The UNCAF Nations Cup 2009 was the tenth edition of the UNCAF Nations Cup, the biennial football (soccer) tournament for the CONCACAF-affiliated national teams of Central America. The first five places qualified for the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup. The event was going to take place in Panama City, Panama between January 22 and February 1, 2009, but the Panamanian FA announced that they would not host the event due to not having an adequate stadium available for the time period of the tournament. The alternative hosts were Honduras and Guatemala. Honduras submitted an official replacement bid on November 12, and after some consideration it was moved to Honduras. All games were played in Estadio Tiburcio Carías Andino in Tegucigalpa. The tournament was sponsored by Digicel. On 1 February 2009 Panama won the tournament, the first UNCAF Nations Cup win in the country's history.
Participating nations All seven UNCAF members participated in the tournament:
(Defending Champions)
(Hosts)
Squads
Stadium TegucigalpaEstadio Tiburcio Carías AndinoCapacity: 35,000
First round The group stage draw took place on December 9, 2008 in Guatemala City. The reigning champions, Costa Rica, and the hosts, Honduras, were automatically drawn as top seed in their respective groups. Costa Rica was paired with Panama and Guatemala, the first two runners-up from the 2007 UNCAF Nations Cup. The remaining teams – El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Belize – were drawn into the same group as Honduras.
Group A
Group B
Final round
Fifth place The winner of the fifth place match qualified for the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup as the fifth and final entrant from Central America.
Semifinals All four semifinalists qualified for the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup.
The game was called after sixty minutes of play when El Salvador was reduced to six players. Two El Salvador players, Alexander Escobar and Eliseo Quintanilla, were awarded red cards in the first half, and Deris Umanzor, Rodolfo Zelaya, and goalkeeper Juan José Gómez were injured and had to leave the game after El Salvador had already exhausted their three substitutions. The game was awarded 3–0 to Costa RicaWASHINGTONPOST.com – Monday Kickaround – 2 February 2009
Third place
Final
PANAMA: GK 1 Jaime PenedoDF 2 Carlos RiveraDF 4 José Torres (C)DF 6 Amílcar HenríquezDF 13 Adolfo MachadoDF 14 Armando GunMF 5 Manuel Torres MF 10 Nelson Barahona MF 15 Ricardo PhillipsFW 8 Gabriel Torres FW 9 Orlando Rodríguez Substitutions:FW 7 Edwin Aguilar MF 11 Víctor Herrera MF 20 Luis Jaramillo Manager: Gary Stempel
COSTA RICA: GK 23 Ricardo GonzálezDF 3 Freddy Fernández (C)DF 4 Michael UmañaDF 12 Leonardo González DF 17 Pablo Herrera DF 19 Carlos JohnsonMF 5 Cristian Oviedo MF 15 Jorge DavisMF 22 Álvaro Sánchez FW 7 Alejandro Alpízar FW 11 Andy FurtadoSubstitutions:FW 21 Víctor Núñez MF 16 Pablo Brenes MF 14 Paolo Jiménez Manager: Rodrigo Kenton
Results
Top 5 qualified to the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup.
Scorers 3 goals Andy Furtado
2 goals
Alfredo Pacheco Samuel Wilson Walter Martínez
1 goal
Alberto Zapata Ricardo Phillips Lisbey Castillo Jerome James Harrison Róchez William Sunsing Roberto Segura Álvaro Sánchez Pablo Herrera Marlon Medina Armando Reyes Juan Barrera Marvin Chávez Mario Rodríguez Saúl Martínez Carlos Pavón Emil Martínez Amado Guevara Roger Espinoza Minor López Ramón Sánchez Carlos Ayala
1 goal (Own Goal)
Silvio Avilés (for El Salvador) David Solorzano (for Honduras)
See also
UNCAF Nations Cup 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup Central American Football Union
References
External links 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup at CONCACAF.com