MIAMI, Florida – The 2021 Concacaf Gold Cup is just weeks away and will be followed shortly thereafter by the start of the 2021 Scotiabank Concacaf League, making for a very busy summer of national team and club competition in Concacaf.
One can expect many players to be involved in both tournaments, but that would not necessarily be something new.
In fact, there is already an impressive list of players who have played in both a Gold Cup and the SCL. All told, 30 players have had the distinction of representing their country in the Gold Cup and also representing their club in the SCL.
Five hail from Honduras: Roger Rojas, Alex Lopez, Kevin Lopez, Kevin Alvarez and Rubilio Castillo.
Lopez took home Golden Ball honors as a member of Alajuelense during the 2020 SCL, making him one of the few players to win an SCL title with two different teams (Olimpia, 2017).
Lopez has also appeared in three different Gold Cup tournaments, playing 10 matches.
Costa Rica also boast five players who have featured in both: Johan Venegas, Bryan Ruiz, Randall Leal, Marvin Angulo and Leonel Moreira.
Venegas is the SCL’s all-time leading scorer with 13 goals, winning the Golden Boot in both 2019 and 2020 as a member of Deportivo Saprissa.
However, Venegas is yet to score in a Gold Cup after playing four matches in the 2015 edition and one in the 2017 tournament. Perhaps 2021 will be the year that Venegas’ magical SCL scoring touch carries over into Gold Cup play.
Wilfredo Cienfuegos, Rodolfo Zelaya, Jonathan Jimenez, Juan Carlos Portillo and Marvin Monterroza are the five El Salvador players who have appeared in both.
No Salvadoran player has more SCL goals than Zelaya, with four in five matches. In the Gold Cup, Zelaya has been equally as good, with a whopping 10 goals in 13 career games.
Panama have four players who have appeared in the two tournaments: Adolfo Machado, Jose Calderon, Jose Fajardo and Alfredo Stephens.
Machado was an anchor for the Alajuelense team that won the 2020 SCL title and was the most effective passer in the tournament, with a 96% passing completion rate. The veteran DF also has played in 10 Gold Cup matches.
Nicaraguans Juan Barrera, Henry Maradiaga and Bryan Bonilla have achieved the double tournament feat, as have Gerardo Gordillo and Wilson Pineda for Guatemala. Barrera leads all Nicaraguans in SCL goals with three, and has played in all three Gold Cups in which Nicaragua have appeared.
There is also strong representation from the Caribbean in the two tournaments. Jamaica’s Ricardo Morris and Javon East, Martinique’s Johnny Marajo and Christof Jougon and Trinidad and Tobago’s Aubrey David and Nathan Lewis have experience in the SCL and Gold Cup.
David is one of the most decorated Caribbean footballers in Concacaf, with 31 total appearances in Concacaf club competitions, including eight matches for Saprissa in the 2019 SCL title conquest.
He also has played in eight Gold Cup matches with the Soca Warriors.
