By David Gold
March 23 – The Confederation of North, Central and Caribbean Football (CONCACAF) men’s Olympic football qualifiers have begun in the United States, with all eight teams hoping to make it to London.
The hosts (pictured) are in Group A alongside Canada, Cuba and El Salvador, while in Group B Mexico are favourites to advance ahead of Panama, Honduras, and Trinidad and Tobago.
Group A games are taking place at LP Field in Nashville, Tennessee, in the east, while Group B clashes are in the west at LA Galaxy’s Home Depot Centre stadium in California.
The top two teams in each group will advance to the semi-finals.
The two countries who win their last four games will then advance to the final, booking their places at the Olympics.
The semi-finals and final will take place at the Livestrong Sporting Park (pictured below) in Kansas.
The hosts kicked off their campaign in style with a 6-0 win over Cuba, whilst El Salvador and Canada played out a 0-0 draw in the opening day’s other game.
In 2008, the US and Honduras made it to the Beijing Olympics.
This was a major disappointment for Mexico, who hope to make amends this week.
That Mexico are taking the tournament seriously was underlined when they sent an under-23 team to the Copa America in Argentina last summer to gain precious experience.
The country’s coaching duties will be shared by Luis Fernando Teña and José Manuel de la Torre, the senior coach.
Though European club stars such as Manchester United’s Javier Hernández, Carlos Vela of Real Sociedad and Barcelona’s Jonathan dos Santos are not available for selection for this squad, Mexico will hope Erick Torres (pictured below, centre), who plays for home team Guadalajara and who is one of their most promising players, can help them to qualification.
They will face a Panama team that have never qualified for the Olympics or World Cup, but who can draw on players competing in leagues across the Americas.
Panama’s highest profile player playing on the continent is Cesar Rodriguez of FC Dallas, whilst others play professionally in Uruguay, Argentina, Mexico and El Salvador.
Having impressed during the World Cup qualifiers so far, as well as beating the US in the Gold Cup last summer, Panama will be optimistic of springing a shock.
Trinidad and Tobago can call on a number of players who play in the US, but are only at qualifying stage having pulled off a remarkable comeback in the pre-qualifiers.
They beat Suriname 9-1, having needed to win by five clear goals to edge out St Kitts and Nevis.
Concluding Group B is Honduras, who won the Olympic qualifiers in 2008, providing them with an impressive pedigree at this stage.
Their star could be winger Andy Najar, who plays for DC United in Major League Soccer and is one of the most promising talents in the US, but who has opted to compete internationally for the country of his birth.
The US, who are favourites to qualify from Group A and play at the Olympics for the 15th time, boast some impressive names in their squad.
Freddy Adu is the biggest, and the once much sought after wonderkid, now back in the US playing for Philadelphia Union, is joined by Brek Shea of FC Dallas and New York Red Bulls’ Juan Agudelo, of whom big things are expected.
US coach Caleb Porter’s side open against Cuba, who are hoping for Olympic qualification for the first time since 1980.
Cuba won the pre-qualifying tournament to reach this stage with an impressive counter attacking style, which could cause an upset.
El Salvador have never qualified for an Olympics before, and could suffer if their star striker Lester Blanco fails to recover from injury.
Canada have not played at an Olympics since 1984, and have called upon players from Scotland to Uruguay as they hope to reach the semi-finals from Group A.
El Salvador and Canada kick off the Group A qualifiers today, before the US meet Cuba later this evening.
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