The 1991 UNCAF Nations Cup was the inaugural
UNCAF Nations Cup, the Central American championship for
men's national association football
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is t ...
teams. It was organized by the ''Unión Centroamericana de Fútbol'' or
UNCAF, and it took place in Costa Rica from 26 May to 2 June 1991. All matches were played in the Costa Rican capital,
San José
San José or San Jose (Spanish for Saint Joseph) most often refers to:
*San Jose, California, United States
*San José, Costa Rica, the nation's capital
San José or San Jose may also refer to:
Places Argentina
* San José, Buenos Aires
** San ...
at the
Estadio Nacional. The top two teams, apart from Costa Rica, go on to participate in the
1991 CONCACAF Gold Cup
The 1991 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the first edition of the Gold Cup, the soccer championship of North America, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF), and the eleventh overall CONCACAF tournament. The last time the CONCACAF Championship was ...
. Costa Rica were given a bye due to their performance at the
1990
File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...
FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the ' (FIFA), the ...
.
Three teams qualified to enter the tournament alongside hosts Costa Rica, chosen to hold the tournament by UNCAF that same year. The teams played in a
round-robin format, with the winner being the squad who obtained the best overall results. The first UNCAF Nations Cup match took place between
El Salvador
El Salvador (; , meaning " The Saviour"), officially the Republic of El Salvador ( es, República de El Salvador), is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south by ...
and
Guatemala. Since the match ended in a 0-0 draw, the following one between Costa Rica and
Honduras produced the first goal in UNCAF Nations Cup history. It was scored by
Róger Gómez
Róger Gómez Tenorio (born February 7, 1965) is a retired Costa Rican football player.
Club career
Born in Palmar Sur, Gómez played for Municipal Osa, Cartaginés and Herediano and scored 119 league goals during his career, 38 of them for He ...
of Costa Rica. The mascot of the competition was a boy named "Minchito '91".
Hosts and pre-tournament favourites Costa Rica earned 6 points from three wins after defeating Guatemala 1–0 in front of a crowd of 16,500 people, and became the first nation to win the
UNCAF Nations Cup.
Host selection
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During the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (
CONCACAF
The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football,, ; french: Confédération de football d'Amérique du Nord, d'Amérique centrale et des Caraïbes, . Dutch uses the English name. abbreviated as CONCACAF ( ; types ...
) Congress in
Guatemala City
Guatemala City ( es, Ciudad de Guatemala), known locally as Guatemala or Guate, is the capital and largest city of Guatemala, and the most populous urban area in Central America. The city is located in the south-central part of the country, ne ...
,
Guatemala on 26 January 1991, the qualification rounds for the inaugural
CONCACAF Gold Cup
The CONCACAF Gold Cup ( es, Copa de Oro de la CONCACAF, french: Coupe D'or CONCACAF) is the main association football competition of the men's national football teams governed by CONCACAF, determining the continental champion of North Amer ...
was decided upon.
Since Costa Rica were given a bye into the competition due to its first place standing at the
1989 CONCACAF Championship
The 1989 CONCACAF Championship was the tenth and final edition of the CONCACAF Championship held under the format of serving as qualification to the 1990 FIFA World Cup and having no host nation for the final round. The tournament would be succe ...
, which also served as a qualification phase for the
FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the ' (FIFA), the ...
hosted by
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
in
1990
File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...
, they weren't required to participate in the preliminary stages.
[ However, the final qualification round of the Central American zone had two bids: the United States and Costa Rica.] Costa Rica won the bid and was named by CONCACAF and UNCAF as the host nation of the inaugural UNCAF Nations Cup tournament on 19 February 1991.
Qualification
The draw for the 1991 UNCAF Nations Cup qualifying competition for Central America took place in Guatemala City on 26 January 1991.[ Six teams entered to compete for the three remaining places in the competition, alongside eventual host Costa Rica. The teams were divided into three groups of two. As the host nation of the event, Costa Rica qualified automatically.][ The qualifying process began in April 1991 and concluded in May 1991.][ At the conclusion of the qualifying group stage, the three group winners qualified for the tournament.][
]
Qualified teams
The following four teams qualified for the finals:[
]
Match Officials
A list of 13 referees from eight football federations for the tournament were chosenn to participate in the tournament.
;Referees
;Antigua and Barbuda
Antigua and Barbuda (, ) is a sovereign country in the West Indies. It lies at the juncture of the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean in the Leeward Islands part of the Lesser Antilles, at 17°N latitude. The country consists of two ...
* Arlington Success
; Costa Rica
* Rodrigo Badilla
Rodrigo Sequeira Badilla (born June 22, 1957) is a retired football (soccer) referee from Costa Rica, best known for supervising three matches during the 1994 FIFA World Cup held in the United States: The Group D Nigeria-Bulgaria match, the Group ...
* Berny Ulloa
* ''Carlos Arrieta''
* ''Ronald Gutiérrez''
* ''Guillermo Hernández''
* ''José Luis Vargas''
;El Salvador
El Salvador (; , meaning " The Saviour"), officially the Republic of El Salvador ( es, República de El Salvador), is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south by ...
* José Gómez
; Guatemala
* Jorge Meléndez
; Honduras
* José Luis Fuentes
;Mexico
Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...
* Carlos Javier Castellanos
;Panama
Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...
* Alberto Thomas
;United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...
* Vicente Mauro
Venues
Stadium
The Estadio Nacional, Costa Rica's national stadium
Many countries have a national sport stadium, which typically serves as the primary or exclusive home for one or more of a country's national representative sports teams. The term is most often used in reference to an association football stadiu ...
and home of the Costa Rica national football team
The Costa Rica national football team ( es, Selección de fútbol de Costa Rica) represents Costa Rica in men's international football. The national team is administered by the Costa Rican Football Federation (FEDEFUTBOL), the governing body ...
, was announced as the sole venue of the tournament.[
]
Accommodations
Hotels and base camps were used by the four national squads to stay and train
before and during the UNCAF Nations Cup tournament. All teams opted to stay
in hotels in San José
San José or San Jose (Spanish for Saint Joseph) most often refers to:
*San Jose, California, United States
*San José, Costa Rica, the nation's capital
San José or San Jose may also refer to:
Places Argentina
* San José, Buenos Aires
** San ...
.
Training Grounds
Six venues were chosen as training grounds. Most teams opted to train
outside San José. Only Costa Rica trained in the national capital on privately
owned football pitches.
Mascot
''Minchito '91'', the mascot
A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as fic ...
for the 1991 competition, was the first UNCAF Nations Cup mascot, and one of the first mascots to be associated with a major sporting competition in Central America. Inspired in "the traditions, beliefs, legends and customs of Costa Rica", Minchito was born as an authentic peasant. The boy, who is seven-years-old, was created by the Hispanic Publicity Company. The name is a diminutive of the name 'Benjamín' in Costa Rica. Minchito is dressed with a white shirt, a red scarf and belt with black shorts, the most common set of clothes of a Costa Rican peasant.
Squads
Each team's squad consisted of 18 players (two of whom must be goalkeepers). Teams also had two additional reserve players they could use as replacements in the event of serious injury, at any time. During a match, all remaining squad members not named in the starting team are available to be one of the three permitted substitutions (provided the player is not serving a suspension).
Tournament Overview
Format
''All times are Central Time Zone
The North American Central Time Zone (CT) is a time zone in parts of Canada, the United States, Mexico, Central America, some Caribbean Islands, and part of the Eastern Pacific Ocean.
Central Standard Time (CST) is six hours behind Coordina ...
( UTC-6)''
In the following tables:
*Pld = total games played
*W = total games won
*D = total games drawn (tied)
*L = total games lost
*GF = total goals scored (goals for)
*GA = total goals conceded (goals against)
*GD = goal difference (GF−GA)
*Pts = total points accumulated
The four teams played in round-robin format to determine the winner. This format would guarantee each team at least three games. Each team were awarded 2 points for a win and 1 point for a draw.
If two or more teams were equal on points on completion of the group matches, the following tie-breaking criteria were applied:[
]
Results
----
----
Statistics
Goalscorers
Claudio Jara received the Golden Boot for scoring five goals. In total, 14 goals were scored by 8 different players.
;5 goals
* Claudio Jara
;2 goals
* Róger Gómez
Róger Gómez Tenorio (born February 7, 1965) is a retired Costa Rican football player.
Club career
Born in Palmar Sur, Gómez played for Municipal Osa, Cartaginés and Herediano and scored 119 league goals during his career, 38 of them for He ...
* Norman Gómez
Norman or Normans may refer to:
Ethnic and cultural identity
* The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries
** People or things connected with the Norm ...
;1 goal
* Raúl Díaz Arce
Raúl Díaz Arce (born February 1, 1970 in San Miguel, El Salvador) is a Salvadoran former professional footballer who played as a forward.
He is El Salvador's most prolific goal scorer, with 39 goals in just 68 appearances.
Playing career
...
* Guillermo Rivera
José Guillermo Rivera Escobar (born November 25, 1969) is a retired Salvadoran professional football player.
Club career
Nicknamed ''Memo'', Rivera came through the youth ranks at FAS, where he would stay for over a decade and win two leag ...
* Juan Carlos Espinoza
* Gilberto Machado
Gilberto Leonel Machado García (born 23 March 1962) is a retired Honduran footballer who played as a midfielder for Marathón, Olimpia, and Deportes Progreseño in Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional de Honduras.
He is the current manag ...
* Leonidas Flores
All-Star Team
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the eas ...
an sports magazine ''Triunfo'' evaluated player performances through statistical data finished with the following players leading each position.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nations Cup
1991 in Central American football
1991
File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the ...
1991
File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the ...
1991 in Costa Rican sport