Central American Soccer - 50 Years of History!

">a Pan American silver medal (behind only Argentina).
Teams and Players!Seoul 1988
Mexico City 1954Did you know- By September 1988, the men's soccer
Did you know- The Salvadoran squad took the goldsquad of Guatemala was the sixth Central American
medal in the Central American and Caribbean Gamesteam in a row to compete in the Summer Olympic
in Mexico City. It was during the Caribbean Games inGames (Seoul, South Korea).
1954, when El Salvador achieved the sensation ofU.S.A 1998
beating the host country in the gold-medal game.Did you know- During the 1998 Gold Cup, Guatemala
Mexico 1968tied with Brazil -world champions- 0-0.
Did you know- In spite of the skepticism ofColombia 2001
sportswriters, Guatemala (one of the least-developedDid you know- During the 2001 America Cup in
nations in the Western Hemisphere) beatManizales (Colombia), the men's soccer team of
Czechoslovakia (which was runner-up in the 1964Honduras made history when they, under coach
Olympic Games in Japan) 1-0 at the 19th Olympiad inRamón Maradiaga's tutelage, defeated Brazil 2-0.
the United Mexican States. On that occasion, theThe Central American players were Noel Valladares,
Guatemalan team won the sixth place, ahead of SpainSamuel Caballero, Nimrod Medina, David Cárcamo,
and Brazil, in the Men's Olympic Games SoccerRicky Garcia, Limbert Pérez, Robel Bernández, Julio
Tournament in October 1968.León, Amado Guevara, Danilo Turcios, and Saúl
Montreal 1976Martinez. Two years ago, Honduras was runner-up at
Did you know- By July 1976, the men's soccer team ofthe Pan American Games in Canada. In the gold-medal
Guatemala qualified as one of the 13 teams in thegame, Honduras lost 3-1 to Mexico.
Olympic Football Tournament in Montreal, Canada.Greece 2004
Previously, they had participated -as the regionalDid you know- After several years of hard work and
representative- at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games.preparation, the men's football squad of Costa Rica
Puerto Rico 1979was one of eight semi-finalists in the Games of the
Did you know- By 1979, the Costa Rican squad cameXXVIII Olympiad in Athens (Greece), along with
in fourth place in men's football in the Pan AmericanArgentina (gold), Paraguay (silver), Italy (bronze), Iraq,
Games in San Juan de Puerto Rico. In the next year,Mali, Korea, and Australia. In the Athens 2004 Olympic
the national team competed in the Games of the XXIIFootball Tournament 16 men's teams competed.
Olympiad in the Soviet Union. Four years ago, they alsoWithout a doubt, CR has won international renown as
finished fourth in the Continental Games, behind Mexicoone of the best teams in Latin America.
(host nation), Brazil, and Argentina. In 1951, CR had won