Giant strides for Islanders (FIFA.com) Tuesday 4 November 2008 Baseball has long been synonymous with sport in Puerto Rico, with its leading players illuminating the USA's Major Leagues for more than half a century now. In recent years, however, a small but determined group of footballers have been winning over sports fans, putting the beautiful game firmly on the agenda in a territory where football was long considered something that happened elsewhere. Indefatigable spirit The club's story dates back to 1995, when the newly created Puerto Rico Islanders joined the United States International Soccer League. The venture was to prove short-lived, though, with a combination of financial problems and low attendances limiting the club to just seven games. A move to Houston shortly after was also ill-fated, the institution folding after just one game in Texas. Despite these setbacks, the club's owner, Joe Serralta, never abandoned his dream of watching top-flight football in Puerto Rico, and by 2003 he and a consortium of local businessmen were ready to try again, registering the club in the United Soccer Leagues (USL), the USA's second division. In a very testing first season, the Puerto Rico Islanders registered five wins, six draws and seventeen defeats, and their exploits remained largely unreported back home. Indeed, one of the few times the club made the headlines back then was when Hugo Hernan Maradona, the brother of the legendary Diego, was appointed coach. Over the next couple of seasons, the team known as the Tropa Naranja (Orange Troop - a reference to the colour of their jerseys) gradually consolidated their position, before making the league play-offs in 2006. Equally impressive was the crowd of 11,000 that showed up for the match against Miami FC that got them there - still a record for any football game on the archipelago. The following year, the Islanders went even further, reaching the semi-finals of the play-offs, where they narrowly lost on penalties to the Seattle Sounders. A year to remember The club's upward spiral continued in 2008, unquestionably a historic year for Puerto Rican football. The team made it all the way to the USL title-decider after topping the regular season standings and setting a host of league records along the way. Unsurprisingly, their remarkable campaign had fans flocking to their home games at the Estadio Juan Ramon Loubriel in Bayamon to lend their support. The only disappointment for the Caribbean side was their inability to crown their great season with a title, Vancouver Whitecaps denying them the league championship with a 2-1 win in the decider. If that were not impressive enough, the Islanders also made their debut in the region's premier club competition, the CONCACAF Champions League. And nor were they there just to make up the numbers. After eliminating Trinidad and Tobago's San Juan Jabloteh, the Puerto Ricans were handed a preliminary-round draw against Costa Rican powerhouses Alajuelense for a place in the group stage. Against all the odds, the Tropa Naranja drew the away leg and completed the job on home soil with two late goals, securing a Group D berth alongside Mexican champions Santos Laguna and established outfits Tauro of Panama and Municipal of Guatemala. Those who predicted the Caribbean side would be just cannon fodder for their section rivals were once again left with egg on their faces. After recording an extraordinary 3-1 home win against the Mexicans, a hitherto unimaginable place in the knockout stages became a realistic goal, which they duly secured in Panama after a memorable 2-2 draw with Tauro. New horizons These series of triumphs have made the Islanders much more prominent in a country where football was, until recently, mainly a pastime with limited appeal. The Estadio Juan Ramon Loubriel now boasts average attendances of around 6,000, with groups of fans even beginning to travel to away games on the US mainland. Now, the sky looks the limit for former Northern Ireland international Colin Clarke's team (he also coaches the Puerto Rican national team), whose stars include the outstanding goalkeeper Bill Gaudette and rock-solid defender Cristian Arrieta. Perhaps these and many more names will soon be as well-known in Puerto Rico as those of the country's innumerable baseball legends... http://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/clubfootball/news/newsid=935398.html
Watch the Puerto Rico Islanders vs Marathon (Honduras) game tonight at: http://www.justin.tv/honducarlos or on TVU on channel 21500 Game time: 8pm EST
Puerto Rico Islanders rally to win first leg of Champions League quarterfinal 2-1 over Marathon 2/26/2009 - BAYAMON, Puerto Rico -- Nicholas Addlery and second-half substitute Kendall Jagdeosingh both scored in the final 16 minutes and rallied the Puerto Rico Islanders to a 2-1 victory with CD Marathon in the first leg of their CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinal on Thursday. Addlery, one of two offensive acquisitions in the offseason to compensate for the loss of fowards Taiwo Atieno and Fabrice Noel, knocked a chipped ball from Jonathan Steele over the head of goalkeeper Juan Obelar in the 74th minute. Seven minutes later, Singh, who replaced Pablo Nunez in the 57th minute, dribbled in from the left side before touching the ball to his right and striking a ball that deflected off defender Milton Palacios past goalkeeper Juan Obelar. The goals were a reward for Puerto Rico, which the better of play for much of the game but was frustrated by poor finishing early. Marathon, unbeaten in five games at home and sitting atop the Honduran Clausura standings, will host the second leg of the series on Wednesday. The Green Monster has scored 16 goals in the Honduran campaign, twice as many as the next closest team. "We have to start the first half (in Honduras) like we ended this second half," Jagdeosingh said. "We have to not get too swelled of a head. We need to keep doing what we were doing." Jerry Palacios gave Marathon the lead in the 41st, capitalizing on a defensive lapse. Oscar Bonilla launched a long cross into the penalty area that eluded goalkeeper Bill Gaudette, and Palacios, who was left unmarked by Nigel Henry, redirected the ball inside the post with his left calf. Jerry Palacios, who leads Marathon with four goals in the Honduran league, had two chances in three minutes after Puerto Rico had the better of play in the first half. Despite not having played a competitive match in nearly four months since the end of the Group Stage, Puerto Rico earned three corner kicks in the first 10 minutes, including shots by Petter Villegas and Noah Delgado that Obelar had to dive with his right hand to knock away. "It's what the team has been planning for for all off-season," Jagdeosingh said. "It was just like when we left last season'." Puerto Rico, which like fellow quarterfinalist the Montreal Impact, play in the United Soccer Leagues' First Division, essentially the second tier of North American pro soccer. Montreal won the first leg of its quarterfinal on Wednesday, beating Santos Laguna 2-0. "In the end, I think it came down to who wanted it more," Jagdeosingh said. "And in the second half, we showed that." The winner of the quarterfinal series will face either Pumas or Cruz Azul.
Wao Bori thanx a lot.. I was transmiting the game with live ocmentary by me an Justified drectly from the stadium... in my blog... Hope you guys come next week and join us there.
I was so upset at the 1st half, I thought the Islanders played very poorly (poorly when compared to what I've seen from them in the past few matches). And especially after the few minutes after the goal was scored, I was saw some desperate play, especially that ridiculous shot from Telesford on a good build up. But the 2nd half was MUCH better..definitely need to work on that finishing, but I was pleased in the 2nd half...nice to see Addlery get a goal, he was never much of a scoring threat, but hopefully he can change that with the Islanders! Good match...more of the same in the 2nd leg
Kendall Jagdeosingh.... yes he scored the goal ... but I dont thin he was talking about the goal scorer... or was he?
I think he was talking about Villegas when he missed horribly from outside. Villegas has dread and Osei sometimes has dreads.
Awesome job by Islanders. Congrats!! This team is getting better and better with each game and dare i say it looks like a solid team for years to come in CFU football and now in the Champs League. Jagdeosingh has been looking good. He recently went on tour with TNT senior team to Argentina and caused a few clubs some problems down there. Its strange he cant even make the TNT Senior team. Addlery hopefully will become an integral part of the Islanders in the future. All in All im liking this team more n more with every game they play Highlights: [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvMWezE5xRI"]YouTube - Puerto Rico Islanders vs Marathon 2-1 Concacaf Liga Campeones1[/ame]
I like that the teams has a lot of Caribbean talent it keeps it local, helps fans in the region identify better.
But a wha dis!!!! Addlery look like him find feem shootin boots now!! Puerto Rico gets the 1:0 win over Marathon and are off to the semi finals with the 3:1 aggregate win.
Damn Islanders! They did it again… By: BoriQa | March 4th, 2009 Damned by most experts all over the soccer world and against all odds, the Puerto Rico Islanders did it again! They won when they were not supposed to, again!!! An Orange Tsunami hit Honduran sea shores today taking down the mighty Green Monster and pushing the way clear for the Fantastic Islanders to move on to the CONCACAF Champions League Semi-Finals! The Islanders could not have better timing to win their first road game in the tournament (1-2-1 on the road and 5-3-2 overall [W-T-L] ). Puerto Rico accomplished something that no other team was able to do before in the 2008-09 Champions League, score and defeat the 6-time Honduran Champion CD Marathon at their home at the Estadio Olímpico Metropolitano, in San Pedro Sulá. As part of action in the 1st round, in the “Group of Death” Marathon shutout Mexican powerhouse Cruz Azul 2-0 and DC United from the MLS by the same score. In the battle of Central American Monsters, the Green Monster killed the Purple Monster of Saprissa (Costa Rica) also 2-0. The only team to score against the Marathon at the Olímpico was El Salvador’s Isidro Metapan in their 2-1 loss to the Green Monster in the preliminary round. The Islanders came into the game with a 2-1 lead in the 1st leg, and would have been perfectly comfortable to go back home with a nil-nil draw. But the unexpected happened just seconds into extra-time when on a counter attack, newly acquired Jamaican striker Nicholas Addlery scored an “alajuelazo” [a late 85+ minute game result-changing goal] for the game’s only goal, to give the Islanders a late 1-0 win over Marathon, and advance the Boricuas to the semifinals. Addlery also scored the first goal in the Islanders win over Marathon last week in Bayamón. Puerto Rico goalkeeper Bill “The Wall” Gaudette, who led the USL with 10 shutouts last year, was brilliant as usual; and was kept very active by the Green Monster, as he earned his first clean sheet of the tournament. Great timing Bill!!! At the end, the USL’s 2008 Goalkeeper of the Year, justifiably could not contain his emotions.
YouTube Video: [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85pEKwt_TE8"]YouTube - Marathon vs Puerto Rico Islanders 0-1 Concacaf Liga Campeones[/ame] Trinidadian Oles Telesford with a still started the run that gave the Islanders the winning goal.