CONCACAF President’s Message
1
Foreword by CONCACAF President Jack Warner As I sat in the stands of a packed, electric Soldier Field for the 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup Final™ I couldn’t help but feel a great sense of optimism for the future of football in our region. The quality of play and the spirit of competition - not just in the final won by a terrific strike from Benny Feilhaber – but at all 25 games makes me believe that my dream of seeing a CONCACAF nation contest a FIFA World Cup Final is closer than ever before. Sixteen of the 25 games were decided by only one goal. And over a quarter of the 64 total goals were scored in the last fifteen minutes of the game and many of these strikes were of the highest technical precision. Indeed 18 goals were scored from outside the area. For the USA it is a fourth Gold Cup title as they repeat their success of 2005. They now draw level with Mexico in the all time standings with Canada’s sole triumph coming in 2000. But the story of the 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup™ is surely Guadeloupe’s fairy tale ride to the last four. Appearing in their first ever Gold Cup, Roger Salnot’s men defeated Canada and Honduras before running into a Pavel Pardo inspired Mexico in the semifinal. Keeper Franck Grandel was Goalkeeper of the tournament and Jocelyn Angloma gave a string of ageless displays to inspire his side. A shade fewer than half a million fans attended the 25 games - held in 6 cities across 19 days - making the competition the most successful Gold Cup in US history. We had sell outs in three of our venues, Los Angeles, Houston and Chicago, and an average attendance of 37,613 (a number that is actually higher than the average for the Euro 2004 tournament.) Within the pages of this technical report you will find detailed profiles on the tactics and techniques employed by each of the 12 teams. For the teams that made it to the tournament they are a useful recap of what happened but for those members striving for qualification I hope that the information contained within this report can provide a barometer for future success. So with nine editions of the Gold Cup now in the books, planning has already begun for our tenth edition in 2009. Following the success of the 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup the bar is set very high but I am confident the nations of CONCACAF will rise to the occasion when the time comes. Regards,
Jack Warner President, CONCACAF