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Final 5 soccer teams qualify for 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup field

Feb. 16, 2007, 12:09PM

CONCACAF announced today that Costa Rica and El Salvador are among the five latest teams to qualify to the 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cuip from the Copa de Naciones Digicel 2007 de UNCAF in Cuscatlan Stadium in San Salvador, El Salvador, this week.

The 12 Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean AQssociation Football-team field is set for the ninth edition of CONCACAF Gold Cup later this year which is comprised of the previous champions (Canada, Mexico, USA), four Caribbean teams (Cuba, Guadeloupe, Haiti, Trinidad & Tobago) and the five Central American qualifiers.

The Gold Cup takes place from June 6-24 in six venues across the United States.

El Salvador and Guatemala advanced to the 2007 Gold Cup by reaching the semifinals of the Copa de Naciones Digcel 2007 de UNCAF (Central American qualification) after finishing first and second, respectively, in Group 1 this week that included Belize and Nicaragua.

The chapines will be making their eighth appearance at the Gold Cup in 2007 and seventh consecutive, which is the record-best for a Central American nation, while the cuscatiecos are competing in their fifth CONCACAF tournament.

Panama and Costa Rica also advanced to the Gold Cup and the Central American semifinals by taking the top two places in Group 2 this week.

The canaleros will be playing in their third Gold Cup later this year, while the ticos will play in their eighth Gold Cup tournament, the joint highest number of all-time appearances (along with Guatemala) by a Central American team at the CONCACAF event.

Honduras claimed the final Central American berth in the 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup after defeating Nicaragua in the Copa de Naciones Digicel de UNCAF Fifth Place Playoff match on Thursday at the Cuscatlan Stadium.

The catrachos, who were the first Central American team to reach the Gold Cup Final in 1991, will be competing in their seventh CONCACAF tournament.

The Copa de Naciones Digicel 2007 de UNCAF continues its road to crowning the Central American champion on Friday at the Cuscatlan Stadium with semifinals that will see Panama take on Guatemala and host El Salvador playing Costa Rica.

The 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup opens in Miami's Orange Bowl on June 6 with the final scheduled for Soldier Field, Chicago, on June 24.

The four other venues that will host Gold Cup games in 2007 are Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.; Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif.; Reliant Stadium in Houston and Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass.

CONCACAF will unveil the groups and complete calendar of the 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup in early March.

The United States is the defending champion; Panama is last year's runnerup.