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Paul Calixte Blog

CCL 2012-13 Qualifiers: Last Call (…Part I?)

Posted on May 22, 2012 5:58 pm

As our qualifying list reveals, there remain only five berths to be filled in the next CONCACAF Champions League. Depending on results, only one could be left vacant by Thursday, but we can already be sure that (weather permitting) the mainland entrants will be determined by Wednesday evening.

The midweek fixtures will begin today at 9:00 p.m. (all times EST), as Tauro and Chepo face off at the Estadio Rommel Fernandez in the rescheduled Panamanian Clausura Final (available on TV Max). After knocking out higher-seeded opponents in the semifinals, both sides will be confident of their chances on the evening, but their pedigrees are on opposite ends of the spectrum: Tauro have the most trophies of any Panamanian club, while Chepo will be appearing in an LPF Final for the first time. Surprisingly, only the newbies have a shot at Panama’s top seed in the next CCL; a Tauro victory would grant the honor to Apertura winners Chorrillo.

On Wednesday at 8:00 p.m., the last domestic championship in our region for the 2012-13 season will also match two teams of blatantly contrasting fortunes.

The Vancouver Whitecaps, under new head coach Martin Rennie, have proven more than capable of competing in the presumably more challenging Western Conference in Major League Soccer, and currently find themselves in a playoff position. On the other side of Canada, however, Toronto FC are already over four games out of a playoff spot, before having completed even a third of their league matches this season. When arguably the worst (first-division) team in the world has a chance to qualify for a Champions League, the “magic” of cup competition begins to bear a strong resemblance to sorcery…and given the circumstances in which Vancouver have lost the Voyageurs’ Cup before, the Cascadians will only start believing that they have actually reached the CCL when the final whistle blows and not a second earlier. In order to make it, after giving up a 1-1 draw in the first leg, the Whitecaps must either win or achieve a 2-2 draw or higher; a 0-0 draw or home victory favors Toronto, while a 1-1 tie sends the Canadian Championship Final into overtime.

Meanwhile, the current CFU Club Champions Cup second-round group has been reduced to three teams, with Baltimore of Haiti having excused themselves from the tournament. I can only hope that they were better informed about the location (in the Cayman Islands, rather than Puerto Rico as originally reported) than the writer of this article; in all seriousness, if they decided to opt out of the Cup after learning that they had been barred from CCL play, then I fully support them. UPDATE: as it turned out, last-minute visa issues prevented Baltimore from participating.

The two professional teams taking part in the group, Caledonia AIA of Trinidad and Tobago and the Puerto Rico Islanders, played to a 0-0 draw on Matchday 1. The Trinis will take on the hosts George Town of Cayman Islands on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.; should incoming CONCACAF President Jeffrey Webb’s compatriots pull off an unlikely victory, there will be no scenario in which Caledonia and the Islanders both reach the Final Round of the competition. In this case, W Connection and Antigua Barracuda will both qualify for the Champions League, while Puerto Rico would be able to wrap up the last CFU spot by taking care of business on Friday at 8:30 p.m. against George Town. Assuming the amateur hosts live up to the CFU’s expectations, though, we will have to wait until the completion of the Final Round in order to find out which Caribbean teams will attempt to make up for last season’s CCL fiasco.

CCL 2012-13 Qualifiers

1. Seattle Sounders [USA2]
2. LA Galaxy [USA1]
3. Real Salt Lake [USA4]
4. Houston Dynamo [USA3]
5. Chorrillo FC [PAN1]
6. Santos Laguna [MEX2]
7. Tigres UANL [MEX1]
8. Olimpia [HON1]
9. Isidro Metapán [SLV1]
10. Municipal [GUA2]
11. LD Alajuelense [CRC2]
12. Real Estelí [NCA]
13. Águila [SLV2]
14. FAS (SLV) [BLZ]
15. Marathón [HON2]
16. CF Monterrey [MEX4]
17. Herediano [CRC1]
18. Xelajú MC [GUA1]
19. Chivas de Guadalajara [MEX3]
20. Tauro [PAN2]
21. Toronto FC [CAN]