The 2014 Copa Centroamericana (also known as the Central American Cup Tigo 2014 USA for sponsorship reasons) was the 13th Copa Centroamericana, the regional championship for men's national association football teams in Central America. It was organized by the Unión Centroamericana de Fútbol or UNCAF, and took place in the United States.
Overview In January 2013, UNCAF tentatively announced that the competition would be hosted in the United States, specifically in California and Texas. Eduardo Li, the President of the Costa Rican Football Federation and vice-president of UNCAF said that the competition is to celebrate 25 years of UNCAF. The announcement became official in January 2014, and it was announced that the competition would take place in September 2014.
Following the announcement, UNCAF President Rafael Tinocco said that September 2014 was chosen because "September is the month of independence" and that there are nine days in September on the FIFA International Match Calendar which would allow national associations to choose their first choice players. Tinocco also stated that the competition would be hosted outside of the Central American region, and hosted in United States due to the "money factor".
The top four teams would qualify for the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup. The fifth place team would advance to a play-off against the fifth place team from the 2014 Caribbean Cup tournament to determine which other nation will qualify for the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup. This is the first time that the two overall fifth-placed teams compete to qualify for the CONCACAF Gold Cup, previously five teams from Central America and four from the Caribbean have qualified for the Confederation's competition.
The winner of the tournament would qualify for the Copa América Centenario, a 16-team tournament of CONMEBOL and CONCACAF national teams to be held in the United States in 2016.
FIFA calendar issue Two of the four competition dates fall outside of the FIFA International Match Calendar's "international window" for September 2014. Any two dates between 1 and 9 September at least three days apart were allocated as possible fixture dates in the window, meaning that the fixtures that took place on 3 and 7 September would be able to have a first choice selection available as clubs would be unable to reject call-ups, while the fixtures that took place on 10 and 13 September (including the final) would require the players' clubs to agree that players could participate.Annexe 1, art. 1 par. 6 of the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players states that "It is not compulsory to release players outside an international window" ().
Teams All seven UNCAF member national teams participated in the tournament.
Team UNCAF Nations Cup / Copa Centroamericana appearances Previous best performance FIFA Ranking at start of event 10th Fourth Place (2013) 162 (Title holders) 13th Champion (1991, 1997, 1999, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2013) 15 13th Third Place (1995, 1997, 2001, 2003, 2013) 127 12th Champion (2001) 134 13th Champion (1993, 1995, 2011) 43 13th Fifth Place (2009) 175 12th Champion (2009) 63 Bold indicates that the corresponding team was hosting the event.
Venues
In May and June 2014, UNCAF announced that the following venues would host the tournament: The RFK Memorial Stadium in Washington, D.C. hosted the three matches of the first day of group stage on 3 September. The Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas hosted the three matches of the second day of group stage on 7 September. The BBVA Compass Stadium in Houston, Texas hosted the three matches of the last day of group stage on 10 September. The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, California hosted the final, third-place and fifth-place matches on 13 September.
Washington, D.C.Dallas, TexasHouston, TexasLos Angeles, California RFK Memorial Stadium Cotton Bowl BBVA Compass Stadium Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Capacity: 19,467† Capacity: 92,100 Capacity: 22,000 Capacity: 93,607
Squads
Officials The following officials were selected for the tournament:
Referees Roberto Moreno (Panama) Jeffrey Solís (Costa Rica) Héctor Rodríguez (Honduras) Joel Aguilar (El Salvador) Walter López (Guatemala) Roberto García (Mexico) Sandy Vásquez (Dominican Republic) Jair Marrufo (United States)
Assistant referees Daniel Williamson (Panama) Leonel Leal (Costa Rica) Octavio Jara (Costa Rica) Keytzel Corrales (Nicaragua) Oscar Omar Velasquez (Honduras) Juan Zumba (El Salvador) Gerson Lopez Castellanos (Guatemala) Adam Garner (United States)
Group stage The draw for the group stage was made on 29 January 2014. The schedule was announced on 17 July 2014. Changes to the schedule were made on 18 August.
Tiebreakers
The teams are ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a tie, 0 points for a loss). If tied on points, tiebreakers are applied in the following order: Greater number of points in matches between the tied teams. Greater goal difference in matches between the tied teams (if more than two teams finish equal on points). Greater number of goals scored in matches among the tied teams (if more than two teams finish equal on points). Greater goal difference in all group matches. Greater number of goals scored in all group matches. Drawing of lots.
LegendGroup winners advance to the final and qualify for the 2015 CONCACAF Gold CupGroup runners-up advance to the third place match and qualify for the 2015 CONCACAF Gold CupGroup third-placed teams advance to the fifth place match
Group A
Group B
Final stage In the final stage, if a match is level at the end of normal playing time, the match is determined by a penalty shoot-out (no extra time is played).
Fifth place match
Honduras advanced to represent the Central American Football Union at the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup qualification play-off, where they faced French Guiana, the 2014 Caribbean Cup fifth-placed team.
Third place match
Final
GK 1 Ricardo JerezDF 3 Elías VásquezDF 11 Rafael Morales DF 4 Wilson LalínDF 5 Carlos Eduardo Gallardo MF 8 Jean MárquezMF 15 Sergio Trujillo MF 10 José Manuel ContrerasMF 16 Marco PappaFW 19 Marvin ÁvilaFW 20 Carlos Ruiz (c) Substitutions:FW 9 Jairo Arreola MF 17 Nelson Miranda FW 14 Kendell Herrarte Manager: Ivan Franco Sopegno GK 18 Patrick Pemberton DF 26 Pablo SalazarDF 2 Jhonny Acosta DF 19 Roy MillerDF 17 David Myrie MF 22 José Miguel CuberoMF 23 Juan Bustos MF 24 Johan Venegas FW 21 David Ramírez FW 15 Armando AlonsoFW 10 Bryan Ruiz (c)Substitutions:DF 3 Porfirio López MF 8 Óscar Granados FW 9 Jonathan Moya Manager: Paulo Wanchope
Costa Rica qualified for the Copa América Centenario.
Awards The following awards were given at the conclusion of the tournament:
AwardWinnerGolden Ball Marco PappaGolden Boot Marco PappaGolden Glove Jaime PenedoFair PlayMan of the Match – Final Bryan Ruiz
Goalscorers 4 goals
Marco Pappa
2 goals
Celso Borges Johan Venegas Rafael Burgos Carlos Ruiz Blas Pérez Román Torres
1 goal
Deon McCaulay Juan Bustos Bryan Ruiz Marco Ureña Arturo Alvarez Richard Menjivar Marvin Ávila Anthony Lozano Roberto Nurse
Own goals
Jeromy James (playing against Honduras) Elroy Smith (playing against Honduras)
Final ranking RankTeamPrize money (U.S. Dollars)$60,000$40,000$30,0004$25,0005$20,0006$15,0007$10,000
References
External links Copa Centroamericana, UNCAFut.com Central American Cup, CONCACAF.com