Notes from playoff action in Central America:The Honduran Apertura final will be a San Pedro Sula clásico as Marathón will face Real España. Marathón defeated Motagua 1-0, which left the aggregate score at 1-1 and allowed Marathón to advance on the better regular-season record ("ventaja deportiva" in Spanish). Click to continue reading...

The end of the calendar year brings playoff action throughout the CONCACAF region. Here's a brief sketch of what's going on in Central America:The regular season in Costa Rica's Apertura concluded a week ago, and the second- and third-placed clubs in both groups play in the first round of the playoffs (Saprissa and Alajuelense have byes to the semifinal round as group winners). Click to continue reading...

San Juan Jabloteh won the 2008 T&T Pro League for the second year in a row after drawing 0-0 with W Connection on Saturday. Jabloteh and W Connection were level on points at the end of the regular season, but Jabloteh won the "Big Six" playoff tournament (featuring the top six teams in the regular season) to finish as League winners by two points. Click to continue reading...

According to the website FutboldeCostaRica.com, the Costa Rican federation will play three of their Hexagonal home matches on the artificial pitch at Saprissa stadium. Those three matches are against Honduras, El Salvador, and the USA. The announcement came from a FEDEFUTBOL official on local radio, but I haven't seen any updates on the federation website. Click to continue reading...

There has been a thread on BigSoccer arguing for the reallocation of Champions League qualifying berths in light of this year's performance. Now, that's simply not going to happen on the sole basis of Group Stage results in the first edition of the Champions League. Nevertheless, I talked to my contacts within CONCACAF and they confirmed the current allocation for next season but ". Click to continue reading...

For those who haven't or won't download the spreadsheets in the previous post, here is a list of the top 10 leagues and clubs that have participated in the CONCACAF's premier club competition over the past four and a half years. That period covers the 2004-05 Champions Cup through the group stage of this year's Champions League. Click to continue reading...

Well I hope those of you in the States are enjoying your Thanksgiving and today's matches in whatever football code you prefer. After last night's game I completed the update to the CONCACAF coefficients and placed them on my site. There are some changes to the coefficient calculations -- instead of using the results from the UNCAF or CFU qualifying competitions, I use the results from the preliminary round of the Champions League. Click to continue reading...

The group stage of the CONCACAF Champions League is now complete, and we now know the final eight teams. Here they are: Group Pot A Pot B A Marathón Cruz Azul B UNAM Houston Dynamo C Atlante Impact de Montréal D Santos Laguna Puerto Rico Islanders So all four Mexican qualifiers are in the final eight, followed by one team each from Honduras, Canada, Puerto Rico, and the USA. Click to continue reading...

I left to go to the gym, thinking that I would be back in time for the Dynamo-Firpo match at 8pm local time (according to CONCACAF's TV schedule). Well, I returned at 8:05pm to find out that the match had just concluded! How did CONCACAF manage to get their schedule so incredibly wrong? And why did I believe them? Click to continue reading...

A few more thoughts on Sunday's match: It was so cool for Carlos Bianchi to come to Los Angeles to celebrate the final with Schelotto. I'd love to see him come to the States to coach -- preferably a Miami team if MLS approves Barca's proposal. I think next year we'll see Schelotto answer questions in English. Click to continue reading...

I wasn't able to travel to LA for the MLS Cup, but I will be able to liveblog it from my living room. It won't be a play-by-play, just my impressions of the match. If you're interested, follow along at 1300 Arizona time.Columbus - New York 1330 1315: There are Champions League implications to this final. Click to continue reading...

There was another draw of importance to CONCACAF sides in Johannesburg. Next year's Confederations Cup will have the following two groups:Group ASouth AfricaIraqNew ZealandSpainGroup BItalyBrazilUSAEgyptMy take: This time Bob Bradley's worst fears came true. What incredibly lopsided groups! Group A is a joke, and it will be very difficult for the USA to get out of Group B. Click to continue reading...

I'll have more to say later, but here are my initial thoughts: Three words. Cold. War. II. Mexico's worst fears came true today. They have to face their archrival away without three of their first-string players. As a matter of fact, the opening three matches could be hellish for Mexico (home to Costa Rica might offer a brief respite). Click to continue reading...

This is the match schedule for the 2009 CONCACAF Hexagonal -- the Final Round of qualifying for the 2010 World Cup. The schedule will be determined by a draw in Johannesburg at 0400 (Arizona time) on 22 November.Round 1 (11 February 2009)Costa Rica v HondurasEl Salvador v Trinidad & TobagoUSA v MexicoRound 2 (28 March 2009)Mexico v Costa RicaTrinidad & Tobago v HondurasEl Salvador v USARound 3 (1 April 2009)Costa Rica v El SalvadorUSA v Trinidad & TobagoHonduras v MexicoRound 4 (6 June 2009)Trinidad & Tobago v Costa RicaEl Salvador v MexicoUSA v HondurasRound 5 (10 June 2009)Costa Rica v. Click to continue reading...

** Updated and bumped **"Now Mexico have something to talk about all week." So said David Suazo after Honduras' 1-0 victory over Mexico. The Honduran press is exultant over the return of the catrachos to the Hexagonal for the first time since 2001. Reinaldo Rueda is exultant as well, and considers the win a "great gift to the Honduran people. Click to continue reading...