Belize's under 20 team begins its quest to qualify for the 2011 FIFA World Cup today with a match against El Salvador in La Ceiba, Honduras. The three-team UNCAF qualification group concludes on December 5th when Belize meet their Honduran hosts. The group winners automatically qualify for the CONCACAF Championship to be held in Guatemala from 3rd to 17th of April, whilst the second placed team face a play-off with Costa Rica to decide the final qualifying berth - hosts Guatemala and Panama having already booked their places. From the 12-team CONCACAF tournament, four nations will qualify for the World Cup Finals taking place in Colombia, July 29th to August 20th.
Belize Squad for UNCAF tournament: Goalkeepers: Darrell Novelo and Tevin Gamboa. Defenders: Asrel Sutherland, Darnell Suazo, Edwin Plama, Kadeem Courtney, Kyle Flowers and Nelson Linares. Midfielders: Andres Makin, Adgar Adderley, David Ramos, Kishane Pech, Luis Torres and Samuel Figueroa. Forwards: Abraham Chavez, Gabriel Perez, Rollin Burgess and Michael Salazar.
Sadly, the Belize under 17 team withdrew from November's UNCAF qualifiers for next year's FIFA World Cup in Mexico.
In the latest round of matches in the Caribbean Motors Cup, Belize Defence Force strengthened their position at the summit of the league with a comfortable 3-0 home victory over Toledo Ambassadors. Meanwhile, nearest rivals FC Belize had to rely on a late goal to overcome San Felipe Barcelona, 3-2. The league's other game finished in a 1-1 draw between Griga United and Hankook Verdes.
Belize international goalkeeper Shane Orio and his Marathon teammates suffered play-off heartbreak at the end of the Honduran Premier League opening (Apertura) season. They were beaten 2-4 on aggregate in the play-off semi-finals by Real Espana, despite having finished a place higher (2nd) than their rivals during the regular season. In contrast, Orio's fellow Belizeans in Honduras endured disappointing club seasons. Harrison Rochez and Elroy Kuylen at Platense finished one place and one victory outside of the play-offs in fifth, whilst Deon McCauley and Elroy Smith had a disastrous campaign with Deportes Savio, the club ending up third from bottom of the table. However, Smith enjoyed a stellar season in front of goal, scoring an incredible eight times from his defensive position.
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