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Central American Gold Cup Qualifier's.......


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2007 CONCACAF GOLD CUP™ QUALIFICATION

UNCAF Nations Cup

San Salvador, EL SALVADOR; Cuscatlán Stadium (8-18 February 2007)

Group 1 – El Salvador, Guatemala, Belize, Nicaragua

Group 2 – Costa Rica, Honduras, Panama

5 Central American teams will qualify and join Canada, USA, Mexico, T&T, Cuba, Haiti, Guadeloupe.

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quote:Originally posted by Alex

Its safe to say that El Salvador, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Honduras and Panama will be those teams as the other two are extreme long shots.

Those are definetly the 5 strongest teams, but it' also possible that Panama is blanked by the solid teams in it's group.

If Panama comes up short vs CR and Honduras (which is definetly possible) and Nicaragua can post a couple of upsets, then Ortega's boys may squeak in.

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  • 2 weeks later...

What does a slim 2-1 win for El Salvador over Belize say about how far El Salvador has fallen in CONCACAF since 98 qualifiers when they were clearly a top-six team? Or have Belize been on a steady rise since those two losses to Canada? Great to see Nicaragua showing some potential for being a regularly competitive nation like Panama as of late. Should be good for the whole zone. Now if only WE could show some improvement one of these cycles.

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I don't think this was posted anywhere. From SLAM! Sports:

Flavio Ortega, soccer coach of Honduras national team, dies at 62

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) - Flavio Ortega, the coach of the Honduras national soccer team, died Tuesday from the effects of a brain aneurysm. He was 62.

"He is now with the Lord," Ortega's widow, Ligia Hernandez, said at a news conference.

Ortega was hospitalized early last month after suffering a stroke.

A Brazilian with Honduran citizenship, he moved to Honduras in the 1960s to play for Marathon.

In 1969, he set a record for the most goals (18) scored in a single season. The record stood for 18 years.

In 1970, Ortega retired and later coached Real Espana, Olimpia and Marathon. In 1991, he led the national team to a second-place finish in the CONCACAF Gold Cup.

In November 2005, Ortega was hospitalized with several broken bones from a car accident. He had two operations but still coached from his hospital bed.

Ortega coached Olimpia last year, and the team lost to Motagua in the December final.

Shortly after, he was selected to coach Honduras in this month's Central American Cup of Nations. Because of his illness, he was replaced by Reinaldo Rueda.

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El Salvador and Guatemala have just qualified for the Gold Cup:

2007 CONCACAF GOLD CUP™ QUALIFICATION

Central American Zone – Copa de Naciones Digicel 2007 de UNCAF

San Salvador, EL SALVADOR; Cuscatlán Stadium

Group 1

10.02.2007: BELIZE – GUATEMALA 0:1 (0:1)

Gustavo CABRERA 7’

R: Rolando VIDAL (PAN)

EL SALVADOR – NICARAGUA 2:1 (1:0)

Eliseo QUINTANILLA 16’, 65’ – Samuel Israel WILSON 53'

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This is strange, from what I remember Belize was really bad. All these games have only been one goal victories. I would bet its a case of Guatemala and El Salvador getting worse rather than Belize and Nicaragua improving, as I don't think they have the means to. Then again teams could be short their best players.

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Here is a firsthand account (Feb 9) from Toussaint (who is a Haitian fan) on the T&T site:

"I saw more that half of each match. Guat midfield and attacking seems competent but their defense is poor. Nicaragua had a couple of chances but they were not capable of finishing. Nicaragua was also poorer than expected.

Did not expect a strong showing from Belize, but they played much better than I expected.

I believe Belize only needs a good coach to become the next panama in Central America. Individually, they were ok. However, as a team, they were clueless as to what to do with the ball once they had it. Their goalie is tall and has good reflexes. If given a chance in a stronger league, he will develop into a world class goalkeeper.

Nicaragua is apparently weaker than Belize. However, they have a greater understanding of football than their fellow minnows of Belize. They were more organized and were even able to stage some well thought counterattacks. Their weakness was not in their legs, but in their mind. They seem to accept that it's normal for them to lose to Guatemala."

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quote:Originally posted by Alex

Well unfortunately for Honduras, they lost their opener to Costa Rica, 3-1

Again, a first-hand account from a Haitian (Toussaint) fan:

Honduras is the most impressive team in the tournament. As a matter of fact, I believe they can also beat USA or Mexico at home. Their 1-3 loss was one of those matches where the best team loses. Costa Rica, on the other hand, is not a weak team at all. They have strong defence and some good strykers; but, they were outplayed by the Hondurans who are individually more talented. In the GC, I would predict a draw for either Haiti, TnT, or Cuba against Costa Rica, but a victory for Honduras against those same CFU teams.

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Gold Cup Set

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (CP) - Wilmer Velasquez fired in four goals and Saul Martinez scored a hat trick as Honduras devastated Nicaragua 9-1 Thursday to clinch a CONCACAF Gold Cup berth.

Jairo Martinez opened the scoring for Honduras after just three minutes in the Central American Cup fifth-place playoff before Valasquez, dubbed "the Matador," hammered in his goals in the 6th, 27th, 37th, and 39th.

Martinez followed with goals in the 69th, 81st and 86th minutes and Carlos Mejia put Honduras' win beyond doubt in the 77th.

Samuel Wilson scored Nicaragua's lone goal in the 31st.

Honduras and Nicaragua were playing for the final Gold Cup spot after trailing their groups in the Central American Cup round robin. El Salvador, Guatemala, Costa Rica and Panama have also earned their berths in the Gold Cup.

North American zone nations Canada, Mexico and the U.S. qualify automatically for the Gold Cup as past champions, while Trinidad and Tobago, Haiti, Guadeloupe and Cuba claimed their places at last month's Caribbean zone championship, Copa Caribe, in Trinidad.

On Friday, Panama plays Guatemala, while El Salvador faces Costa Rica in the Central American Cup semifinals.

Canada won its first and only Gold Cup in 2000.

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