2008 CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying
North American football tournament
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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.[1]
| CONCACAF MEN'S OLYMPIC QUALIFYING BEIJING 2008 | |
|---|---|
| |
| Tournament details | |
| Host country | United States |
| Dates | 11–23 March |
| Teams | 8 (from 1 confederation) |
| Venues | 3 (in 3 host cities) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  Honduras (2nd title) |
| Runners-up |  United States |
| Third place |  Canada |
| Fourth place |  Guatemala |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 16 |
| Goals scored | 36 (2.25 per match) |
| Top scorer | Freddy Adu |
← 2004 2012 →
All statistics correct as of 27 April 2009. | |
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.[2]
Qualification
Qualified teams
The following teams qualified for the final tournament.
| Zone | Country | Method of qualification | Appearance1 | Last appearance | Previous best performance | Previous Olympic appearances (last) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North America |  Mexico (title holders) |
Automatic | 9th | 2004 | Winners (1964, 1972, 1976, 1996, 2004) | 9 (2004) |
| Canada |
Automatic | 6th | 2004 | Runners-up (1984, 1996) | 3 (1984) | |
| United States (hosts) |
Automatic | 8th | 2004 | Winners (1988, 1992) | 13 (2000) | |
| Central America | Honduras |
Triangular 1 winners | 4th | 2004 | Winners (2000) | 1 (2000) |
| Guatemala |
Triangular 2 winners | 6th | 2000 | Final round winner without outright champions (1968) | 3 (1988) | |
 Panama |
Play-off winners | 4th | 2004 | Fourth place (1964) | 0 | |
| Caribbean |  Cuba |
Second round winners | 3rd | 1984 | Third place (1976, 1984) | 2 (1980) |
 Haiti |
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, Tennessee |
|---|---|---|
| Raymond James Stadium | The Home Depot Center | LP Field |
| Capacity: 65,856 | Capacity: 27,000 | Capacity: 69,143 |
 |
 |
 |
Squads
Group stage
Group A
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States (H) |
3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | +2 | 7 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Honduras |
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | +2 | 6 | |
| 3 | Panama |
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 3 | +1 | 3 | |
| 4 | Cuba |
3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 7 | −5 | 1 |
| United States | 1–1 | Cuba |
|---|---|---|
Adu  13' |
(Report) | Linares 42' |
| United States | 1–0 | Panama |
|---|---|---|
| Adu 41' (pen.) |
(Report) |
| United States | 1–0 | Honduras |
|---|---|---|
| Gaven 90+5' (pen.) |
(Report) |
Group B
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Guatemala |
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 6 | −3 | 6 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Canada |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 3 | +4 | 4 | |
| 3 | Mexico |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 4 | +3 | 4 | |
| 4 | Haiti |
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 7 | −4 | 3 |
| Canada | 1–2 | Haiti |
|---|---|---|
| Rosenlund 17' |
(Report) | Gustave 72' Saint-Preux 84' |
Knockout stage
Bracket
| Semi-finals | Final | |||||
| 20 March – Nashville, TN | ||||||
| Guatemala | 0 (5) | |||||
| 23 March – Nashville, TN | ||||||
| Honduras (p) | 0 (6) | |||||
| Honduras (a.e.t.) | 1 | |||||
| 20 March – Nashville, TN | ||||||
| United States | 0 | |||||
| United States | 3 | |||||
| Canada | 0 | |||||
| Third place play-off | ||||||
| 23 March – Nashville, TN | ||||||
| Guatemala | 0 (3) | |||||
| Canada (p) | 0 (5) | |||||
Semi-finals
The semi-final winners qualified for the 2008 Summer Olympics.
| United States | 3–0 | Canada |
|---|---|---|
| Adu 27', 47' Kljestan 78' |
Report |
Third place play-off
Final
| Honduras | 1–0 (a.e.t.) | United States |
|---|---|---|
| Welcome 102' |
Report |
Statistics
Goalscorers
- 4 goals [3]
- 3 goals
- 2 goals
Awards
The following awards were given at the conclusion of the tournament.
| Goalkeeper | Defenders | Midfielders | Forwards |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
Final ranking
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Final result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
Honduras |
5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | +3 | 10 | Winners |
 |
United States (H) |
5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 2 | +4 | 10 | Runner-ups |
 |
Canada |
5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 6 | +1 | 5 | Third place |
| 4 | Guatemala |
5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 | −3 | 8 | Fourth place |
| 5 | Mexico |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 4 | +3 | 4 | Eliminated in group stage |
| 6 | Panama |
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 3 | |
| 7 | Haiti |
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 7 | −4 | 3 | |
| 8 | Cuba |
3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 7 | −5 | 1 |
Qualified teams for 2008 Summer Olympics
The following two teams from CONCACAF qualified for the 2008 Summer Olympics Men's football tournament.
- 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.[5]