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.
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. Qualification
Qualified teams The following teams qualified for the final tournament. Zone Country Method of qualification Appearance1 Last appearance Previous best performancePrevious Olympic appearances(last)North America (title holders) Automatic 9th 2004 Winners (1964, 1972, 1976, 1996, 2004) 9 (2004) Automatic 6th 2004 Runners-up (1984, 1996) 3 (1984) (hosts) Automatic 8th 2004 Winners (1988, 1992) 13 (2000)Central America Triangular 1 winners 4th 2004 Winners (2000) 1 (2000) Triangular 2 winners 6th 2000 Final round winner without outright champions (1968) 3 (1988) Play-off winners 4th 2004 Fourth place (1964) 0Caribbean Second round winners 3rd 1984 Third place (1976, 1984) 2 (1980) Second round winners 1st 0 (debut) Debutant 0 1 Only final tournament.
Venues Three cities served as the venues for the tournament. Tampa, Florida(Tampa Bay Area)Carson, California(Los Angeles Area)Nashville, TennesseeRaymond James StadiumThe Home Depot CenterLP FieldCapacity: 65,856Capacity: 27,000Capacity: 69,143
Squads
Group stage
Group A
Group B
Knockout stage
Bracket
Semi-finals The semi-final winners qualified for the 2008 Summer Olympics.
Third place play-off
Final
Statistics Goalscorers
4 goals 2008 CONCACAF Men’s Olympic Qualification All-Tournament Team unveiled Freddy Adu
3 goals Will Johnson
2 goals Edwin Aguilar Tosaint Ricketts Leonel Saint-Preux Hendry Thomas Luis Ángel Landín
Awards The following awards were given at the conclusion of the tournament. + Best XIGoalkeeperDefendersMidfieldersForwards 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
Qualified teams for 2008 Summer Olympics The following two teams from CONCACAF qualified for the 2008 Summer Olympics Men's football tournament.
Team Qualified onPrevious appearances in Summer Olympics1 (2000) (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 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.
References
External links CONCACAF.com - 2008 CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualification