The last five berths in the 2011 Gold Cup will be decided when the Copa Centroamericana kicks off Friday.

Panama will have the home-field advantage as its seek to repeat as champion, while Costa Rica will aim for a seventh title in the tournament formerly known as the Copa de Naciones de UNCAF.

Played exclusively in Panama City's Rommel Fernandez Stadium, the tournament will begin 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.

South Afican World Cup veteran Joel Aguilar (El Salvador) heads the list of referees chosen to officiate the Copa Centroamericna.

Also chosen Monday were Walter Quezada (Costa Rica), Ricardo Cerda (Costa Rica), Marco Brea (Cuba) , Walter López (Guatemala), Benigno Pineda (Honduras), Roberto García (México), and Roberto Moreno (Panamá).

The assistant referees chosen include Daniel Ake (Belize), Leonel Leal (Costa Rica), William Torres (El Salvador), Hermenerito Leal (Guatemala), Gerson Lopez (Guatemala), Juan Rodas (Honduras), Keytzel Corrales (Nicaragua), Daniel Williamson (Panama) and Jaime Smith (Panama).

The Haitian under-17 women's team that competed in the CONCACAF championship less than two months after an earthquake killed an estimated 230,000 in their homeland received the FIFA Fair Play Award Monday at the international federation's annual gala.

The Haitian side was training when the 7.0 magnitude quake struck at 4:53 p.m. January 12, 2010, but arrived in Costa Rica for their opening game of the CONCACAF Under-17 Women's Championship against the United States on March 10, when it lost 9-0. The Haitian women went on to lose its remaining two group games, falling to Costa Rica 2-0 and fellow Caribbean qualifier Cayman Islands 1-0.

Captain Hayana Jean-Francois, who scored four goals in Haiti's qualifying campaign for the CONCACAF championship, was on hand at the FIFA Gala to accept the award on behalf of her teammates.

After opening its tour with a loss, the Canada under-17 team defeated its Costa Rican counterpart 3-2 on Thursday. Kevin Aleman scored two goals and Ismail Benomar added the winner to rally Canada from a two-goal deficit.

In between its matches against Costa Rica, Canada also defeated the reserve team of Alajuelense 1-0.

Canada is preparing for the CONCACAF U-17 Championship in Jamaica, February 14-27.

It will open against Barbados on February 17 in Montego Bay.

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

1.22.2011 - Carson, California:

UNITED STATES - CHILE

2.9.2011: Larissa, Greece:

GREECE - CANADA

2.9.2011: Cairo:

EGYPT - UNITED STATES

2.9.2011: Atlanta:

MEXICO - BOSNIA

3.26.2011: San Jose, Costa Rica:

COSTA RICA - ARGENTINA