CAC games

OK the Green Soccer Bowl was canceled. Puerto Rico was the CONCACAF rep that we were hoping to see play against the African nations. The tournament was canceled due to lack of Visa for the players and team management for the African teams.

The next tournamet that has COCACAF nations are playing in will be the CAC games in Puerto Rico.

(oviously besides the World Cup)

The Central American and Caribbean games (CAC) will have under U-21 male players. This is to keep with the Olympic feeling of the games. There will be 4 Caribbean nations Puerto Rico, Trinidan & Tobago, St. Vincents and the Grenadines, and Jamaica. There will be 3 Central American nations in Costa Rica, Panama, Belize. The regional power team in Mexico will fill out the field of 8 nations. El Salvador qualified for the tournament however FIFA has suspended the federation for participating in any tournaments. Apparently the government has been medeling in the soccer federationa affairs. This is horroble for the El Salvador fans after qualifing.

This is a great oportunity for Belize to participate in the youth tournaments. Belize is trying to grow the sport in their nation. Belize is behind the top teams in Central America. Playing and developing their youth team is imperative to keep pace with the other Central American nations. Playing in the CAC games is a good start.

the Groups were just announced

Group A

Costa Rica,

Puerto Rico,

Trinidan & Tobago

Belize.

Group B

Mexico,

Panama,

Jamaica

St Vincent and the Grenadines.

It is hard to judge who will win however Costa Rica will have the best youth team in Group A. This will be Costa Rica 6th straigh appreaance in the CAC games. This shows the consistency the youth team play in Costa Rica. They played Nicaragua for the last spot in Central America. The Ticos beat them 6-0 in Nicaragua and pounded them 6-1 at home. they will be the team to beat. Puerto Rico automatically qualified since they are hosting. We have not see their U-21 team play however the nation is hoping to put on a good show. Puerto Rico will battle T&T for the second spot. I will give edge to Puerto Rico since they are playing at home. It is hard to judge any Caribbean team since the Caribbean web site sucks so bad. There is never any info on it.

caribbeanfootballunion.org

Group B Mexico, Panama, Jamaica St Vincent and the Grenadines.

Mexico's U-21 team will be to good for this group. I see them winning this group with ease. Jamiaca will battle Panama for the second spot. I think Jamiaca will place second. Panama has come a long way on the senior level however they youth team have not matched the senior success. Jamaica may have an edge since the games are on a fellow Caribbean island. I have no info on St V...other than they qualified.

The games will start shortly after the World Cup final. These games start July 17th 2010.

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I have been trying to figure out what Caribbean teams will be going to the Central American and Caribbean Games (CAC) in Puerto Rico.

We kow there will be 4 Central American teams who have qualified. They are Costa Rica, Belize, Panama and El Salvador.
The host Puero Rico also automatically qualifies. That leave 3 Caribbean spots up for grabs.

The teams will be the U-20 teams. Just a short time ago CONCACAF committee elected to expand the U-20 qualification to 12 CONCACAF team up from 8. The U-20 CONCACAF qualification will be for both the CAC games and the CONCACAF u-20 Championship.
The top 3 Caribbean teams will qualify. We are all waiting for the announcement of these games.

Just a note, The Caribbean web site sucks. there is never timely info. Most of the time they get it wrong.
Here is the link but it SUCKS! for info
http://caribbeanfootballunion.org/cms2/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1
the last info is March 5th 2010. With all the info about the Champions league with 4 caribbean team still alive, the CAC games and who will qualify, the great friendly matches.....the site is PATHETIC!!!!!!!

The Digicel web site is also pathetic. They have not updated any info from last tournament. You could say they suck too.
Since digicel is the sponser you would think they would want to look good to their clients.
http://www.digicelfootball.com/en/caribe

Green Soccer Bowl

I love soccer tournaments. It is always nice to see the brackets and where you team sits in the particular bracket. Well we have a little international tournamnet in Detroit Michigan in 23 days. It will start with CONCACAF entry Puerto Rico against Malaysia. These are the least ranked teams at 168 and 147 respectively. Malaysia is from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). They play for the right to advanse to play Nigeria (#20) the highest ranked team.

Nigeria and Ghana are the 2 World cup participants. They will be playing their B-team (fifa rules of rest) in this tournament. However they will be looking for players to fill out their roster for the World Cup. Kenya (#114) will battle Ghana(#32) in the other bracket on May 20th. the 3rd place game and final will be 6 23-2010.

This is the inagural tournamet and a crowd of over 20,000 is expected. There are already plans for next years tournament.

CONCACAF representative

Puerto Rico has been building is soccer program for a few years. The Puerto Rico Islanders success on the field and attendance highlights the interest on the Island. Puerto Rico recently started a soccer league and currently has 9 teams. The league started in 2008 and has help the growth of the sport on the island.
Colin Clarke (No. Ireland) coaches both the Islanders and the national team. Puerto Rico last game was a World Cup Qualifier almost 2 years ago (June 15th 2008). this game was a tie with the Wolrd cup bound Honduras side 2-2 in Puerto Rico. They should not be overmatched again Malaysia. This game will be good for both nations. We will see what type of team Clarke fields.

Clarke should go with a very young team sprinkled withh some veterans. Puerot Rico is hosting the very important CAC games this summer. The (CAC games) soccer tournament will have the top U-23 teams 4 from Central America (Costa Rica, El Salvador, Panama and Belize) and the top 3 from Caribbean (not determined yet) and the host Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico will want to play well infront of their fans on a home pitch. These will be very competative games. Hopefully they can get by Maylaysia to play another World Cup bound team.

Caribbean Cup 2010

Caribbean Cup 2010
Martinique

(This is not official since it has not been released by Caribbean Football Union CFU)

The Caribbean Cup is a tournament for the CFU currently played biannually (in even years). The Caribbean Cup serves as a qualifier for the CONCACAF’s Gold Cup. The final 4 nations will qualify as the Caribbean representatives to the Gold Cup. This years tournament has 24 nations (territories) participating. That will be 3 more that the last tournament. This year’s final will be hosted in Martinique. This is good since T&T has hosted 9 tournaments which gave them a huge advantage. (Trinidad & Tobago also won 9 Cups).
This will give all nations a fresh start the next World Cup Qualifying cycle. The first games will start Aug 17th in Antigua and Barbuda and ends in Nov 28th in Martinique. There will be 3 rounds. The First round has 16 teams broken into 4 groups of 4 nations. The top 6 teams will advance to the second round. The second round will have 12 teams. These teams will be broken into 3 groups of 4 teams. There will be 6 seeded teams in the Second Round (Cuba, Guyana, Grenada, Trinidad & Tobago, Guadeloupe and Haiti) waiting the 6 teams that advanced from round 1. Then the top 6 teams from the Second round group advance to the Final 8 in Martinique.

The final will play on the beautiful island of Martinique. The stadium (Dillion Stadium pictured above) will be a nice grass pitch and a stadium that few in the Caribbean could match. The stadium "Stade Pierre-Aliker" can hold 16,500 comfortably. The host (Martinique) and Jamaica (Reigning Champion) will fill out the Field of 8. The top 4 teams from the Final 8 will qualify for the Gold Cup 2011. There are a number of teams that have a legitimate shot at winning the Cup.

The Contenders (3)

Martinique: You always have to consider the host of any tournament and this one is not different. Do not laugh at this little soccer power house. Martinique is one of only 4 teams to win the Caribbean Cup(Champions 1993). Martinique has also made the Gold Cup 3 times. This was when CONCACAF had to invite guess teams to participate. They were also runner up in 1994 to the host Trinidad and Tobago. They have recently seen their arch rival Guadeloupe make the Gold Cup and want to regain their soccer prowess in the Caribbean.

Trinidad and Tobago: They are two tiny islands off the South America coast with a population of about 1 Million You have to mention the 8 times Champions Trinidad and Tobago. They are one of the favorites to win it again. They have an excellent youth program and have the best club teams in the Caribbean.

Jamaica: They are the reigning Champions and will be looking forward to defend their title. They have won the Caribbean Cup champion 4 times and want to remain on top in the Caribbean. They have a very talented, athletic and proud team. Now their coaching issues are settled maybe we can see some cohesiveness from the Raggae Boyz.


The Challengers



Cuba: Cuba has a very good soccer program at both the youth and senior level. They are the only Caribbean team to “place” in the last 4 Caribbean Cup Championships, they accomplished this feat 5 Caribbean Cup in a row. I wonder if they had hosted any of these Caribbean Cup how many they would have won?

Haiti: One of only 4 nations to win the Caribbean Cup. Les Grenadiers last won the 2007 Caribbean Cup. They also had fine form in the Gold Cup tying the USA in the states. An earthquake devastated their Island and this tournament will give some a break from the misery that surrounds the country. They are tall, fast and athletic. They just need cohesiveness to propel themselves to the Finals.

Guadeloupe: Guadeloupe has been in very good form since 2006. They came in 4th (Caribbean Cup 20006-7)and went to the 2007 Gold Cup. At the Gold Cup they made the knockout round. Then they proceeded to beat Honduras and make the semi-finals. Again in the 2008 Caribbean Cup they placed in the final 4 and again went to the Gold Cup 2009. Guadeloupe again made the knockout round. This tournament is on sister island Martinique. They will be well versed in the language and the culture. Watch out for the Gwada Boys.

Dark horses

This group I am most anxious to see play. Three of these nations are hosting games. It will be very interesting as to how many fans turn out in each country. I believe Guyana will lead the attendance. Puerto Rico should have a good turn out since their fans have been waiting with anticipation. They tied Honduras in World Cup Qualifying which was the last game I remember they play of significance.

Guyana: They have been slowly building the soccer program in Guyana for a few years. They just started their own league in 2008. They have half of their team playing in the club teams of Trinidad and Tobago. They are coached by Jamaal Shabazz (Trinidad and Tobago) since 2005. He provides stability and continuity. They are poised to make some noise here since they are seeded in the Second round and are hosting. They had the most fans attend a Caribbean Cup game last tournament at 10,000, more than double any other.

Grenada: Defense wins games and Grenada proved that last tournament. They are hosting a second round group that also has Trinidad and Tobago seeded. They will be playing at the Grenada National Stadium that holds about 9,000. Most of the national team is made up of players from the Grenada soccer league.

Puerto Rico: They have been on a similar path as Guyana. Puerto Rico just started a soccer league in 2008. There are currently 9 teams. Their current Champion (Bayamon FC) s on of 4 teams left in the CFU Cub. The top 3 qualify for The CONCACAF Champions League. The other team is none other than the Puerto Rico Islanders again. Collin Clarke can coach the national team like the Islanders they the entire Caribbean should take note. They have not entered in the last 2 Caribbean Cups but watch this team. 8,000national fans packed Juan Ramon Loubriel Stadium when they played the Dominican Republic. We will see if they attend this group games.

Suriname: They made the final 12 in World Cup Qualifying which is the true test of the best teams in CONCACAF. Suriname has an established league since 1924. There are about 150 Surinamese players playing the Dutch professional Leagues. Depending who they bring in will depend how far they go. Will they disappear of will they surprise everyone again. They have the experience.

http://www.football-rankings.info/2010/04/2010-cfu-digicel-cup-schedule.html