Defensive frailties cost Jaguars

A disappointing defensive display saw Belize well-beaten by classy El Salvador in their second Central American Cup game, the final score, 2-5. Belizean coach Jose de la Paz Herrera made only one change from the opening match defeat against Panama, Ian Gaynair coming in for Orlando Jimenez.
As against the hosts, Belize started well with Deon McCaulay wasting two good chances to score in the opening fifteen minutes. However, El Salvador took control of the game soon after, a clinical finish from Osael Romero rounding off a fine move. The Jaguars now came under constant pressure, Victor Morales clearing off the line from Arturo Alvarez, Shane Orio tipping a Romero free-kick wide and Rafael Burgos missing an incredible open goal in quick succession.
Burgos made amends in the twenty-fourth minute, finishing in style after the highly impressive Jaime Alas had caused confusion in the Belizean defence. Belize were offered an unlikely route back into the game when Denis Umanzor was very harshly penalised for pulling Evral Trapp’s shirt, Elroy Smith coolly converting the resulting penalty to reduce the half-time arrears.
Any hope of a Belizean comeback was extinguished within fifteen crazy minutes at the start of the second-half during which Los Cuscatlecos scored three times. Just sixteen seconds after the re-start, Burgos raced clear of the tired-looking Belize defence to make it three and then Alas, who gave Victor Morales a torrid time down the Salvadoran left, twice escaped from his marker, firstly to volley in a fine Gilberto Baires cross and then to set up Umanzar for the fifth.
Belize got a goal back in the seventy-sixth minute when substitute Orlando Jimenez deftly headed in a free-kick from Smith, and were unlucky not to score a third before the end, having a shot cleared off the line and a blatant penalty for handball denied.
With Panama defeating Nicaragua 2-0 in the later Group A game, Belize now need to beat the Nicaraguans in their final match to make the fifth-place play-off and have the opportunity to qualify for June’s Gold Cup. Herrera must be considering making some changes to the starting line-up in order to freshen up his weary team. Their likely opponents in that game are Guatemala who are currently third in Group B after losing 0-2 to Costa Rica in their opening match Los Ticos, Panama and El Salvador have all now secured their places at the summer tournament.

Belize (1) 2 (Smith 45'+ 1 pen, O.Jimenez 76')
El Salvador (2) 5 (Romero 16', Burgos 24', 46', Alas 54', Umanzor 59')

Belize team: Shane Moody-Orio (captain), Evral Trapp (sub: Deris Benavides 83') Ian Gaynair, Dalton Eiley, Victor Morales, Karieem Haylock (sub: Luis Mendez 59'), Elroy Smith, Elroy Kuylen, Ryan Simpson (sub: Orlando Jimenez 46’) Daniel Jimenez, Deon McCaulay.

Booking: Ian Gaynair 64'

Belize lose opening game

Belize gave a spirited performance in their opening Central American Cup game, but ultimately went down to a 0-2 defeat against defending champions and tournament hosts, Panama. The home team squandered numerous chances in the early stages and Deon McCaulay nearly made them pay when his fierce close-range shot was parried to safety by Panamanian 'keeper Jaime Penedo in the twelfth minute. Panama eventually took the lead in the twenty-first minute when Edwin Aguilar escaped from his marker at a corner and just got to the ball ahead of Belizean 'keeper Shane Orio to head in. Seven minutes later Robert Brown finished off an excellent move from the hosts, slotting past the exposed Orio to make it 2-0. Chances were scarce for either side in the second-half, but McCauley should have done better with a free header which he put over the bar from close-range. The Belizean defence stood firm and were rarely troubled, helping to secure a highly respectable result against much higher-ranked opponents.

Panama (2) 2 (Aguilar 22', Brown 28') Belize (0) 0

Belize team: Shane Moody-Orio (captain, Evral Trapp, Dalton Eiley, Victor Morales, Karieem Haylock (sub: Luis Mendez 86') Elroy Smith, Elroy Kuylen, Ryan Simpson (sub: Ian Gaynair 46'), Daniel Jimenez, Orlando Jimenez (sub: Deris Benavides 72') Deon McCaulay.

Bookings: Daniel Jimenez 20', Ian Gaynair 76', Deon McCaulay 87'.

In the other group A game, El Salvador defeated Nicaragua 2-0 with second-half goals from Jaime Alas and Rafael Burgos. Goalkeeper Denis Espinoza had a fine game for Nicaragua, saving a penalty from Arturo Alvaraz.

The Group B game between competition heavyweights Costa Rica and Honduras ended 1-1, the Hondurans needing an injury-time equaliser from Ramon Nunez to cancel out Victor Nunez's goal for the Costa Ricans just before half-time.

Belize set for Central American Cup

The Central American Cup begins this Friday with Belize taking part on the opening day against hosts and reigning champions, Panama. On his appointment as Belizean coach last January, Jose de la Paz Herrera said, “It’s all a challenge. This is what attracted me most to the Belize proposal. There is a lot to do, and we are starting from almost zero.” Whilst the team has only played two official internationals during his reign, the improvement in their standard of play has been tangible. A goalless draw with Trinidad and Tobago back in September in the first international to be staged in Belize in over a decade was an outstanding result, whilst a draw or even a victory against Guatemala the following month looked possible until the unfortunate sending-off of Ian Gaynair meant the team had to play most of the second-half with ten men, eventually succumbing 2-4.

Having coached his native Honduras at the 1982 World Cup Finals in Spain and through three other qualification campaigns, Herrera has a wealth of international experience, all of which will be needed as Belize face a gruelling programme of three games in five days in Panama. Belize has previously competed in six Central American (UNCAF Nations) Cup tournaments, the first being in 1995. The team is still awaiting its first victory, having drawn three and lost fourteen of their seventeen matches. Their best Finals result was in 2001, a 3-3 draw with Guatemala, although the 1-1 draw in a 1997 preliminary round aggregate defeat against Panama was arguably a greater achievement. The FFB has decided not to enter a team for the competition - now in its tenth year – on three separate occasions: 1991, 1993 and 2003.

A place at this June’s CONCACAF Gold Cup is the ultimate dream. Being realistic, the team’s best chance of achieving this is through the fifth place play-off game, likely to be against Guatemala. Qualifying for this, however, will almost certainly mean having to win one of the opening group games. The first match against Panama will be decidedly tough. With a difference between the two nations of over one hundred places in the FIFA world rankings, the best that The Jaguars can realistically hope for from this game is a narrow defeat. The same could also be said of the second match with El Salvador, who although enduring something of a lean period in international football, has a young, talented squad and a rich football pedigree. The third and final fixture with Nicaragua represents Belize’s best opportunity of gaining that elusive first victory. Following their appearance at the 2009 Gold Cup, the Nicaraguans have played only one competitive match in eighteen months (a 0-5 defeat to Guatemala last September) and although they are still ranked slightly higher than Herrera’s men, it is to be hoped that this lack of preparation can be capitalised upon. Also, the omens for a Belize victory look good when you consider that the majority of the nation’s few international successes have come in friendly matches against Nicaragua, including their best ever win of 7-1 in April 2002.

Most importantly though, the current Belize squad is the most talented, experienced and desperate to succeed group of players that the country has ever assembled, and in Coach Herrera they have the man to finally put Belize on the football world’s map.

Belize were beaten 0-3 by Marathon of Honduras in a pre-tournament friendly at the weekend.

Group A fixtures
14th January
El Salvador vs Nicaragua
Panama vs Belize

16th January
Belize vs El Salvador
Panama vs Nicaragua

18th January
Nicaragua vs Belize
Panama vs El Salvador

Group B fixtures
14th January
Costa Rica vs Honduras

16th January
Guatemala vs Costa Rica

18th January
Honduras vs Guatemala

5th place match
21st January
3rd Group A vs 3rd Group B

Semi-finals
21st January
Winner Group B vs Runner-up Group A
Winner Group A vs Runner-up Group B

3rd/4th place play-off
23rd January
Loser semi-final 1 vs Loser semi-final 2

Final
23rd January
Winner semi-final 1 vs Winner semi-final 2

All games are taking place in the Estadio Rommel Fernandez in Panama City.

On top of the World

A belated congratulations goes to World FC (pictured above) who are the Football Federation of Belize (FFB) National Inter-district Tournament champions following a 7-4 aggregate victory over Libertadores in the final. Their success was effectively sealed in the first leg with a sensational 5-1 away win, their opponents restoring some pride with a 3-2 triumph in the return game.

San Felipe Barcelona and Toledo Ambassadors have progressed to the play-off semi-finals of the Caribbean Motors Cup following dramatic victories in their respective quarter-finals. SFB twice came from behind to eventually triumph 3-2 at Griga United, Oscar Acebedo scoring the winner in the last minute. Meanwhile, Toledo defeated visitors Hankook Verdes (who had taken the play-off place of troubled Belmopan Blaze) 4-2 on penalties after the teams endured a tense and scoreless ninety minutes and extra-time period. The competition’s semi-finals have now been put back until the end of the month due to the national team’s participation in the Central American Cup. Belize Defence Force and FC Belize will enjoy first game home advantage against SFB and Toldeo respectively on January 22nd, the return games taking place a week later. Should Belize make the semi-finals or fifth place play-off in Panama, both of which take place on January 21st, then all four remaining teams in the Caribbean Motors Cup will be somewhat depleted for their semi-final first legs. Most badly hit would be BDF who have no fewer than six players in the national squad.

National squad announced

The following twenty-four players have been called up by coach Jose de la Paz Herrera to the Belizean national team's provisional squad for the forthcoming 2011 Central American Cup in Panama: Goalkeepers: Shane Orio, Woodrow West and Glendford Chimilio. Defenders: Elroy Smith, Dalton Eiley, Kent Gabourel Jr, Trevor Lennon, Ian Gaynair, Evrall Trapp and Tyrone Pandy. Midfielders: Ryan Simpson, Elroy Kuylen, Lisbey Castillo, Victor Morales, Harrison Roches, Luis Torres, Kareem Haylock, Luis Mendez and Amin August. Forwards: Deon McCaulay, Daniel Jimenez, Orlando Jimenez, Paul Nunez and Evan Mariano. The squad, which will be cut to twenty-one players for when the tournament begins, returned to their training camp yesterday.

In the final round of matches in this opening season’s regular stage of the Caribbean Motors Cup, FC Belize went goal crazy at Belmopan Blaze, winning 6-1 with hat-tricks for both Christian Okonkwo and Jarrett Davis. However, despite this heavy defeat the Blaze have managed to hang on to the sixth and final play-off place as challengers Hankook Verdes were beaten 0-1 at home by regular season winners, Belize Defence Force. In the week’s other game, San Felipe Barcelona and Toledo Ambassadors shared a 1-1 draw. The Championship play-offs begin on January 2nd with Toledo hosting Belmopan and San Felipe travelling to Griga United for the right to play the top two in the semi-finals.

BDF seek treble triumph

Treble championship chasers Belize Defence Force sealed this season’s regular stage opening crown with a comfortable 4-0 home victory over Belmopan Blaze. Two goals from Daniel Jimenez and strikes from Khalil Valasquez and Evan Mariano mean that BDF now has an unassailable lead at the top. Their closest rivals, FC Belize, maintained their form going into the play-offs with a 2-1 win at Griga United. Dennis Serano had put the home side ahead on the half-hour, but FCB replied with goals from Christian Okonkwo and Delwin Jones either side of half-time. The Nigerian Okonkwo’s goal puts him level with San Felipe Barcelona’s Deris Benavides on eight at the top of the league’s goal-scoring chart. Hankook Verdes recorded only their third victory of the season and kept alive their hope of pinching the sixth and final play-off spot with an impressive 1-0 triumph over SFB, Roy Cano scoring the winning goal in the 63rd minute. This results also means that Toldeo Ambassadors move into third place following their 3-0 walkover win over San Pedro Sea Dogs. The regular season concludes this Thursday with Belize Defence Force travelling to Hankook, whilst Belmopan and San Felipe host FC Belize and Toledo respectively.

Belize has risen three places to 172nd in the new FIFA World Rankings – not bad considering the team hasn’t played an international match for over two months! Our ranking within the CONCACAF region has also improved by a single place to 26th.

In the final warm-up game involving teams competing in next month's Central American Cup in Panama, Honduras defeated the tournament hosts 2-1 in San Pedro Sula, avenging their 0-2 defeat in the reverse fixture last month. Johnny Leveron scored both of the Honduran goals, with Edwin Aguilar replying for Panama.

Honduras vs Panama match highlights

Coach Herrera's future in doubt

Many thanks to James Lewis for the above photo

The Men’s Senior national team has begun its training camp in preparation for next month’s Central American Cup in Panama. Coach Jose de le Paz Herrera (pictured above during a recent training session) has been putting the players through their paces at the FFB Stadium in Belmopan, the only FIFA-certified stadium in Belize. However, Herrera’s long-term future as national team coach has been thrown into doubt after it was revealed he has signed a deal to coach his former club, Marathon of Honduras, during this season’s Clausura championship. His contract with Belize supposedly runs out after the CAC tournament, but it is to be hoped that he can continue with his role on a part-time basis, particularly if the team qualifies for next summer’s CONCACAF Gold Cup. The team has made great progress under his guidance and it would be a huge blow to Belizean football should he leave.

In the Caribbean Motors Cup, double-reigning champions Belize Defence Force all but sealed this season’s regular stage opening championship with a 2-1 win at closest rivals, FC Belize. A penalty kick from defender Vallan Symms just before half-time gave BDF the victory which puts them six points clear of FCB with just two games to play. They have the opportunity to clinch first place on home soil this coming Sunday, with only a draw being required against Belmopan Blaze. Elsewhere, Toledo Ambassadors went into third spot with an impressive 2-0 win over Griga United, whilst the aforementioned Blaze secured a fine 4-1 away victory at fellow strugglers Hankook Verdes.