Copa Centroamericana set to kick off next week
Seven Central American nations begin their mission to earn one of five berths in the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup with the January 14 start of the Copa Centroamericana in Panama.
Formerly known as the Copa de Naciones de UNCAF, Panama will seek to repeat as champion while Costa Rica will aim for a seventh title.
Played exclusively in Panama City's Rommel Fernandez Stadium, the tournament will kick off with a tripleheader that includes El Salvador vs. Nicaragua, Costa Rica vs. Honduras and Panama vs. Belize.
The final, as well as third-place game, will be played Sunday, January 23.
For the complete schedule, please click here.
FIFA RAP meeting in New York
Fernando Tresaco, FIFA's Head of Refereeing, met Tuesday with CONCACAF officials to review referee development activities for 2010 and examine plans for the new year. The annual meeting, which focuses on the Referee Assistance Program (RAP), took place at the Confederation's headquarters in New York City.
A steady increase of referee development activities over the three-history of the program highlighted the gathering's agenda. From 21 activities in 2008 to 45 in 2010, an impressive total of 99 has taken place throughout CONCACAF's three regions.
"We were very impressed with the progress this year, especially with reaching out to more national associations," said Chuck Blazer, CONCACAF General Secretary. "We are really pleased with the penetration that we are getting as we move forward with the objective of improving officiating in the Confederation."
Mexican side America tops Guatemala in Los Angeles
Matias Vuoso, Miguel Layun, Angel Reyna and Daniel Marquez all scored to give Mexico's America a 4-1 victory over Guatemala in a Los Angeles friendly on Wednesday.
Guillermo "Pando" Ramírez scored the lone goal for the Central Americans in the team's final tune-up for the Copa Centroamericana. Canadian women win Brazilian tournament
CONCACAF women's champion Canada added another tournament trophy to its 2010 haul, finishing the year with the title in the Torneio Internacional Cidade on December 19 in Sao Paulo.
With Canada reduced to 10 players, Christine Sinclair scored with 10 minutes remaining to earn her side a 2-2 draw with Brazil, and enabled it to prevail on goal difference to win the crown.
The result extended Canada's unbeaten streak to 10 games, and added to the Cyprus Cup and CONCACAF Women's World Cup Qualifying titles won earlier in the year by Carolina Morace's side.
A day earlier the Netherlands defeated Mexico to finish third.
Canadian U-17s opens 2011 schedule in Costa Rica
Canada's under-17 men's team opened its tour of Costa Rica with a 2-0 loss on Monday in San José. The team will play the Ticos again on Thursday.
The tour is part of Canada's preparations for the CONCACAF U-17 Championship in Jamaica, February 14-27. Canada will open against Barbados on February 17 in Montego Bay. Stempel to coach Guatemalan U-17s
Gary Stempel, who guided Panama to the 2009 Central American nations title and the quarterfinals of the 2009 Gold Cup, has taken over as coach of Guatemala's under-17 side.
He replaces Francisco Melgar, who will join the coaching staff of Guatemala's senior team.
The 53-year-old English-born Stempel previously coached Panama's U-20 and U-23 teams, helping to qualify the U-20 side for the World Cup in 2003.
National association matches
10.08.2010: Kiev:
CANADA - UKRAINE 2:2
10.08.2010: Lima, Peru:
PERU - COSTA RICA 2:0
10.08.2010: Panama City:
PANAMA - EL SALVADOR 1:0
10.09.2010: Auckland, New Zealand:
NEW ZEALAND - HONDURAS 1:1
10.09.2010: San Jose, Guatemala:
GUATEMALA - BELIZE 4:2
10.09.2010: Chicago:
UNITED STATES - POLAND 2:2
10.12.2010: Chester, Pennsylvania:
UNITED STATES - COLOMBIA 0:0
10.12.2010: Ciudad Juarez, Mexico:
MEXICO - VENEZUELA 2:2
10.12.2010: Panama City, Panama:
PANAMA - PERU 1:0
10.12.2010: Los Angeles:
HONDURAS - GUATEMALA 2:0
10.12.2010: Ciudad Quesada, Costa Rica:
COSTA RICA - EL SALVADOR 2:1
10.26.2010: Panama City, Panama:
PANAMA - CUBA 0:3
11.17.2010: Cape Town:
SOUTH AFRICA - UNITED STATES 0:1
11.17.2010: Fort Lauderdale, Florida:
JAMAICA - COSTA RICA 0:0
11.17.2010: Panama City, Panama:
PANAMA - HONDURAS 2:0
11.17.2010 - Atlanta:
GUATEMALA - GUYANA 3:0
11.18.2010 - Doha, Qatar:
QATAR- HAITI 0:1
12.18.2010 - San Pedro Sula, Honduras:
HONDURAS - PANAMA 2:1
12.28.2010 - Barcelona:
CATALUNYA - HONDURAS 4:0
1.08.2011 - Alajuela, Costa Rica:
COSTA RICA - VENEZUELA
1.22.2011 - Carson, California:
UNITED STATES - CHILE
2.9.2011: TBD, Greece:
GREECE - CANADA
2.9.2011: Cairo:
EGYPT - UNITED STATES
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