national stadium and if it will be packed with passionate fans and how wild they can be. Then look at the commitment the federation has and the coach they hire. A coach can organize a team defense and really produce some results. Then I get in trouble and make my prediction as to who will win. Well here goes.
Belize vs. Montserrat


Montserrat is a very small island in the Caribbean. There are about 4,500 inhabitants on the island. Most CONCACAF nations have that amount in the stands. Montserrat lost about 1/3 of it’s island to a volcano in 1995. I do not believe there is even a soccer league there. Their coach is the young (46) Kenney Dyer. He played in the lower level in England at a number of clubs. He is a native Montserrat native. He has his hand full. None the less they will play a World Cup Qualifying against Belize. Let’s hope there is no eruption.

Belize has about 300,000 in its population. The FIFA goal program has helped Belize tremendously. The program funded a building to house the national team. The program also provided funding for other building for office space for teaching and training the sport. Land was donated and the Gold program also funded a FIFA qualified pitch and a stadium that holds a few thousand. Belize national team has mostly played Central American competition and most games have been the Central American Cup. Belize has never won a game in this tournament but they have become competative in this tournament. They have been beaten bad for years and now it is there turn to run over some other team.
           Look for (MF) Elroy duo to control the middle. Elroy Kuylen and Elroy Smith will try to feed Deon McCaulay FW. McCauley is only 22 Their coach is José de la Paz Herrera who coached Honduras Club Marathon from 2001-2008. .Marathon won the Championship 5 times and was runner up 5 times (2 champios per year). He can coach. We will see if he can get Belize to believe in themselves and make a run. All things look good right now for Belize.

I see Belize taking Montserrat to the woodshed and giving them a beating. This will be a tune up for Belize's national team.