July 2004 Volume 14/ Number 3

CONCACAF NEWS
Official Newsletter of The Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football

CALENDAR OF EVENTS
6-25 July 2004
2004 Copa Amrica
Lima, Peru
23-31 July 2004
2004 CONCACAF Futsal Championship
Heredia, Costa Rica
11-28 August 2004
2004 Olympic Games
Athens, Greece
18 August 2004
2006 CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying Semifinal
Round - Match Day 1

Cuba (blue jerseys) looking to become only the second CONCACAF team
to advance to three consecutive FIFA Futsal World Championships

4-5 September 2004

2006 CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying Semifinal
Round - Match Day 2

FUTSAL FINAL SET FOR COSTA RICA

The 2004 CONCACAF Futsal Final Round Qualification field is
now set and the whole tournament will take place at the
Palacio de los Deportes in Herdia, Costa Rica from 23-31 July.
The host and defending champion, Costa Rica has been
placed in Group A along with Mexico, Surinam and Trinidad &
Tobago, while Cuba, which has qualified to the last two FIFA
Futsal World Championships, is in Group B with Guyana, Panama and the USA.
The eight-team event will qualify two nations to the 2004 FIFA Futsal World
Championship, to be held in Chinese Taipei from 21 November - 5 December.
The 2004 CONCACAF Futsal Championship kicks off on Friday, 23 July and
will have six consecutive first round doubleheaders (three each in Groups A and
B) until Wednesday, 28 July. The top two teams in each group advance to the
semifinals on 30 July, with Group B winner taking on Group A runner-up and
Group A winner facing the runner-up from Group B.
The semifinal losers will meet in the third-place game on 31 July, while the
two finalists, who will also meet on 31 July, earn CONCACAF's two berths to
Chinese Taipei.
CONCACAF has previously staged two Futsal qualifiers for the FIFA World
Championships, in 1996 and 2000. Six teams participated in the 1996 CONCACAF
event in Guatemala that was won by the USA. Four years later, eight squads
took part in the tournament in Costa Rica, which was claimed by the host.
MATCH SCHEDULE
Group A: Costa Rica, Mexico, Trinidad & Tobago, Surinam
23.07.2004: MEXICO - TRINIDAD & TOBAGO (18:00); COSTA RICA - SURINAM (20:00)
25.07.2004: SURINAM - MEXICO (18:00); COSTA RICA - TRINIDAD & TOBAGO (20:00)
27.07.2004: TRINIDAD & TOBAGO - SURINAM (18:00); COSTA RICA - MEXICO (20:00)
Group B: Cuba, USA, Panama, Guyana
24.07.2004: USA - PANAMA (18:00); GUYANA - CUBA (20:00)
26.07.2004: USA - GUYANA (18:00); CUBA - PANAMA (20:00)
28.07.2004: PANAMA - GUYANA (18:00); CUBA - USA (20:00)
SEMIFINALS: 30.07.2004: SF1 - GROUP B1 vs. GROUP A2 (18:00); SF2 - GROUP A1 vs. GROUP B2 (20:00)
FINALS: 31.07.2004: THIRD PLACE GAME (18:00); CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH (20:00)

LD ALAJUELENSE WIN
2004 CHAMPIONS CUP
LD Alajuelense
(CRC) claimed
their second ever
CONCACAF
Champions Cup,
after defeating
the visiting
Photo Courtesy of Carlos Deportivo Saprissa
Leon/La Nacion (CRC)
(CRC) in the second-leg of the 2004 Finals on 12 May.
Their 4:0 win at the Estadio Alejandro
Morera Soto in Alajuela, Costa Rica
gave them 5:1 aggregate victory.
LD Alajuelense, which becomes
the first Costa Rican Club since 1995
to win the CONCACAF Champions Cup,
earned their first CONCACAF title in
18 years. Alajuelense won their first
Champions Cup Crown in 1986 after
defeating SV Transvaal of Surinam 5:2
on aggregate in the final.
The CONCACAF Champions Cup
is the longest running international
club competition in the region and
has crowned the champion club of
the Confederation, since its inception
in 1962.

PAGE 2

CONCACAF NEWS - JULY 2004

CONCACAF FUTSAL TOURNAMENTScouting The Teams

Costa Rica - The defending Confederation champion, Costa Rica is hosting the CONCACAF Futsal
Final Round for a second consecutive time
With two FIFA World Championship appearances under their
belts, ticos were the first Central American nation to qualify for the FIFA Futsal event in 1992 Coached by Carlos
Quiros, Costa Rica returned to the FIFA tournament in 2000
after winning the CONCACAF title The ticos also captured
the gold medal at the 2001 Juegos Centroamericanos in
Guatemala and finished seventh at the 2001 Singapore Tiger
5's International Tournament.
Cuba - Under technical director Clemente
Reinoso, Cuba has qualified to the last two FIFA
Futsal World Championships The cubanos have
finished second in the last two CONCACAF Futsal
Tournaments (1996, 2000) Cuba is the Caribbean Nation
with the most appearances in FIFA tournaments: World Cup
(1938), Olympic Games (1976, 1980), Under-17 (1989,
1991), Futsal (1996, 2000).
Guyana - Advanced to the CONCACAF Final
Round for the first time after finishing second at
the Caribbean Football Union Preliminary Futsal
Tournament in St. Augustine, Trinidad & Tobago Guyana
defeated St. Vincent & The Grenadines (11:2), Surinam
(7:5) and Turks & Caicos Islands (11:2) in group play before
falling to Trinidad & Tobago (0:5) in the CFU finals Mark
Joseph is in charge of the Guyanese squad.
Mexico - Reached the semifinals of the 1996 and
2000 CONCACAF Futsal tournaments but Mexico
are yet to play in the FIFA Futsal World
Championship The tricolor has played more international
futsal matches (24) than any other CONCACAF team since
2001 ... With Josu Rodriguez at the helm, Mexico eliminated El Salvador in a two-game North/Central Preliminary
Series 17:9 on aggregate.

CONCACAF FINAL ROUND

U-20 & U-17 QUALIFYING
CONCACAF announced
the respective final round
qualifying fixtures for the
Under-20 and U-17
tournaments.
Honduras and the USA have been
selected as the host nations for the
respective qualifying groups for the U20 competition, that will lead to four
CONCACAF places in the FIFA World
Youth (U-20) Championships
Netherlands 2005. The two countries
will each stage a group of four teams
with the top two finishers from each
group qualifying to the FIFA event.
Joining the host, USA, in CONCACAF
U-20 Final Round Group A, taking place

Panama - Panama has competed in all four CONCACAF Final Round Qualifications in 2004 (Men's,
Women's Pre-Olympic; Under-19 Women's; Futsal)
They played their first international Futsal games in 2004
under newly appointed coach, Marcos Babau Assumpao
Carneiro The canaleros defeated Canada in a two-game
North/Central Preliminary Series 11:6 on aggregate.
Surinam - Making their second consecutive
appearance at a CONCACAF Futsal Final Round
after finishing fifth in the qualifying tournament
four years ago Surinam advanced to the 2004 CONCACAF
event after earning third-place honours at the Caribbean
Football Union Tournament in St. Augustine, Trinidad &
Tobago Coached by Stanley Lamsberg, the Surinamese
defeated St. Vincent & The Grenadines (7:0) and Turks &
Caicos Islands (15:1), before losing to Guyana (5:7) in tournament's group play Surinam claimed the last CFU berth by
topping Netherlands Antilles (9:4) in the third-place game.
Trinidad & Tobago - Advanced to their first
CONCACAF Futsal Final Round after Trinidad &
Tobago hosted and won the inaugural Caribbean
Football Union Tournament in St. Augustine With Clayton
Morris at the helm, the soca warriors played their first-ever
Futsal matches during the CFU event winning all their
games Trinidad & Tobago earned group victories over
Grenada (9:2), Netherlands Antilles (4:3), Puerto Rico (4:2)
and then defeated Guyana (5:0) for the CFU title.
USA - Under the direction of technical director
Keith Tozer, the USA eliminated Honduras in a
two-game North/Central Preliminary Series 7:1
on aggregate The stars & stripes are making their third
consecutive appearance at the CONCACAF tournament, finishing first and third in the 1996 and 2000 events respectively The USA have qualified to three FIFA Futsal World
Championships (1989, 1992, 1996), earning a bronze medal
at the inaugural FIFA competition in the Netherlands 1989
and a silver medal at the 1992 event in Hong Kong.

from 12-16 January 2005, will be two

nations from the Central American
Zone (UNCAF) along with the Caribbean
Zone (CFU) Series 1 Winner. Honduras
will stage Group B from 26-30 January,
which includes Canada, Mexico and
CFU Series 2 Winner.
Meanwhile, Canada and
Costa Rica will each host a
group for the final stage of
CONCACAF U-17 qualification,
where three teams will advance to the
FIFA U-17 World Championship, Peru 2005.
The group winners will qualify
directly to the FIFA U-17 World
Championship, while the two group
runners-up will compete in a homeand-away playoff, with the winner
earning the final CONCACAF berth to
the FIFA event.

Costa Rica, hosting U-17 Group A

from 12-16 April 2005, will be joined by
the USA, CFU Series 1 Winner and the
UNCAF Series 1 Winner (Guatemala/
Nicaragua/El Salvador), while Group B,
that runs from 19-23 May 2005, has
Mexico, CFU Series 2 Winner, UNCAF
Series 2 Winner (Honduras/Belize/
Panama) and the host Canada.
U-20 Final Round
Group A (12-16 January 2005 Home Depot
Center in Carson, California USA)
USA, UNCAF 1, UNCAF 2, CFU 1
Group B (26-30 January 2005 Estadio TBD,
San Pedro Sula, HONDURAS)
Honduras, Mexico, Canada, CFU 2
U-17 Final Round
Group A (12-16 April 2005 - TBD, COSTA RICA)
Costa Rica, USA, UNCAF 1, CFU 1
Group B (19-23 May 2005 - Jeux Canada Games
Stadium in St. John, New Brunswick CANADA)
Canada, Mexico, UNCAF 2, CFU 2

CONCACAF NEWS - JULY 2004

CONCACAF WORLD CUP

QUALIFYING DOWN TO
FINAL TWELVE
Twelve CONCACAF
teams advanced to the
Semifinal Round of qualifying for the 2006 FIFA
World Cup after winning
their respective Second
Round series last month.
The twelve victorious teams from
the second round will enter the semifinal round made up of three groups of
four. The six match days, with each
team in the group facing each other

PAGE 3
home and away, run from 18 August to
17 November 2004.
The two nations topping each of the
semifinal groups advance to a Final
Round group of six teams that runs
from 9 February - 12 October 2005.
The top three finishers in this final
group will advance directly to the 2006
FIFA World Cup in Germany.
The CONCACAF fourth-place finisher
will compete in a home-and-away playoff against fifth-place finisher of the
Asian Football Confederation, for one
of the last berths into the FIFA event.
These games will take place in
November 2005.

SEMIFINAL ROUND
Group A
El Salvador, Jamaica, Panama, USA
Group B
Canada, Costa Rica, Guatemala,
Honduras
Group C
Mexico, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Vincent &
The Grenadines, Trinidad & Tobago
Match Dates
Game 1 - 18 August 2004
Game 2 - 4-5 September 2004
Game 3 - 8 September 2004
Game 4 - 9-10 October 2004
Game 5 - 13 October 2004
Game 6 - 17 November 2004

CONCACAF TEAMS LEARN OPPONENTS

FOR THE 2004 OLYMPIC GAMES

CANADA & USA QUALIFY TO 2004

FIFA U-19 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

The men's teams of Costa Rica and Mexico along

with the women's squads from Mexico and the USA
know their football tournament groupings and
opponents at the 2004 Olympic Games, that runs
from 11-28 August in Athens, Greece.
Men's Tournament: Costa Rica is in Group D in the 16team competition, alongside Iraq, Morocco and Portugal.
The ticos are in their third Summer Games and first since
1984. Mexico, which is making its ninth ever trip to the
Olympics, has been placed in Group A. The tricolor will
meet Korea Republic, Mali and the host Greece.
GROUPS:
Group A: Greece (host), Korea Republic, Mali, Mexico
Group B: Paraguay, Japan, Ghana, Italy
Group C: Argentina, Serbia & Montenegro, Tunisia, Australia
Group D: Costa Rica, Morocco, Iraq, Portugal
Women's Tournament: In their first appearance in the
womens Olympic football competition, Mexico has been
placed in Group F with Germany and China. Making their
third consecutive trip to the Summer Games, the USA will
compete in Group G along side Australia, Brazil and Greece.
GROUPS:
Group E: Sweden, Japan, Nigeria
Group F: Germany, China, Mexico
Group G: Greece (host), USA, Brazil, Australia

Canada and the USA qualified for their

second consecutive FIFA Under-19 Women's
World Championship, scheduled for 10-27
November in Thailand.
Canada and USA booked their tickets to Thailand after
eliminating Costa Rica (4:0) and Mexico (6:0), respectively
in the semifinals of the CONCACAF U-19 Final Round
Qualification on 4 June, in Montreal, Quebec.
The maple leafs went on to win the CONCACAF U-19 title
by defeating the stars & stripes 2:1 in overtime in Ottawa,
Ontario on 6 June, ending the USA's 13-game unbeaten
streak, in U-19 CONCACAF Qualifying and FIFA World
Championship matches.
In the 2004 CONCACAF U-19 third-place match in Ottawa
on 6 June, Costa Rica came from behind to post a 4:3 victory over Mexico.

CFU UNVEILS DIGICEL AS S PONSOR

FOR GOLD CUP QUALIFYING EVENT
The Caribbean Football Union (CFU) unveiled at
the National Stadium in St. George's, Grenada, on
2 May, that Digicel would sponsor the Caribbean
Cup, the qualification event for the CONCACAF
Gold Cup for the Caribbean region.
The announcement was made by Chief Executive Officer
of Digicel, Seamus Lynch at a media briefing at the National
Stadium with the attendance of FIFA President Sepp Blatter
and CONCACAF President Jack Warner who both spoke in
glowing terms about the new deal for the qualifying tournament, starting with the 2005 Gold Cup.

CONCACAF TEAMS FALL IN 2004 COPA

AMRICA QUARTERFINALS
Costa Rica & Mexico were eliminated
from the 2004 Copa Amrica in Peru by
Colombia and Brazil, respectively.
Costa Rica was eliminated by the
defending champions Colombia in the Quarterfinals, after a
2:0 loss at the Estadio Mansiche in Trujillo, Peru on July 17.
Midfielder Abel Enrique Aguilar (41st min) and forward
Mahler Tressor Moreno (45th min) scored in the first half for
Colombia in their win.
Mexico fell 4:0 to Brazil in the at the Estadio Miguel Grau
in Piura, Peru on July 18.
The samba kings took a 1:0 lead over the tricolor into
halftime after midfielder Alex scored from a penalty kick in
the 27th minute.
In the second half, forward Adriano scored twice (65th,
78th) and teammate Ricardo Oliveira added another (87th)
as Brazil eliminated Mexico.
This is the sixth Copa Amrica that CONCACAF teams
have been invited to since 1993 and is the first time that no
CONCACAF team has reached the semifinals.

PAGE 4

CONCACAF NEWS - JULY 2004

AROUND THE CONFEDERATION

FIFA STAGES WORKSHOP IN SURINAM
FIFA Development Officer, Keith Look Loy,
conducted a workshop at the Emile de la
Fuente Sportcentrum in Paramaribo, Surinam
from 15-16 June.
The introduction of a semi-professional
league in 2006; youth and women's football development
programmes; and a training programme in administration
for club, regional officials in late 2004; were all among the
key objectives included in the development plan during the
two-day workshop.
The Surinaamse Voetball Bond President, Louis Giskus
was in attendance during the workshop along with representatives of the region, leagues, clubs, coaches, referees and
national association officials.
Other important aspects of the development plan
include; the appointment of personnel to several specialist
positions; the establishment of a referee recruitment and
training programme; as well as a medical and emergency
care training programme for club officials.

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CONCACAF NEWS

USA NATIONAL SOCCER HALL OF FAME ANNOUNCES

2004 INDUCTIONS
The National Soccer Hall of Fame in Oneonta, New York
USA, announced on 5 May, the induction of USA players
Michelle Akers, Paul Caligiuri and Eric Wynalda to the Class
of 2004, scheduled for weekend of 9-11 October.

Besides scoring the first goal in USA women's team

history in 1985, Akers has played in three FIFA Women's
World Cups and helped to lead the stars & stripes to two
championships (1991, 1999) and a gold medal at the 1996
Olympic Games.
Caligiuri has made two FIFA World Cup appearances
(1990, 1994), but is best remembered for scoring a 35-yard
dipping volley against Trinidad & Tobago in 1989, that put
the USA into the World Cup for the first time in 40 years.
Wynalda, a veteran of three World Cups (1990, 1994,
1998), is currently the USA's all-time leading scorer with 34
goals. Wynalda also scored the first goal in Major League
Soccer (USA/D1) history when the San Jose Clash defeated
D.C. United 1:0 on 6 April 1996 in San Jose, California.
CANADIAN REFEREE SONIA DENONCOURT RETIRES
Canadian Sonia Denoncourt announced her retirement
after 27 years as a referee on 6 July, but will remain in her
current role as Referee Development Coordinator with the
CSA (Canada Soccer Association).
Denoncourt began her officiating career in 1978, and in
1994 became the first female international FIFA referee. She
has officiated at the last three FIFA Womens World Cups
(Sweden 1995, USA 1999 & 2003), the last two Olympic
Games (Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000), and a large number of
CONCACAF and National Championships.
She has made her mark in the history books by having
worked on mens professional games since 1991, including
games in Brazil, El Salvador, USA and Canada.

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