GC: Haiti, Guadeloupe, Costa Rica

[MikeD]

From the San Diego Union-Tribune...

***

GOAL!

French connection

Tiny Guadeloupe, which produces some of the finest playersfor France, will play in the Gold Cup in the U.S.

By Mark Zeigler

UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

May 30, 2007

Many historians consider the Seven Years' War the first truly global conflict, and when it ended in 1763 representatives of the world's most powerful nations gathered in Paris to carve up the planet. France essentially gave most of modern-day Canada to the British in exchange for control of Guadeloupe, a group of five tiny islands and a 4,800-foot volcano on the eastern edge of the Caribbean.

Nearly 2 1/2 centuries later, it makes perfect sense.

The Brits got Canada's endless swaths of terrain rich in timber and minerals. The French got Guadeloupe's beaches and soccer players.

Guadeloupe makes its debut in a major senior-level tournament next week, when it plays in Group A of the CONCACAF Gold Cup in the United States. And before you start cracking jokes about island boys getting drilled 10-0 by unfancied Central American countries, consider this:

There is probably no place on Earth that, per capita, has produced more soccer stars.

Guadeloupe, with a population 452,000 (or one-sixth of San Diego County), is an official overseas department of France. Think of it as the French version of Hawaii. Pointe-a-Pitre to Paris is a domestic flight. The Euro is the chief currency. Guadeloupeans vote in French elections from 4,200 miles and six time zones away.

It also means that Guadeloupeans play for France's national soccer team. Legendary defender Lilian Thuram, who last year became France's all-time caps leader, grew up in Anse-Bertrand, a village on the northern tip of Grande-Terre island, and still returns there most summers to host a local music festival. Arsenal superstar Thierry Henry? He spent a few years of his childhood on the tiny island of La Desirade, where his father is from.

Louis Saha, Mikael Sylvestre, William Gallas, Sylvian Wiltord? All either were born in Guadeloupe or have parents from there. Their current clubs: Manchester United, Manchester United, Arsenal and Lyon.

Last May, when Pascal Chimbonda was an 87th-minute substitute in a World Cup tune-up against Denmark, the entire French back line was of Guadeloupean descent: Chimbonda, Thuram, Gallas and Silvestre. So, too, were both goals in the 2-0 victory, by Henry and Wiltord.

In all, seven members of the 23-man French roster that reached the 2006 World Cup final have roots in five islands and the 4,800-foot volcano in the eastern Caribbean. Former French great Marius Tresor, who played in the 1978 and '82 World Cups, was born in Sainte-Anne, Guadeloupe.

“We are very, very proud,” says Alain Soreze, the treasurer of Guadeloupe's soccer federation. “When the French national team plays a match, it comes on the TV in the afternoon in Guadeloupe. People don't work. They go to watch the match instead. Businesses are closed.”

Because Guadeloupe is part of France, it is not part of FIFA. But CONCACAF allows what it calls “associate members” that can participate in regional tournaments with the proviso that they can't advance to FIFA events. So Guadeloupe can participate in the qualifying rounds for the Gold Cup, the region's biennial championship for national teams, and even the Gold Cup itself. But if it wins, it can't represent CONCACAF at the FIFA Confederations Cup.

And players with caps for France in official FIFA matches can't play for Guadeloupe. That rules out everyone from the 2006 World Cup team except Chimbonda, a 28-year-old defender with English club Tottenham who only appeared in the friendly against Denmark and did not play in the World Cup.

Guadeloupe put him on its tentative roster for the Gold Cup, along with several other players from respected European clubs, but actually getting them is another issue.

FIFA requires professional clubs to release players for national-team duty in sanctioned competitions such as the Gold Cup. Except Guadeloupe is not an officially recognized national team by FIFA.

“It is difficult for Guadeloupe,” Soreze says. “Some clubs refuse to release the players, and they are not obligated to.”

That leaves coach Roger Salnot's roster filled with players from Guadeloupe's amateur league, nearly all of them with day jobs (including at least one fireman). The best players from the island are gone in their early teens, snapped up by European clubs that religiously scout the annual youth tournament in Paris over Easter weekend for teams from overseas departments.

The lone exception is 41-year-old Jocelyn Angloma, who earned 37 caps for France in the mid-1990s and has returned to live in his native Guadeloupe. Since he is no longer a professional (he plays for one of the island amateur teams) and since his international career is long over, he is allowed to play for Guadeloupe. His 87th-minute goal on a swerving free kick against Cuba in January gave Guadeloupe an upset 2-1 win and all but clinched a spot in the Gold Cup.

It is an allegiance that Thuram, who currently plays for Spain's Barcelona, understands.

After France won the 1998 World Cup thanks to a pair of Thuram goals in the semifinal, Thuram quietly left the frenzied celebrations in Paris and boarded a domestic French flight to Pointe-a-Pitre. Then he drove to the northern tip of Grande-Terre island, through the sugar cane fields where his mother worked to support her five children.

“The procession along the Champs-Elysees was fabulous,” Thuram later explained, “but these were my people.”

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Mark Zeigler: (619) 293-2205;mark.zeigler@uniontrib.com

CONCACAF GOLD CUP

What: The biennial championship for men's national teams in the CONCACAF region, which encompasses North America, Central America and the Caribbean.

When: June 6-24.

Where: Six stadiums in the United States, including The Home Depot Center in Carson. The semifinals and final are at Chicago's Soldier Field.

At stake: The winner is granted entry into the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup in South Africa, where teams are guaranteed at least $1 million.

Groups: Group A: Costa Rica, Canada, Guadeloupe, Haiti. Group B: USA, El Salvador, Guatemala, Trinidad and Tobago. Group C: Mexico, Cuba, Honduras, Panama.

In 2005: The United States beat Panama in the final in a penalty shootout after playing to a 0-0 draw.

– MARK ZEIGLER

[Winnipeg Fury]

June 3

Costa Rica 2 - 0 Chile

[Gian-Luca]

Another article on Haiti's recent progress:

http://www.miamiherald.com/628/story/130162.html

[VPjr]

maybe Stephen Harper should pick a fight with France (the US would likely support us...no fans of France in Washington these days)....if we win, we want Guadelupe....our MNT would be eternally greatful. If we lose, they can have Acadia.

[The Ref]

Just finished watching Guadalupe vs Haiti. Score was 1-1. Not impressed with Haiti, they scored on a PK. Guadalupe on the other hand looks good and could give us some trouble on Saturday.

[georg]

U.S., Mexico could collide for Gold CupTeams appear headed for a title game, if each can execute some crucial strategies

By Grahame L. Jones, Times Staff Writer

June 7, 2007

LA Times

Seconds after the final whistle Tuesday night at cavernous Azteca Stadium in Mexico City, Paraguay goalkeeper Justo Villar nonchalantly bounced the ball off the back of Mexico striker Cuauhtemoc Blanco's head.

It was a message of sorts. Mexico's national soccer team had dominated the friendly game, but a goal on a breakaway less than two minutes from the end by Oscar Cardozo had given Paraguay that most rare of results — a victory at intimidating Azteca, where Mexico almost never loses.

The hot-tempered Blanco, already steamed by the 1-0 defeat, was incensed and had to be physically restrained from confronting Villar.

What all this has to do with the Gold Cup, which started Wednesday, is this: If the United States team can get under Mexico's skin, rattle its nerves and erode its confidence, the defending and three-time champion Americans can win it all again, just as they did in 2005.

But if Mexico can keep its composure, Coach Hugo Sanchez's side has an excellent chance of winning the Gold Cup for the fifth time.

Yes, there are 10 other countries taking part in the 25-game tournament that determines the champion of soccer's North and Central American and Caribbean region, but the smart money has the U.S. and Mexico squaring off in the final in Chicago on June 24.

Both teams have called up their most experienced players, including their European-based stars, and both are intent on winning the tournament and thus earning a coveted place in the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup in South Africa.

With the exception of 2000, when Canada made off with the trophy, the U.S. or Mexico has triumphed every time since the Gold Cup first was presented in 1991.

One or the other nation has played host to every tournament and one or the other has played in every final except the aberrant 2000 edition when Colombia, an invited guest, lost to the upstart Canadians in the rain at the Coliseum.

Invited guests are now a thing of the past. Only teams from CONCACAF's 38-member nations can take part.

The U.S. and Mexico are the recognized regional soccer powers, but not everyone is convinced it's a two-team race.

"There's always a sleeper, isn't there?" said Frank Yallop, who coached Canada in the 2005 Gold Cup before becoming the Galaxy's coach. "There are always things that pop up in those tournaments. They seem to be the two teams to beat, but you never know."

It is difficult, however, to see anyone stopping Coach Bob Bradley's U.S. team before the final. The U.S. opens against Guatemala tonight at the Home Depot Center, plays Trinidad and Tobago in Carson on Saturday afternoon and ends its first round against El Salvador on Tuesday night in Foxborough, Mass.

The U.S. warmed up with a 4-1 rout of China on Saturday, and forwards Eddie Johnson and Taylor Twellman are in peak form.

Nor is Sanchez's Mexico squad likely to be derailed by a first round in which it opens against Cuba on Friday night at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., play Honduras there Sunday and finishes against 2005 runner-up Panama in Houston on June 13.

Sanchez has given his team two warm-up games leading into the Gold Cup and the Copa America in Venezuela that follows immediately afterward. Before being upset by Paraguay — a loss that left Sanchez with a 4-2 record as coach — Mexico rolled over Iran, 4-0, Friday night.

In that game, Nery Castillo, the 22-year-old star-in-the-making who plays for Greek champion Olympiakos, made his long-awaited debut for Mexico, impressing Sanchez in the process.

"Each time he plays, there will be fewer people that doubt his ability, because there are very few players in the world like Nery," Sanchez said.

Sanchez has a variety of offensive weapons at his disposal.

Against Iran, Jared Borgetti extended his Mexican record by scoring his 41st goal for the national team. Other attackers on Mexico's Gold Cup roster include Francisco "Kikin" Fonseca, Omar Bravo, Adolfo "Bofo" Bautista, Andres Guardado and the Chicago Fire-bound Blanco.