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2008 CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualification Scouting Report

The 2008 CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualification will take place in three venues (Carson, Nashville & Tampa) in the USA from 11-23 March and will advance two countries to the Olympic Football Tournament Beijing 2008.

This is the first time in eight years that the final round of the CONCACAF Men’s Olympic Qualification will be held in the USA. The 2000 event took place in Hershey, Pennsylvania.

The CONCACAF Final Round Tournament, an Under-23 event, will consist of two groups of four competing on a round-robin basis from 11-16 March.

Group A, which will play games at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, has Cuba, Honduras, Panama, along with the hosts, USA. Meanwhile, Group B, will be played at The Home Depot Center in Carson, California. The group consists of the defending CONCACAF Champion, Mexico, along with Canada, Guatemala and Haiti. Each first round venue will host three doubleheaders.

The semifinals and finals of the CONCACAF Tournament will be held at LP Field in Nashville, Tennessee on 20 and 23 March, respectively. The CONCACAF U-23 Champion and Runner-up will qualify to the 2008 Olympic Games.

SCOUTING THE TEAMS...

CANADA: Coached by Nick Dasovic, Canada is one of the three North Zone teams that received a bye to Final Round of the CONCACAF Men’s Olympic Qualification ... The Maple Leafs have not qualified to the Olympic Games since Los Angeles (USA) 1984, where they reached the quarterfinals but fell 4:2 on penalties to the eventual silver medalists Brazil ... Canada’s only other appearance at the Olympic Games was as the host in Montreal 1976.

CUBA: Have the most appearances by any Caribbean nation at the Olympic Games competing in Montreal (Canada) 1976 and Moscow (USSR) 1980 ... The Leones del Caribe reached the 2008 CONCACAF Final Round after staging and winning the Caribbean First Round Group B by defeating Bermuda, Cayman Islands and Puerto Rico ... Cuba then captured the Caribbean Second Round Group G after eliminating Grenada and the hosts, Trinidad & Tobago ... Raul Gonzalez is in charge of the Leones del Caribe.

GUATEMALA: With Rodrigo Kenton at the helm, Guatemala will play in their first CONCACAF Men’s Olympic Qualification Final Round since 2000 ... The Chapines advanced to the 2008 CONCACAF event after hosting and winning the Central American Group 2 with victories over Costa Rica and Nicaragua ... Guatemala are currently tied (with Costa Rica) for the most appearances by a Central American nation in the Olympic Games with three (Mexico City 1968, Montreal 1976, Seoul 1988).

HAITI: Looking for their first-ever trip to the Olympic Games, Haiti is one of two qualifiers from the Caribbean ... Les Bicolores reached the CONCACAF Final Round after eliminating the Dominican Republic and the hosts, St. Kitts & Nevis from the Caribbean First Round Group D ... Haiti then staged and won the Second Round Group H by defeating the Bahamas and Jamaica ... Les Bicolores are coached by Etienne Wilner.

HONDURAS: One of three Central American qualifiers to the Final Round of 2008 CONCACAF Men’s Olympic Qualification ... Honduras progressed to the CONCACAF event after winning the Central American Group 1 with a victory over El Salvador and a draw against the host, Panama ... The Catrachos became only the fourth Central American team to qualify to the Olympic Games competing in Sydney (Australia) 2000 ... Alexis Mendoza is in charge of Honduras.

MEXICO: The defending CONCACAF Champions, Mexico have competed in nine Olympic Games which is second-best in the region ... The Tricolores’ best performance was reaching the Bronze Medal game at the 1968 event in Mexico City, against Japan (2:0 loss) ... Mexico have won a CONCACAF record five Olympic Qualifying Tournaments and are currently on a 21-game unbeaten streak (in CONCACAF Qualification) with their last defeat coming against the USA, 3:0 on 26 April 1992 ... Hugo Sanchez is the technical director for the Tricolor.

PANAMA: Under technical director Alexandre Guimaraes, Panama earned the last Central American berth to the Final Round of the 2008 CONCACAF Men’s Olympic Qualification after eliminating Costa Rica in the playoff series on penalties ... Prior to the match-up against Costa Rica, Panama hosted and finished second in the Central American Group 1 after defeating El Salvador but losing out to Honduras on goal difference following a 1:1 draw ... The Canaleros, who are looking for their first berth to the Olympic Games, were the first Central American team to compete at the inaugural CONCACAF Qualifying Tournament in 1964.

USA: The host nation for the Final Round of the 2008 CONCACAF Men’s Olympic Qualification, the USA has made the most appearances of any CONCACAF team at the Olympic Games (12), but have only won one of the 11 CONCACAF Qualifying Tournaments ... The first CONCACAF country to win its opening match at the Olympic Games (1:0 vs. Estonia) in Paris (France) 1924, the Stars & Stripes’ best performance in tournament play was finishing fourth in Sydney (Australia) 2000 ... The USA have Peter Nowak at the helm.