December 2005 Volume 15/ Number 4

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

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

Dwight Yorke celebrates Trinidad & Tobagos first-ever qualification to a FIFA World Cup after
eliminating Bahrain in a two-game playoff in November. Photo: Shaun Fuentes

TRINIDAD & TOBAGO MAKES IT FOUR!

For the first time in history, four CONCACAF teams will compete at
a FIFA World Cup as the Confederations qualifiers, Costa Rica,
Mexico, Trinidad & Tobago and USA prepare to play in of footballs
global showpiece in Germany 2006.
To have four teams from this Confederation in Germany next
summer demonstrates the level of football being played in the region, said
CONCACAF General Secretary Chuck Blazer. I am sure all of CONCACAFs member associations will join with me in congratulating and wishing all four CONCACAF teams the best of luck in Germany 2006.
The CONCACAF teams will join 28 other World Cup qualifiers in the 32-team
tournament from 9 June 9 July 2006.
Twelve venues in Germany will host the 2006 FIFA World Cup, which will
have eight groups of four in the opening round and with the top two teams from
each group progressing into the knockout stage.
All four CONCACAF qualifiers have learned their respective groups and opponents when the 2006 FIFA World Cup Final Draw took place at the Exhibition
Centre on 9 December 2005 in Leipzig, Germany.
COSTA RICA

TRINIDAD & TOBAGO

Federacion Costariccense de Futbol

Founded 1921
Most World Cup Appearances of any
Central American Nation
Finished Third in CONCACAF Qualifying

Trinidad & Tobago Football Federation

Founded 1908
First World Cup Final appearance
Fourth Caribbean team to reach final stages
Finished Fourth in CONCACAF Qualifying

MEXICO

USA

Federacion Mexican de Futbol Assocacion AC

Founded 1927
Most World Cup Appearances of any
CONCACAF Nation
Finished Second in CONCACAF Qualifying

United States Soccer Federation

Founded 1913
Best ever finish of a CONCACAF Team (Semifinalist
in 1930)
Finished First in CONCACAF Qualifying

19 December 2005
FIFA World Player Gala 2005 - Switzerland
18-27 January 2006
2006 CONCACAF Womens U-20 Final Round
Mexico
22 February 2006
2006 CONCACAF Champions Cup
Quarterfinal Series First-Legs
3-12 March 2006
2006 Central American & Caribbean Games
UNCAF (Mens U-21) Qualification
5-12 March 2006
CONCACAF Beach Soccer Qualifying Tournament
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
8 March 2006
2006 CONCACAF Champions Cup
Quarterfinal Series Second-Legs
22 March 2006
2006 CONCACAF Champions Cup
Semifinal Series First-Legs
29 March 2006
2006 CONCACAF Champions Cup
Semifinal Series Second-Legs
29 March 20 April 2006
2006 Central American & Caribbean Games
CFU (Mens U-21) Qualification

2006 FIFA WORLD CUP

DRAW RESULTS
Group A
Germany
Costa Rica
Poland
Ecuador

Group B
England
Paraguay
Trinidad & Tobago
Sweden

Group C
Argentina
Ivory Coast
Serbia & Mont.
Netherlands

Group D
Mexico
Iran
Angola
Portugal

Group E
Italy
Ghana
USA
Czech Republic

Group F
Brazil
Croatia
Australia
Japan

Group G
France
Switzerland
Korea Republic
Togo

Group G
Spain
Ukraine
Tunisia
Saudi Arabia

PAGE 2

CONCACAF NEWS - December 2005

SAPRISSA WINS BRONZE AT 2005

FIFA CLUB WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
Deportivo Saprissa of Costa Rica took the bronze at the 2005 FIFA
Club World Championship after defeating Al Ittihad of Saudi Arabia
3:2 in the third-place match at the International Stadium in
Yokohama, Japan on 18 December.
This is the second consecutive FIFA Club World Championship that a CONCACAF
team has finished third; previously Mexican team CID Necaxa defeated Spanish
giants Real Madrid 4:3 on penalty kicks to claim the third-place honours at the
2000 tournament held in Brazil.
The defending CONCACAF champions reached
the third-place game at the 2005 tournament after
losing 3:0 to Liverpool FC of England in the semifinals in Yokohama on 15 December. Liverpool went
on to lose 1:0 to Brazilian side Sao Paulo FC in the
finals three days later.
Saprissa began the FIFA Club World
Championship with a 1:0 victory over Sydney FC of
Australia in the quarterfinals at the Toyota Stadium Victor Cordero of Saprissa and Djibril
Ciss of Liverpool challenge for a high
in Toyota City on 12 December.
ball in the semifinal match.

2007 CONCACAF GOLD

CUP DATES ANNOUNCED
CONCACAF announced
the dates for the 2007
CONCACAF Gold Cup.
The twelve-team tournament will kickoff on Wednesday, 6 June, with the final
game scheduled for Sunday, 24 June.
Cities across the USA are expected
to host the 2007 edition of the bi-annual event, which crowns the CONCACAF
regions national team champion.
In announcing the 2007 tournament
dates, CONCACAF General Secretary
Chuck Blazer said, The 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup was a great success
with high quality soccer on the field, a
great atmosphere at games and a huge
following on TV. The Gold Cup is now
firmly established in the global soccer
calendar and in 2007 we will be aiming to build on that success.
The USA won the 2005 CONCACAF
Gold Cup by beating Panama in a
dramatic penalty shootout in the final
held at Giants Stadium in East
Rutherford, New Jersey on 24 July.
Details on the specific venues that
will host Gold Cup games in 2007 are
expected to be announced in 2006.

2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup Champions, USA

U-20 FINAL ROUND TO

BE HELD IN MEXICO
The 2006 CONCACAF
Womens Final Round will
be held in Cordoba &
Veracruz, Mexico from 1827 January.
The eight-team tournament will
qualify three CONCACAF nations to the
2006 FIFA U-20 World Championship in
Russia from 16 August 2 September.
The host, Mexico, is in Group A
along with the defending CONCACAF
champion, Canada, Panama and
Trinidad & Tobago, while Group B, has
El Salvador, alongside the USA,
Jamaica and Surinam.
The winners and runners-up of
each group earn a place in the events
semifinals. The two semifinal winners
earn places as CONCACAF representatives in FIFAs U-20 Womens World
Championship. CONCACAFs third spot
in the FIFA event will be determined
through a play-off game between the
two losing semifinalists.
This is the first time that CONCACAF
has staged a qualifying event for the
Womens U-20 World Championship. The
previous CONCACAF Womens Youth
Tournaments were at the U-19 level in
Trinidad & Tobago and Canada in 2002
and 2004, respectively.
Group A
Group B
Mexico
El Salvador
USA
Canada
Surinam
Panama
Trinidad & Tobago Jamaica

CONCACAF EXCO
MEETING HELD IN NYC
The CONCACAF Executive
Committee gathered at
the offices of the CONCACAF General Secretariat
in New York City, USA, on
21 November.
Among decisions taken by the
Committee, under the chairmanship
of President Jack Warner (TRI) were:
Draw for the 2006 CONCACAF
Champions Cup quarterfinal
pairings
Mexico will host the 2006
CONCACAF Womens Under-20 Final
Round Qualification event
Draw to determine the order of
games for the inaugural CONCACAF
Beach Soccer tournament, from
which two CONCACAF teams
will progress to the FIFA Beach
Soccer World Cup next year in Rio
de Janeiro, Brazil.
Furthermore, the CONCACAF
Executive Committee unanimously
approved an application to allow a
Canadian team, based in Toronto, to
compete in USAs Major League
Soccer, this application having already
received the support of both the
Canadian Soccer Association and the
United States Soccer Federation.
The Executive Committee also
called upon FIFA to examine the
process by which the host nation for
future FIFA World Cup Finals will be
determined. The Committee further
pledged to support any member associations of CONCACAF deciding to submit a bid to host the World Cup on
the first available opportunity.
Specifically addressing this matter,
and with the unanimous support of
the Executive Committee, CONCACAF
President Jack Warner said "CONCACAF stands ready to support any member or members deciding to bid to
host the World Cup the very next time
this Confederation is eligible to host
the event."
The Executive Committee also
extended its congratulations to
Trinidad & Tobago for becoming the
fourth CONCACAF team to qualify for
the FIFA World Cup Germany 2006
and expressed their good wishes for
all four of the Confederations representatives in the World Cup.

CONCACAF NEWS - December 2005

MEXICO: FIFA U-17 CHAMPIONS

Mexico became the first CONCACAF team to
win a FIFA Under-17 World Championship
after defeating the previous champions,
Brazil (of Finland 2003), by a score of 3:0 in
2005 final in front of a sell out crowd of 40,000 at the
Estadio Nacional in Lima, Peru on 2 October.
The tricolores claimed their second-ever FIFA tournament title, the other was the 1999 FIFA Confederations
Cup in Mexico when the host topped Brazil 4:3.
This is also the fourth time in history that a CONCACAF
mens team has competed for a FIFA Tournament title (at
any level). The other two times were World Youth
Championship in Tunisia 1977, when the U.S.S.R. topped
Mexico on penalties 9:8; and Brazils defeat of the USA 4:1
in the 1992 Five-A-Side (now Futsal) Tournament Finale in
Hong Kong.
Along with claiming the FIFA
U-17 World Championship,
Mexican players also earned two
individual awards at the conclusion of the 2005 final on 2
October.
Giovanni Dos Santos won the
Adidas Silver Ball, as the competitions second-best rated player,
while Carlos Vela earned the
Mexicos U-17 Team, celebrates
Adidas Golden Shoe as the tourna- their world championship win.
ments top scorer with five goals. Photo by Mauro Alfieri

MEXICOS SUAREZ MATCHES RECORD

Defender Claudio Suarez tied FIFAs all-time record for
international games played on on 14 December, when he
saw action for Mexico in the 2:0 win over Hungary in a
friendly in Phoenix, Arizona USA.
Nicknamed El Emperador, Suarez, who has been playing with the tricolor since 1992, is now tied for first with
Saudi Arabias Mohamed Al-Deayea in the all-time leaders
list with 173 international matches.
FIFA Mens All-Time International Games Leaders
1. Mohamed AL-DEAYEA (KSA) - 173
Claudio SUAREZ (MEX)
3. Adnan AL TALYANI (UAE) - 164
Cobi JONES (USA)

5. Hossam HASSAN (EGY) - 163

6. Sami AL JABER (KSA) - 152
7. Lothar MATTHAEUS (GER) - 150
8. Martin REIM (EST) - 146

PAGE 3

SIX TEAMS TO COMPETE IN

BEACH SOCCER QUALIFICATION
Canada, Cayman Islands, Costa
Rica, Jamaica, Mexico and USA
will compete in the inaugural
CONCACAF Beach Soccer
Qualifying Tournament, which
will qualify two teams to the
Mexico-USA in beach soccer battle 2006 FIFA Beach Soccer World
Photo from beachsoccer.com
Cup in Rio de Janeiro.
The CONCACAF qualifying tournament will run from 5-9
March 2006 and will take place alongside South Americas
(CONMEBOL) six-team Beach Soccer Qualification event in
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The top two from each Confederations group (CONCACAF & CONMEBOL) will not only progress to the 2006 FIFA
Beach Soccer World Cup, but will also claim a place in the
tournaments semifinals to compete for a place in the
final which will crown an overall champion for the CONCACAF and CONMEBOL event on the 12 March.
The 16-team 2006 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup is the
second tournament to be held; the first took place in May
2005 at the Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro.
The USA competed at the 12-team tournament in 2005
but lost to two of the eventual semifinalists, Japan (2:3)
and Portugal (3:9) on 9 and 10 May, respectively. France
defeated Portugal in the 2005 finals on penalties after a
3:3 draw in regulation and overtime periods.
2006 CONCACAF Beach Soccer Qualifying Tournament
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (All Kickoff Times TBD)
5 March
JAMAICA vs. MEXICO
USA vs. MEXICO
COSTA RICA vs. CAYMAN IS.
JAMAICA vs. COSTA RICA
CANADA vs. CAYMAN ISLANDS 8 March
USA vs. COSTA RICA
6 March
JAMAICA vs. CAYMAN ISLANDS
USA vs. CAYMAN ISLANDS
CANADA vs. MEXICO
JAMAICA vs. CANADA
COSTA RICA vs. MEXICO
9 March
USA vs. JAMAICA
7 March
COSTA RICA vs. CANADA
USA vs. CANADA
CAYMAN ISLANDS vs. MEXICO

2006 CONCACAF CHAMPIONS CUP QUARTERFINAL LINEUP COMPLETE

CONCACAF unveiled the complete quarterfinal
pairings for the 2006 CONCACAF Champions' Cup
with games scheduled for 22 February and 8
March.
Mexican qualifier Club Amrica have been drawn to face
the Caribbean Champion Portmore United FC (JAM). The second quarterfinal will see the USA's New England Revolution
play Costa Rica's LD Alajuelense. Quarterfinal 3 matches up
CD Olmpia of Honduras with CD Toluca of Mexico. Finally,
Quarterfinal 4 will feature the LA Galaxy (USA) against
Deportivo Saprissa of Costa Rica.
Quarterfinals are to be played over two legs on a homeand-away basis with winners progressing to two-legged
Semifinals.The final, also two games, takes place on 12 & 19
April with the winner of the 2006 CONCACAF Champions' Cup
qualifying to the 2006 FIFA Club World Championship in Japan.
TM

QF1 Club America (MEX) v *Portmore United (JAM)

QF2 New England Revolution (USA) v *LD Alajuelense (CRC)
QF3 CD Toluca (MEX) v *CD Olimpia (HON)
QF4

*Los Angeles Galaxy (USA) v Deportivo Saprissa (CRC)

SF1 Winner QF1 v Winner QF2

SF2 Winner QF3 v Winner QF4
Final Winner SF1 v Winner SF2
QF Dates: 22 Feb/8 Mar SF Dates: 22/29 Mar Final Dates 12/19 April
* To Host First Leg

PAGE 4

CONCACAF NEWS - December 2005

AROUND THE
CONFEDERATION

725 FIFTH AVENUE, 17th FLOOR, NEW YORK, NEW YORK 10022

CONCACAF NEWS

DOPING CONTROL SEMINAR IN

TRINIDAD & TOBAGO
The Dr. Joo Havelange Centre of
Excellence in Trinidad & Tobago hosted
a FIFA/ CONCACAF Doping Control
Seminar from 25-26 November.
Fifteen Medical experts from twelve
CONCACAF countries assembled at
Centre of Excellence to discuss the latest research on Doping Control in CONCACAF and the rest of the football
world.
The seminar was conducted by
Professor Jiri Dvorak (SUI), Chairman of
the FIFA Medical Assessment and
Research Centre and a member of the
prestigious FIFA Sports Medicine
Committee.
Professor Dvorak was assisted by Dr.
Rudy Gittens (CAN) and Dr. Terence
Babwah (TRI) of the FIFA and CONCACAF Sports Medicine Committees. The
program included a review of Doping
Control in the region as well as a panel
discussion of Supplements and Banned
Substances.

FEDEFUTBOL ELECTS NEW PRESIDENT

After being under the supervision of
a FIFA/CONCACAF Normalisation
Committee for over a year, the
Federacion Nacional de Futbol de
Guatemala (FEDEFUTBOL) elected
scar Arroyo Arz as the new President
during its elections held at Villa Ramiro
de Len Carpio in Ciudad de
Guatemala on 22 October.
Since their suspension was lifted by
FIFA in early 2004, the FEDEFUTBOLs
national and international activities
were being overseen by a
Normalisation Committee, composed
by Rafael Tinoco, CONCACAF Deputy
General Secretary, Arroyo Arz and
Adela De Torrebiarte.
Arroyo Arz defeated Brayan
Jimnez 23 votes to 20 during FEDEFUTBOL elections for the term of 20052009. Along with Arroyo Arz, Mario
Archila and Gustavo Garcia were elected FEDEFUTBOL Secretary and
Treasurer, respectively.
DENONCOURT ACCEPTS FIFA ROLE
Former Canadian Referee, Sonia
Denoncourt has accepted a new role
with FIFA and will run the newly
formed program of Womens Referee

Development, starting in December.

Prior to accepting the position with
FIFA, Denoncourt was the Director of
Referee Development for the Canadian
Soccer Association, a post she held
since April 2001.
Denoncourt has officiated in some of
the biggest games in Womens Football,
including the 2003 Womens World Cup
Semifinals; the 2000 Olympic Final in
Sydney, Australia as well as matches in
the 1996 Atlanta Games, and the 1995
& 1999 World Cup.
She was also nominated as a FIFA
Instructor in early January 2004 and
has worked for FIFA as both a referee
instructor and administrator at several
major tournaments and events since
that nomination.
FIFA FAP SEMINAR TO TAKE PLACE IN
ST. KITTS & NEVIS
FIFA will hold a Financial Assistance
Programme (FAP) Seminar in Frigate
Bay, St. Kitts & Nevis from 28
November 1 December.
The four-day seminar will be held
at the St. Kitts Marriott where FIFA will
address adjusted procedures as well as
the formats requires by members to
access FAP funds.

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