Costa Rica

Brujas FC won its first Costa Rican league title in its five-year existence and thus qualified for the CONCACAF Champions League field next season. It prevailed over Puntarenas on penalties 5-4 after a 1-1 draw in Monday's second leg of the Costa Rican Invierno finals. The two teams had tied 0-0 in the first leg on Wednesday.

Nicaragua

Walter Ferreti beat Real Esteli 4-1 on Sunday to claim the Nicaragua's Apertura title 4-2 on aggregate. The team with the best overall record between the Apertura and Clausura champion will earn Nicaragua's place in the Preliminary Round.

Canada will face Costa Rica to open the CONCACF Under-20 Women's Championship while host Guatemala will play Cuba later on January 20 in the struggle to determine the confederation's three qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup.

Trinidad & Tobago will open play for Group B the following day against Mexico, with the reigning world champion United States completing the first day of group matches against Jamaica immediately afterward.

Play in Group A concludes on January 24 while Group B will finish a day later. The group winners will play the runners-up from the opposite group on January 28, with the championship and third-place matches set for Saturday, January 30.

The finalists and third-place winner will qualify for next year's World Cup in Germany July 13-August 1.

CONCACAF will work with each national association to identify and install its own head of referee development, the main focus for the confederation's officiating efforts in 2010.

A day-long meeting at CONCACAF's New York headquarters on Tuesday reviewed the progress after 18 months of involvement in FIFA's Referee Assistance Program (RAP), with plans to also continue with instructional seminars in the region. It also furthered planning for more Futuro III courses in Central America, North America and the Caribbean, referee instructional seminars in member associations, fitness tests for every country and elite referee courses for the Caribbean, Central America and a region-wide CONCACAF workshop.

RAP is to assist in professionalizing and improving the standard of refereeing, unifying the application of the Laws of the Game. It pairs referee development officers with instructors from around the world.

InterLiga, the eight team Mexican tournament that determines two berths to the Copa Libertadores, began this past Saturday in the United States. Group A got underway on Saturday América defeated Santos 3-1 and 2008-09 CONCACAF Champions League winners Atlante defeated Estudiantes Tecos 2-1 in Robertson Stadium in Houston, Texas. The following day in Group B action Puebla routed Tigres 4-1 and recently crowned 2009 Torneo Apertura champion Monterrey drew 0-0 with Jaguares in Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, Texas.

The tournament will wrap up in Los Angeles on Wednesday, January 13.

Final Round

09.05.2009: San Jose, Costa Rica; Estadio Ricardo Saprissa

COSTA RICA - MEXICO 0:3 (0:1)

09.05.2009: Sandy, Utah USA; Rio Tinto Stadium

UNITED STATES - EL SALVADOR 2:1 (2:1)

09.05.2009: San Pedro Sula, HONDURAS; Estadio Olímpico Metropolitano

HONDURAS - TRINIDAD & TOBAGO 4:1 (2:0)

09.09.2009: Port of Spain, TRINIDAD; Hasely Crawford Stadium

TRINIDAD & TOBAGO - UNITED STATES 1:0

(0:0) 09.09.2009: San Salvador, EL SALVADOR; Estadio Cuscatlan

EL SALVADOR - COSTA RICA 1:0 (0:0)

09.09.2009: Ciudad de Mexico, MEXICO; Estadio Azteca

MEXICO - HONDURAS 1:0 (0:0)

10.10.2009: Ciudad de Mexico, MEXICO; Estadio Azteca

MEXICO - EL SALVADOR 4:0 (1:0)

10.10.2009: San Pedro Sula, HONDURAS; Estadio Olímpico Metropolitano

HONDURAS - UNITED STATES 3:2 (0:0)

10.10.2009: San Jose, Costa Rica; Estadio Ricardo Saprissa

COSTA RICA - TRINIDAD & TOBAGO 0:4 (1:0)

10.14.2009: Port of Spain, TRINIDAD; Hasely Crawford Stadium

TRINIDAD & TOBAGO - MEXICO 2:2 (1:0)

10.14.2009: San Salvador, EL SALVADOR; Estadio Cuscatlan

EL SALVADOR - HONDURAS 0:1 (0:0)

10.14.2009: Washington, D.C. USA; RFK Stadium

UNITED STATES - COSTA RICA 2:2 (0:2)

NATIONAL ASSOCIATIONS

Friendlies

11.14.2009: Tegucigalpa, Honduras; Estadio Nacional

HONDURAS - LATVIA 2:1 (1:0)

11.14.2009: Bratislava, Slovakia;

SLOVAKIA - UNITED STATES 1:0 (1:0)

11.14.2009: Skopje, Macedonia;

MACEDONIA - CANADA 3:0 (0:0)

11.17.2009: Bloemfontein, South Africa;

SOUTH AFRICA - JAMAICA 0:0 (0:0)

11.18.2009: Aarhus, Denmark; NRGi Park

DENMARK - UNITED STATES 3:1 (0:1)

11.18.2009: Miami, Florida, USA; Land Shark Stadium

HONDURAS - PERU 1:2 (0:1)