Hahaha. Yeah, the attendance thing that got DC into one of them I always thought was super-cheesy. Then I saw serious considerations to doing the same thing by the MFL. I still disagreed with it then and do now, but at least it doesn't seem quite as cheesy now. All of the other reasons that got DC United in were totally legitmate though. I'm happy to see some new teams, like Columbus and New England, get into international competition. I think that will help energize their markets. Of course, I'd like DC United to actually qualify for at least one of those honors next season as well. Every year a bottom-feeder team jumps to near the top of the heap. With Bradley at the helm, it could be Metros. Now that Hudson is allowed to put his stamp on the team, I think it might be United. Who knows, maybe it'll be both. -Tron
Teams in 2003 Champions Cup [R] so far... USA LA Galaxy NE Revolution Columbus Crew SJ Earthquakes Central America Deportivo Arabe Unido (Panama) CD F.A.S. (El Salvador)
Any reports from Central Zone Group B??? It only takes concacaf.com a week to put results up, it seems...and that's when the site is working...
Both Guatemalan clubs advance after wild quadrangular CSD Municipal rolled to victory against arch-rival CSD Comunicaciones, but in the end both Guatemalan clubs advanced to the first round proper of the CONCACAF Champions Cup after completing play in Group B of Central Zone qualifying. Municipal came into the match having to win, and they did just that, recording a 4:1 victory against Comunicaciones. That left Santos de Guapiles FC needing a big score against FC San Marcos of Nicaragua to advance, but the Costa Rican side managed just a 2:0 victory. more... http://www.concacaf.com/news/article.page/1047
update... USA LA Galaxy NE Revolution Columbus Crew SJ Earthquakes Central America Deportivo Arabe Unido (Panama) CD F.A.S. (El Salvador) CSD Municipal (Guatemala) CSD Comunicaciones (Guatemala)
Any update on Caribbian Group B qualifiers? All those games should be completed by this point. <grumbling about concacaf.com being slow and outdated>
US Robert drew with St Joseph 1-1 and advanced 6-1 on aggregate. I'm not seeing anything on Harbour View FC and George Town SC. You might try a paper in Jamaica. I already searched on Googlenews. Here's a paper in the caymans that has previously had news on George Town SC. http://www.caymannetnews.com/
Any speculation or confirmation as to which Mexican clubs will get in? 1. Pachuca as holders. 2. America as Summer 2002 Champion. 3. Winter 2002 Champion. 4. Fourth entrant. I would like to see the club with the best record that doesn't win the Winter 2002 phase (other than Pachuca or America) get the fourth spot. I think Arnett Gardens will win Group A in the Caribbean zone and Williams Connection or Harbour View will take Group B. Alajuela should take Group 3 in UNCAF with either Motagua or Marathon finishing 2nd.
I agree that A League teams should only get to continental tournaments by winning the USOC. I just hate that when the Rhinos actually did win it, they weren't invited. I'm guessing the Rhinos would be able to afford it. As far as I know, they're the only pro soccer team in the US that makes money, including all MLS teams (not sure about Columbus, and maybe some PDL or D3 teams like Wichita are making money now). I'm sure they would sell out the home game, and would probably make enough from that to pay for the away trip.
LD Alajuelense, Motagua seal Champions Cup places LD Alajuelense of Costa Rica and CD Motagua of Honduras booked their tickets for the 2003 CONCACAF Champions Cup after winning their second consecutive matches Friday in the Group C quadrangular of Central Zone qualifying. Alajuelense suffered through an agonizing 3:2 victory against Tauro FC, while Motagua, last year's Liga Nacional champion in Honduras, regained a measure of revenge by eliminating defending champion CD Marathon with a 2:1 victory. http://www.concacaf.com/news/article.page/1064
Seis van a concacaf Honduras/.-Marathón de Honduras goleó 4-0 al Tauro de Panamá, en un partido de trámite, pues ambos equipos estaban eliminados del torneo de Campeones y Subcampeones de la Concacaf en la cuadrangular del Grupo III de la Unión Centroamericana de Fútbol (UNCAF).' El Marathón estaba eliminado al perder 1-2 ante Liga Deportiva Alajuelense de Costa Rica y luego ante el Motagua de Honduras por el mismo marcador; y Tauro también estaba descalificado al perder 1-2 ante Motagua y 2-3 ante Alajuelense. http://www.prensalibre.com/app/pls/prensa/detnoticia.jsp?p_cnoticia=40032&p_fedicion=04-11-02
Group C quadrangular in Central Zone ends with dramatic draw LD Alajuelense and CD Motagua drew 2:2, while CD Marathon regained a measure of respect with a 4:0 defeat of Panama's Tauro FC, to close out the Group C quadrangular in Central Zone qualifying for the CONCACAF Champions Cup. Both LDA and Motagua had already qualified for the first round proper of the Champions Cup after each won their first two matches in the group, the Costa Rican champion taking top place in the four-team group after the draw on goal difference. http://www.concacaf.com/news/article.page/1070
So we have in: USA LA Galaxy NE Revolution Columbus Crew SJ Earthquakes Central America Deportivo Arabe Unido (Panama) CD F.A.S. (El Salvador) CSD Municipal (Guatemala) CSD Comunicaciones (Guatemala) LD Alajuelense (Costa Rica) CD Motagua (Honduras) Carribean final rounds in December: Group A (Jamaica hostin): Arnett Gardens FC (Jamaica), Violette AC (Haiti), VSADC (St. Lucia) and Club Franciscain (Martinique). Group B (T&T hosting): W Connection FC (T&T), FICA (Haiti), US Robert (Martinique) and Harbor View FC (Jamaica). Any news on Mexico?
Any good websites for CD Motagua??? I haven't been able to find any sites for CD Motagua. Does anyone have a link that I can checkout???
Carribean Finals are over USA LA Galaxy NE Revolution Columbus Crew SJ Earthquakes Central America Deportivo Arabe Unido (Panama) CD F.A.S. (El Salvador) CSD Municipal (Guatemala) CSD Comunicaciones (Guatemala) LD Alajuelense (Costa Rica) CD Motagua (Honduras) Carribean Arnett Gardens FC (Jamaica) W Connection FC (T&T) Still have no concrete information on Mexico?
For me the FMF can send Gallos Blancos, Los Colobries de Cuernavaca (formerly Celaya), Chiapas and The new 2nd Division champion. If a scrub team like Pachuca can won that tournament, why not those four? At least 3 of them proved to be better than the "Champion of Concacaf" on the last season.