2008 CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying

The 2008 CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying was the twelfth edition of the CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying, the quadrennial, international, age-restricted football tournament organized by CONCACAF to determine which men's under-23 national teams from the North, Central America and Caribbean region qualify for the Olympic football tournament. It was held in the United States, from 11 and 23 March 2008.[1]

2008 CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying
CONCACAF MEN'S OLYMPIC QUALIFYING BEIJING 2008
Tournament details
Host countryUnited States
Dates11 – 23 March
Teams8 (from 1 confederation)
Venue(s)3 (in 3 host cities)
Final positions
Champions Honduras (2nd title)
Runners-up United States
Third place Canada
Fourth place Guatemala
Tournament statistics
Matches played16
Goals scored36 (2.25 per match)
Top scorer(s)United States Freddy Adu
2004
2012
All statistics correct as of 27 April 2009.

Honduras won the title after with a 1–0 win over the United States in the final. As the top two teams, Honduras and the United States both qualified for the 2008 Summer Olympics in China as the CONCACAF representatives.[2]

Qualification

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Qualified teams

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The following teams qualified for the final tournament.

Zone Country Method of qualification Appearance1 Last appearance Previous best performance Previous Olympic appearances
(last)
North America   Mexico
(title holders)
Automatic 9th 2004 Winners (1964, 1972, 1976, 1996, 2004) 9 (2004)
  Canada Automatic 6th 2004 Runners-up (1984, 1996) 3 (1984)
  United States (hosts) Automatic 8th 2004 Winners (1988, 1992) 13 (2000)
Central America   Honduras Triangular 1 winners 4th 2004 Winners (2000) 1 (2000)
  Guatemala Triangular 2 winners 6th 2000 Final round winner without outright champions (1968) 3 (1988)
  Panama Play-off winners 4th 2004 Fourth place (1964) 0
Caribbean   Cuba Second round winners 3rd 1984 Third place (1976, 1984) 2 (1980)
  Haiti Second round winners 1st 0 (debut) Debutant 0
1 Only final tournament.

Venues

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Three cities served as the venues for the tournament.

Tampa, Florida
(Tampa Bay Area)
Carson, California
(Los Angeles Area)
Nashville, Tennessee
Location of the host cities of the 2008 CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying.
Raymond James Stadium Home Depot Center LP Field
Capacity: 65,856 Capacity: 27,000 Capacity: 69,143
     

Squads

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Group stage

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Group A

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1   United States (H) 3 2 1 0 3 1 +2 7 Advance to knockout stage
2   Honduras 3 2 0 1 3 1 +2 6
3   Panama 3 1 0 2 4 3 +1 3
4   Cuba 3 0 1 2 2 7 −5 1
Source: CONCACAF
(H) Hosts
Panama  0–1  Honduras
(Report) Thomas   90'
United States  1–1  Cuba
Adu   13' (Report) Linares   42',   42'   84'

Honduras  2–0  Cuba
Sánchez   68'
Thomas   76'
(Report)
United States  1–0  Panama
Adu   41' (pen.) (Report)

Cuba  1–4  Panama
Duarte   64' (Report) Aguilar   18', 65'
Barahona   26'
Urgelles   31' (o.g.)
United States  1–0  Honduras
Gaven   90+5' (pen.) (Report)

Group B

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1   Guatemala 3 2 0 1 3 6 −3 6 Advance to knockout stage
2   Canada 3 1 1 1 7 3 +4 4
3   Mexico 3 1 1 1 7 4 +3 4
4   Haiti 3 1 0 2 3 7 −4 3
Source: CONCACAF
Haiti  0–1  Guatemala
(Report) Ávila   27'
Canada  1–1  Mexico
Johnson   3'.   76' (Report) Landín   22' (pen.),   67'  

Canada  1–2  Haiti
Rosenlund   17' (Report) Gustave   72'
Saint-Preux   84'
Mexico  1–2  Guatemala
Castillo   9' (Report) Villa   40'
López   67'

Guatemala  0–5  Canada
(Report) Johnson   45', 46'
Ricketts   57', 80'
Hall   90'
Mexico  5–1  Haiti
Villaluz   18'
Andrade   61'
Fernández   70'
Esqueda   83'
Landín   89'
(Report) Aveska   29'
Saint-Preux   62'
Jean Paulin   84'  

Knockout stage

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Bracket

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Semi-finalsFinal
 
      
 
20 March – Nashville, TN
 
 
  Guatemala 0 (5)
 
23 March – Nashville, TN
 
  Honduras (p) 0 (6)
 
  Honduras (a.e.t.) 1
 
20 March – Nashville, TN
 
  United States 0
 
  United States 3
 
 
  Canada 0
 
Third place play-off
 
 
23 March – Nashville, TN
 
 
  Guatemala 0 (3)
 
 
  Canada (p) 0 (5)

Semi-finals

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The semi-final winners qualified for the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Guatemala  0–0 (a.e.t.)  Honduras
Noriega   102'   Report
Penalties
Contreras  
Leon  
Ávila  
Brown  
Marquez  
Lalin  
Morales  
5–6   Morales
  Thomas
  Reyna
  Guity
  Sánchez
  Padilla
  Norales

United States  3–0  Canada
Adu   27', 47'
Kljestan   78'
Report
Attendance: 13,201

Third place play-off

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Guatemala  0–0 (a.e.t.)  Canada
Report
Penalties
Contreras  
Arreola  
Ávila  
Brown  
3–5   Sánchez
  Ledgerwood
  Ayre
  Hemming
  Hall
Attendance: 12,663

Final

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Honduras  1–0 (a.e.t.)  United States
Report
Attendance: 12,663

Statistics

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Goalscorers

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4 goals [3]
3 goals
2 goals

Awards

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The following awards were given at the conclusion of the tournament.

Best XI[4]
Goalkeeper Defenders Midfielders Forwards

  Kevin Hernández

  Carlos Castrillo
  Oscar Morales
  Michael Orozco

  Nelson Barahona
  José Manuel Contreras
  Maurice Edu
  Dax McCarty

  Freddy Adu
  Leonel Duarte
  Will Johnson

Final ranking

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Final result
    Honduras 5 3 1 1 4 1 +3 10 Winners
    United States (H) 5 3 1 1 6 2 +4 10 Runner-ups
    Canada 5 1 2 2 7 6 +1 5 Third place
4   Guatemala 5 2 2 1 3 6 −3 8 Fourth place
5   Mexico 3 1 1 1 7 4 +3 4 Eliminated in
group stage
6   Panama 3 1 0 2 3 4 −1 3
7   Haiti 3 1 0 2 3 7 −4 3
8   Cuba 3 0 1 2 2 7 −5 1
Source: [citation needed]
(H) Hosts

Qualified teams for 2008 Summer Olympics

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The following two teams from CONCACAF qualified for the 2008 Summer Olympics Men's football tournament.

Team Qualified on Previous appearances in Summer Olympics1
  Honduras 20 March 2008 1 (2000)
  United States 20 March 2008 13 (1904, 1924, 1928, 1936, 1948, 1952, 1956, 1972, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000)
1 Bold indicates champions for that year. Italic indicates hosts for that year.

Cuban defections

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Following the Cuban draw against the United States, seven Cuban players defected, leaving the team with only 11 players which was reduced to 10 against Honduras. Cuba played its final game against Panama with no players available as substitutes because Roberto Linares was sent off from Cuba's match against the United States causing him to be automatically suspended for the team's next match.[5]

References

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  1. ^ "Campeonato Sub-23 CONCACAF se jugará en los USA". CONCACAF. 6 November 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-12-23.
  2. ^ "Honduras claim first-place in CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualification; Canada finish third". CONCACAF. 23 March 2008. Archived from the original on 2008-03-27.
  3. ^ 2008 CONCACAF Men’s Olympic Qualification All-Tournament Team unveiled Archived March 25, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ "2008 CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualification All-Tournament Team unveiled". CONCACAF. 22 March 2008. Archived from the original on 2008-03-26.
  5. ^ "Cuba calls soccer desertions in US a "low blow"". Associated Press. March 14, 2008.
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