Puerto Rico Islanders Clinch Place in CONCACAF Champions League
In a match played at the Guyana National Stadium, Puerto Rico Islanders FC defeated Alpha United of Guyana 3-1 in the CFU (Caribbean Football Union) semifinal last night.
In doing so, they secured a berth in this year’s edition of the CONCACAF Champions League tournament.
Puerto Rico drew first blood with a goal by Matthew Bouraee in the 22nd minute. Alpha United tied the match in the 36th minute.
The match was level at 1-1 at the end of regulation time.
The NASL side managed to seal the deal during the additional 30 minute overtime with goals by David Foley and the Dominican Republic international, Jonathan Faña.
This is the fourth consecutive year that the Islanders will compete in the Champions League tournament.
“It was a great performance. The guys showed a lot of character and determination tonight. However, our job here in Guyana is not done yet,” said Islanders’ head coach Colin Clarke.
On Friday night, the reigning CFU champions hope to successfully defend their crown against Tempete FC of Haiti. Tempete advanced on penalty kicks after a scoreless draw with Trinidad’s Defence Force.
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Correction: is the forth consecutive year that the Islanders will compete in the Champions League tournament.
Mira Tropa!!!
@leeka: Thanks a lot. It has been corrected.
I think the story of the day is that Blazer, the General Secretary of CONCACAF, has accused Jack Warner, the President of CONCACAF of corruption, and filed a complaint with FIFA.
The political realmifications of this could be far reaching…..
Ah, that would be the top story of yesterday, actually. I’ll let you cover this one Bart. Want to be a new IMS correspondent on all things political involving USSF, CONCACAF and FIFA ?
That would be way above my pay grade, BQ. I could not begin to compete relationship wise against the real hard news investigators that do their reporting so well.
And while this story broke yesterday, the CONCACAF ramifications may be enormous, which in turn, affects the Islanders.
You are correct about that. Jay can probably have more to say about this but the Islanders don’t have to compete in league play to compete in the CFU which is their gateway to the CONCACAF Champions League. From what I understand, Jack Warner is the main reason they weren’t forced into competing in their domestic competition to play in the CFU. You certainly are tuned into things Bart.
If any other team in NASL had such an easy path to qualify for the CCL, they would qualify every year also..
Beating Caribbean minnows every year to qualify is not much to brag about!
Nobody is bragging. We’re just happy to keep having NASL representation in the CCL every year.
@john: Jean already broke down the “bragging” issue (but I must admit that I do find it very interesting that you decided to use that particular word).
Ok. I’m going to call you out:
“Any other team in the NASL”
Are there other NASL clubs that could qualify if they had the same path–I don’t doubt it. I can think of several off the top of my head that would be capable of doing so.
I can also think of several that I don’t beleive would manage to do so.
Playing on the road, especially in a country that you are not famliar with can be a daunting task–even when you share a simliar talent level as your opponent.
I think that you are underestimating being able to go to someplace like Guyana or Trinindad. While they are somewhat similar to Puerto Rico, they still require adjustments. Playing 3 matches in a week and having to travel through different climate zones might not be as easy as you seem to think it is.
I can think of at least one MLS side who has lost a Champions League match to a Caribbean opponent since CONCACAF instituted the league.
[putting on the Ole Yanki-Yank cap, temporarily taking off the IMS staff cap]:
Looks like someone has been sipping a little HATERaid, Playah Might I suggest you try some fruit punch???
[IMS cap back on...]
Bart, the political ramifications are far reaching. No doubt about it.
As far as Brian’s reference to Warner and the Islanders previous CFU competition, the former FPF President and Islanders foundr, Joe Serralta was the driving force in the CFU to get Warner and others onboard with allowing the Islanders to participate.
Last year, they didn’t qualify via a federaration exemption; they qualified based on being runner up in the 2010 Supercopa (won by River Plate-Puerto Rico).
There was some question as to if they would be allowed to play in next year’s CFU qualifier (the result of refusing to play in the PRSL). Now that the PRSL has experienced its crisis and it is unclear if they will even manage to stage a tournment to determine which clubs will receive berths to the qualifiers.
So just that quickly, a ver complicated and potentially perilous predicament for the Islanders has either become simplified or even cloudier depending on how you look at it (personally, I think that the very unfortunate PRSL crisis has just simplified things for Islanders).
@john, if ignorance is bliss, you must be one happy man. The fact is that D2 teams have had a path to the CCL in the same time span, except this year, in the form of the US Open Cup. While the US based D2 teams couldn’t defeat the MLS “B” teams to qualify, we knocked out both Toronto FC & the LA Galaxy in the last two years. In addition, we’ve beaten Cruz Azul & Toluca of Mexico as well as some other regional powerhouses. The fact is, that we’ve not just qualified for the tournament since its inception three years ago, we’ve also advanced to the group stage of that tournament every year which is something that not every MLS team can say.
Besides, the CFU championship is an international tournament with all of the rigors which that entails. While the US teams that qualify do so through nothing more rigorous than changing time zones to play. The Islanders log more air miles than any other team in CONCACAF during the year. Think about how hard the US National team finds traveling to Trinidad & Tobago or to Jamaica. Those are never easy games and until recently one could never be confident of a positive outcome. Away games in the Caribbean are no cup of tea, from horrible flights to terrible hotel rooms to games on sub par fields in front of openly hostile crowds. The fact is, until Real Salt Lake’s run this year, no team from the US or Canada has handled the CCL and the rigors of international play better than the Islanders.
John, your envy is unbecoming and the facts don’t bear out your claim. There is no shame in recognizing the achievements of the Islanders while still being a fan of whatever team it is you follow who is not only unknown internationally but hardly known in its own nation. The Islanders are known and respected throughout the region and you can’t take that away from them with any amount of snide comments. They’ve earned the respect they get.
By the way, john, we just successfully defended our title. The first CFU team in a decade to do so.
@El Padre
Congrats! You just be proud your team can beat a bunch of semi pro 5th division level players..
Extremely proud! How many international trophies does your team have in its case?