Central American Cup 2017
13–22 January 2017
This is the 14th edition
of this Cup which is bi-annual like the CONCACAF Gold Cup. The top 4 nations qualify for
the Gold Cup. The 5th place team enters a playoff-series against the
5th place Caribbean nation for the last Gold Cup spot. This
tournament runs Jan 13th through the 22nd. Panama will be
your host.
Costa Rica dominance
Hosting controversy
This will be Panama’s 3rd
time hosting the event. The problem is that neither Nicaragua nor Belize has
host yet. Panama is a great pick to host however they just hosted in 2011 and
2003. I believe Panamas new influence, both economically and the prowess of the
soccer success allowed them to leapfrog both Belize and Nicaragua. They all
want the tournament to be well attended and Panama is the best option at this
time.
More
In previous tournaments Belize and
Nicaragua were just not competitive. They would lose by multiple goals. Now
they can play all nations tight. Both Belize and Nicaragua have been to the
semi-finals game and each was invited to the Gold Cup. Honduras can give Costa
Rica a good game. Panama has improved so much they can be Costa Ricas’ equal if
they are at home. This tournament they will be the host and have all home
games. This is Panama’s best chance to win the Central American Cup.
New Format
with Guatemala not allowed to play
There use to be 2 groups. One group of 3 nations and one
group of 4. This was always unfair since some nations would play more group
games. This years tournament Guatemala is not allowed to play. This is
punishment by FIFA. The nations will all play each other once.
To me the big game is Panama v Costa Rica. I believe the
winner of this game will win the tournament.
Bold Predictions
Bold Predictions
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| Rommell Stadium in Panama will host the Central American Cup 2017 |
- Panama
- Costa Rica
- Honduras
- El Salvador
- Nicaragua
- Belize
