2008 CONCACAF Men's Pre-Olympic Tournament
Encyclopedia
The 2008 CONCACAF Men Pre-Olympic Tournament was an association football tournament that took place in three venues in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 from March 11 to March 23, 2008.

Honduras
Honduras national football team
The Honduran national football team, nicknamed Los Catrachos, La Bicolor or La H, is the national team of Honduras and is controlled by the Federación Nacional Autónoma de Fútbol de Honduras...

 became new under-23 champion of CONCACAF
CONCACAF
The Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football is the continental governing body for association football in North America, Central America and the Caribbean...

 by beating the United States in the final of the eight-team tournament. Canada
Canada men's national soccer team
The Canada men's national soccer team represents Canada in international soccer competitions at the senior men's level. They are overseen by the Canadian Soccer Association and compete in the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football .Their most significant...

 and Guatemala
Guatemala national football team
The Guatemala national football team is the association football team representing the country of Guatemala and is controlled by the Federación Nacional de Fútbol de Guatemala. Founded in 1919, it affiliated to FIFA in 1946, and it is a member of CONCACAF....

 took third and fourth places, respectively. The finalists, Honduras and United States, qualified for the 2008 Olympic Games
Football at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Football at the 2008 Summer Olympics was held in Beijing and several other cities in the People's Republic of China from 6 August to 23 August. Associations affiliated with FIFA were invited to send their full women's national teams and men's U-23 teams to participate...

 in Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...

, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

.

The final round of the 2008 competition had two groups of four in the first round competing on a round-robin basis from March 11 to March 16, 2008, followed by the semi-final round and the finals held on March 20 and March 23, 2008. Group A matches were held at Raymond James Stadium
Raymond James Stadium
Raymond James Stadium, also known as the "Ray Jay", is a multi-purpose football stadium located in Tampa, Florida. It is home to the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers as well as the NCAA's South Florida Bulls football team. The stadium seats 65,857 , and it is expandable to 75,000 for special events...

 in Tampa, Florida
Tampa, Florida
Tampa is a city in the U.S. state of Florida. It serves as the county seat for Hillsborough County. Tampa is located on the west coast of Florida. The population of Tampa in 2010 was 335,709....

, while Group B matches were held at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California
Carson, California
Carson is a city in Los Angeles County, California. As of the 2010 census, Carson had a total population of 91,714. Located south of downtown Los Angeles and approximately 14 miles away from the Los Angeles International Airport, it is known as a suburb of the city....

 with each venue staging three doubleheaders in group play. The knockout stage matches were held at LP Field
LP Field
LP Field is a football stadium in Nashville, Tennessee, United States, owned by the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County....

 in Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...

.

Participating teams


North American Zone

Central American Zone
Caribbean Zone

Group A

Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
7 3 2 1 0 3 1
2
6 3 2 0 1 3 1
2
3 3 1 0 2 4 3
1
1 3 0 1 2 2 7


All times EDT
----

----

----

----

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Group B

Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
6 3 2 0 1 3 6
4 3 1 1 1 7 3
4
4 3 1 1 1 7 4
3
3 3 1 0 2 3 7


All times PDT
----

----

----

----

----

Semi-finals

----

Third place match

Final

Honduras and the United States qualify for the 2008 Summer Olympics
2008 Summer Olympics
The 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, was a major international multi-sport event that took place in Beijing, China, from August 8 to August 24, 2008. A total of 11,028 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees competed in 28 sports and 302 events...

 in Beijing, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

. This match decided the CONCACAF U-23 men's championship.

Top scorers (group and knockout stages)

4 goals Freddy Adu
Freddy Adu
Fredua Koranteng "Freddy" Adu is a Ghanaian-born American soccer player who currently plays for Philadelphia Union in Major League Soccer. He plays primarily as an attacking midfielder, but he is also used as a winger or forward....



3 goals Will Johnson

2 goals Edwin Aguilar
Edwin Aguilar
Edwin Aguilar is a Panamanian professional footballer playing in Colombia for Categoria Primera A team Real Cartagena.-Club career:...

 Tosaint Ricketts
Tosaint Ricketts
Tosaint Antony Ricketts is a Canadian professional soccer player who currently plays for Politehnica Timişoara in Romanian Liga 2.-Early career:Ricketts began his youth career at University of Wisconsin Green Bay.- MYPA :...

 Leonel Saint-Preux
Leonel Saint-Preux
Leonel Saint-Preux is a Haitian footballer playing with Victory Sportif Club-Club:Saint-Preux began his career with Haitian club Zénith, where he was generally regarded as one of the most promising footballing talents in the Ligue Haïtienne.Saint-Preux signed with Minnesota Thunder of the USL...

 Hendry Thomas
Hendry Thomas
Hendry Bernardo Thomas Suazo is a Honduran international footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Premier League team Wigan Athletic since signing for them back in July 2009 on a three-year deal from Club Deportivo Olimpia....

 Luis Ángel Landín
Luis Ángel Landín
Luis Ángel Landín is a Mexican footballer. He currently plays for Atlante of the Primera División de México.-Professional:...




Cuban defections

Following the Cuban draw against the United States, seven Cuban players defected
Defection
In politics, a defector is a person who gives up allegiance to one state or political entity in exchange for allegiance to another. More broadly, it involves abandoning a person, cause or doctrine to whom or to which one is bound by some tie, as of allegiance or duty.This term is also applied,...

, leaving the team with only 11 players. Because Roberto Linares
Roberto Linares
Roberto Linares is a footballer from Cuba playing currently for FC Villa Clara. He is a member of Cuba national football team. During 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign he scored four goals in seven matches....

 was sent off from Cuba's match against the United States automatically suspended for the next match, Cuba was left with only 10 eligible players against Honduras. Cuba played its final game against Panama with no players available as substitutes.

Qualifying rounds

Qualifying rounds for the 2008 CONCACAF Men's Pre-Olympic Tournament were held for the Central American and the Caribbean zones, narrowing the field from each zone to three nations and two nations, respectively.

In the following tables:
  • P = total games played
  • W = total games won
  • D = total games drawn (tied)
  • L = total games lost
  • GF = total goals scored (goals for)
  • GA = total goals conceded (goals against)
  • Pts = total points accumulated
    Team qualified for the final round.
    Team did not qualify for the final round
    Team advances to playoff

North American zone

The 3 members of the North American zone automatically qualified to the final round:
Team

Central American zone

Six teams were divided into two groups of three, or triangulars, and played a round of matches in round-robin format. The winner of each triangular advanced to the finals, and the runners-up played each other in a home-and-away playoff.

Triangular 1

Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
4 2 1 1 0 4 1
3
4 2 1 1 0 3 2
1
0 2 0 0 2 1 5

----

----

Triangular 2

Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
6 2 2 0 0 5 1
4
3 2 1 0 1 10 3
7
0 2 0 0 2 1 12

----

----

Play-off

The runners-up of each triangular met in a play-off qualified for a spot in the final round.
----
Panama 1–1 Costa Rica on aggregate. Panama won 4–3 on penalties.

Caribbean zone

The Caribbean zone qualifiers were divided into two rounds. In the first round, 22 teams were divided into six groups, Groups A through F, and the six group winners advanced to the second round. The six second round teams were divided into two groups of three, Groups G and H, and the winners advanced to the finals.
Group A - Paramaribo
Paramaribo
Paramaribo is the capital and largest city of Suriname, located on banks of the Suriname River in the Paramaribo District. Paramaribo has a population of roughly 250,000 people, more than half of Suriname's population...

, Suriname
Suriname
Suriname , officially the Republic of Suriname , is a country in northern South America. It borders French Guiana to the east, Guyana to the west, Brazil to the south, and on the north by the Atlantic Ocean. Suriname was a former colony of the British and of the Dutch, and was previously known as...

Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
7 3 2 1 0 7 0
7
4 3 1 1 1 2 2 0
4 3 1 1 1 4 7 −3
1 3 0 1 2 2 6 −4


August 31, 2007
4–0
1–0


September 2, 2007
0–3
1–2


September 4, 2007
2–2
0–0

Group B - Oranjestad
Oranjestad, Aruba
Oranjestad is the capital and largest city of Aruba, which is in the Caribbean north of Venezuela. Oranjestad is located on the southern coast near the western end of the island country...

, Aruba
Aruba
Aruba is a 33 km-long island of the Lesser Antilles in the southern Caribbean Sea, located 27 km north of the coast of Venezuela and 130 km east of Guajira Peninsula...

Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
9 3 3 0 0 12 1
11
6 3 2 0 1 5 7 −2
3 3 1 0 2 3 3 0
0 3 0 0 3 0 9 −9


September 9, 2007
1–6
0–2


September 11, 2007
1–0
0–2


September 13, 2007
1–2
0–5

Group C - Havana
Havana
Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...

, Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...

Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
9 3 3 0 0 20 0
20
6 3 2 0 1 6 9 −3
1 3 0 1 2 0 8 −8
1 3 0 1 2 1 10 −9


September 9, 2007
4–1
6–0


September 11, 2007
0–0
8–0


September 13, 2007
0–2
6–0

Group D - Basseterre
Basseterre
Basseterre , estimated population 15,500 in 2000, is the capital of the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis in the West Indies. Geographically, the Basseterre port is located at , on the south western coast of Saint Kitts Island, and it is one of the chief commercial depots of the Leeward Islands...

, St. Kitts and Nevis
Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
4 2 1 1 0 1 0
1
2 2 0 2 0 1 1 0
1 2 0 1 1 1 2 −1


September 9, 2007
1–1


September 11, 2007
0–0


September 13, 2007
0–1

Group E - Kingstown
Kingstown
Kingstown is the chief port of Saint Vincent, and the capital of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. With a population of 25,418 Kingstown is a centre for the island's agricultural industry and a port of entry for tourists...

, St. Vincent and the Grenadines
Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
5 3 1 2 0 9 6
3
5 3 1 2 0 7 4
3
3 3 1 0 2 3 8 −5
2 3 0 2 1 4 5 −1


September 9, 2007
3–3
4–1


September 11, 2007
3–0
0–0


September 13, 2007
2–1
3–3

Group F - Nassau
Nassau, Bahamas
Nassau is the capital, largest city, and commercial centre of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas. The city has a population of 248,948 , 70 percent of the entire population of The Bahamas...

, Bahamas
Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
3 1 1 0 0 6 1
5
0 1 0 0 1 1 6 −5
-

September 2, 2007
6–1
  • The British Virgin Islands withdrew at the last minute, leaving the Bahamas as the group champion.

Group G
Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
6 2 2 0 0 5 1
4
3 2 1 0 1 4 4 0
0 2 0 0 2 2 6

Group H
Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
6 2 2 0 0 8 1
6
3 2 1 0 1 1 6
0 2 0 0 2 1 3

External links

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