El Salvador national football team season 2011

El Salvador national football team season 2011
Season 2011
Manager Uruguay Rubén Israel
Home stadium Estadio Cuscatlán
2011 Copa Centroamericana Fourth
2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup Quarterfinals
Wins 12
Losses 4 (2 Pso.)
Goals scored 43
Top goalscorer Rodolfo Zelaya
(7 goals)
Players 50
Goalscorers 17
Debutants 7
Biggest home win 4 – 0 0v0 Cayman Islands
11 October 2011
4 – 0 0v0 Suriname
15 November 2011
Biggest away win 4 – 1 0v0 Cayman Islands
6 September 2011
Highest scoring 6 – 1 0v0 Cuba
12 June 2011
5 – 2 Belize
16 January 2011
Highest attendance 80,108 0v0 Mexico
5 June 2011
Lowest attendance 500 0v0 Suriname
11 November 2011
Home colours
Away colours
← 2010
2012 →

The 2011 season is the 90th season in El Salvador's history, their 73rd in FIFA and 49th in CONCACAF. The team was managed by José Luis Rugamas from January 2010. Rubén Israel took over as manager in April 2011.

Most of January 2011 was spent playing in the 2011 Copa Centroamericana. El Salvador reached the semi-finals but lost, so had to take part in the third-place finals. They finished in fourth place but were able to qualify for the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup. Forward Rafael Burgos received the Golden Boot with three goals. The national team has won three games and lost one game and two more have been scheduled to play in 2011.

El Salvador took part in the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup in June and they will start their 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign in September, starting out in the Second Round.

Season overview

January

On 2 January, the issue of an official manager was under examination by Federación Salvadoreña de Fútbol (FESFUT) and had been discussed by them. Fernando Palomo stated in his ESPN blog that discussions had possibly taken place with a potential Spanish manager and FESFUT.[1] The following day La Prensa Grafica, a mainstream metropolitan newspaper in El Salvador, released the names of 3 possible Spanish managers to elsalvadorfc.com. As stated on elsalvadorfc.com, Juan Manuel Lillo, Benito Floro and Xabier Azkargorta were the names which FESFUT would consider as national coach.[2] On 4 January Ramón Sánchez, captain of the Salvador national team, was dismissed from training by the decision of coach José Luis Rugamas[3] who named Marvin González as the new captain.[4] Midfielder Arturo Alvarez, from Real Salt Lake, joined the players training group as one of the 21 players that have the opportunity to play in the 2011 Copa Centroamericana. Positive comments were made about his physical and tactical performance amongst the coaching staff.[5]

According to Carlos Méndez Cabezas, FESFUT president and Comisión Ejecutiva de Selecciones Nacionales (CESEN) coordinator, Lillo would arrive in El Salvador on 10 January to view a better perspective of El Salvador's football. He would be accompanied by Iñigo Dominguez, his assistant, who contributed to Real Sociedad, UD Almería, and UD Almería's women's team.[6] His visit was to meet FESFUT and negotiate his probable appointment as El Salvador national football team coach. Lillo declared, "The most important thing right now is that all of El Salvador is of support to his national team and his coach, José Luis Rugamas, to reach the goal is to qualify for the next Gold Cup. It is the most important thing right now." Lillo would be in Panama the following week to see the performance of the national team in the 2011 Copa Centroamericana. Carlos Méndez Cabezas had also declared that they were in negotiation with Lillo to coach La Selecta ("the selected") for the next World Cup qualifying campaign.[7]

Central defence player Alexander Mendoza, from C.D. Universidad de El Salvador, lost the chance to represent his country in the 2011 Copa Centroamericana when he suffered a knee injury and could not recover in time.[8] On 7 January Coach Rugamas announced the names of the 21 players for the official roster of El Salvador's national team to participate in the 2011 Copa Centroamericana, played in Panama from 14 to 23 January.[9] From January 14 – 23 El Salvador participated in the 2011 Copa Centroamericana, the eleventh edition of the competition formerly known as UNCAF Nations Cup, a tournament for the CONCACAF-affiliated national teams of Central America.[10] El Salvador qualified for the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup earning 2 wins, 1 draw (p.s.o.) and 2 losses from 5 matches, finishing in 4th place. Rafael Burgos was the top goalscorer of the tournament, with 3 goals, drawing with Marco Ureña of Costa Rica.

February

On 9 February, El Salvador were scheduled to play a FIFA international friendly against Haiti. The match team was coached by Rugamas after FESFUT had awarded him a 6-month renewal of his interim contract. The match was won by El Salvador with a goal in the 15th minute by Rafael Burgos, the season's top goalscorer.[11]

FESFUT presented an economic budget to Lillo of US$300,000 per year (5 person deal). After days of speculation the Spanish coach turned down the offer of coaching La Azul y Blanco. The main reason of his rejection was that he could not commit to something without the right tools and infrastructure to do so, "within all this, there is dis-proportionality between what they intend and what you can give. You can not build a pool with a beach shovel."[12]

As announced on 18 February El Salvador would continue its preparation for the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup with a friendly match against Syria on the 25th of March. There was still no definite coach, with interim coach José Luis Rugamas taking care of the friendly matches while he still had a valid contract with FESFUT.[13]

March

On 3 March the tense situations in North African and Arab countries forced Syria to cancel the match with El Salvador. The Salvadoran football federation turned to the First Division and the preliminary list of 23 players with who Rugamas, the interim coach, attempted to play the friendly games for 25 and 29 March – the second and third year's FIFA date. From the original 23 players only 18 could participate in the matches. The representative Promotora Figueroa ("Figueroa Promoter") has indicated that they are making arrangements to play against El Salvador, Iraq or Jordan on the agreed date.[14] On 7 March C.D. Águila players did not present themselves for training. The five members of Águila: Osael Romero, Marvin González, Ramón Sánchez, Miguel Montes & Shawn Martin, did not receive permission from the board of directors of the team. Rugamas expected to work two microcycles, but the absence of players attached to the First Division left 16 and would affect training plans.[15]

On 9 March it was announced that the international friendlies scheduled for March in Dubai were canceled; reasons for the cancellation could be due to tense situations in North African and Arab countries. Although new friendlies for March were confirmed: on March 24 in La Habana, against Cuba; and on March 27 in San Salvador, against Jamaica. These games would be fundamental in order to reach the CONCACAF top eight places.[16] El Salvador rose six positions and was 92 in the FIFA rankings. It was in ninth place in CONCACAF, ahead of teams such as Grenada, Trinidad and Tobago and Haiti. El Salvador needed to be among the top 8 in the region to be seeded in the play-offs for the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification.[17] On 17 March Purdy was selected to play for El Salvador in the two friendlies against Jamaica and Cuba.[18] However El Salvador did not give the Portland Timbers the 15 days notice required by FIFA and the Timbers chose not to release him.[19]

On 21 March José Luis Rugamas released the list of 18 players to face Cuba. Henry Hernandez, Milton Molina, Edwin Sanchez, Gilberto Baires, Henry Escobar and Reynaldo Hernandez were discarded, but were eligible for the next preliminary squad against Jamaica.[20] The game was played on the 24 March. A long outside kick by substituted midfielder Dennis Alas gave La Selecta a victory over the Cuban side at the Estadio Pedro Marrero in Havana, Cuba. The game saw Brazilian-born Marcelo Messias' debut and the comeback of both Miguel Montes, after a 1-year suspension, and Ramon Sanchez. Luis Anaya, Ramón Sánchez and Dagoberto Portillo were injured by the constant contacts by the Cubans.[21]

The game against Jamaica was rescheduled from the 27 to the 29 due to flight problems in Miami.[22] El Salvador lost 2–3 against the Reggae Boyz (Jamaica) due to defensive errors. Deris Umanzor tried to raise up to the midfield but lost the ball and Dane Richards scored for Jamaica. Then a mistake by defender Messias meant Watson could pass to Richards scoring the second Jamaican goal. After the Jamaican 0–2 lead El Salvador began to produce problems for the caribbean side, mostly from Eliseo Quintanilla and Arturo Alvarez. In the 41st minute Jaime Alas scored to make El Salvadors first goal and the score at 1–2. El Salvador promised a good second half but Omar Cummings received a pass inside the El Salvador goal area and scored to make it 3–1 in Jamaica's favor. The clearest of El Salvador's opportunity was a penalty given against Osael Romero at 80 minutes which unfortunately crashed off the crossbar. In added time a shot from Edwin Sánchez was denied by Jamaican goalkeeper Kerr with Léster Blanco finishing off the goal, ending the match 3–2 at the final whistle.[23]

On the last day of March the Federación Hondureña de Fútbol and the Federación Salvadoreña de Fútbol came to an agreement to settle an international friendly between the two countries. This match, scheduled for 29 May 2011 at the Robertson Stadium, will commemorate the debut of Honduras' new coach Luis Fernando Suárez. Alfredo Hawit, secretary of the FENAFUTH (Honduran football federation), said "we have reached a satisfactory agreement between the two federations, now everything is up to the coach to begin to prepare this blank to serve as a prelude to our participation in the Gold Cup.[24]

April

On 6 April the new head coach, Rubén Israel, was presented in a press conference. "First of all thanks to the executive committee for welcoming me in this country and give me such a huge responsibility and so pretty, as is leading a national team", said the Uruguayan coach. The technical director explained that, "we have come here with our coaching staff to honor the work, beyond the mistakes and successes, the healthy intention is to work on Salvadoran football as a whole, working with major selections, but have a chronogram of action for youth teams, who are the future of the country."[25] Also La Selección Salvadoreña, El Salvador national team in Spanish, will play against Argentina on 14 September 2011, although only players from the local league would participate.[26] Israel left Uruguay for personal reasons on 14 April and returned on 25 April. The new physical coordinator of the national team would be Uruguayan Nicolás dos Santos, who has had experience in Real España (Honduras), the current 2010–11 Apertura champions.[27]

During a press conference on 28 April Rubén Israel announced the coaching staff that will coach the pre-Olympic U-23 and national team. The individuals that will form the coaching staff are assistant managers Mauricio Alfaro and José Luis Rugamas, physical trainers Esteban Coppia (Argentina) and Nicolás Dos Santos (Uruguay) and the goalkeeping coach Carlos Cañadas.[28]

May

On 2 May the coaching staff started training an 11-man preliminary squad that would eventually take part in the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup. Also, the head coach gave the players know their work system and objectives set out, "We will work to qualify for the 2014 World Cup. We know there are prior commitments such as the Gold Cup but we must never lose sight that our goal will be the playoffs", said Israel. They started off with a strong physical training. As intense that surprised even the players themselves. The idea was that they had spent several days without any activity thus would regain the rhythm as the members in the semifinals of the Clausura 2011, which will be added in coming weeks. One certanty was Israel's commands which were strong. And one fact was that he well knew the names of the players. He closed off by saying: "Good job, guys."[29]

The trainings for that week would be of double shift, Monday through Friday (2 May — 6 May), and will not be a resting day to players on Wednesday as it was handled at first.[30] The second day of work (3 May) showed great commitment and sacrifice in the part of the team. They endured with great confidence the new physical tasks of the physical coordinators.[31]

"All are good guys, friends, above all, in this subject I believe that the country has an excellent security in the goal kick."

—Gómez reflexes on the two other goalkeepers"[32]

After Isidro Metapán and Luis Ángel Firpo were eliminated from the semifinals of the Clausura 2011, Rubén Israel called-up some of these players to add up to the eleven players active in the training ground. From the new twelve players, Diego Chavarría and Ricardo Orellana did not participate in the semifinals of the Clausura 2011 but were chosen by the head coach for their performance in the El Salvador U–23.[33][34] Also after two years and one month of absence goalkeeper Juan José "el Halcón" Gómez is called to the national team after his participation in World Cup 2010 South Africa qualification. Gómez was effusive in noting that both Miguel Montes as Dagoberto Portillo are by far the best goalkeepers in the country and is eager to work with them.[32]

In a press conference on 10 May Israel expressed his consideration that it would be necessary to face strong rivals. He said that he has asked for strong rivals in preparation for the qualifying stages for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. He also noted that Dustin Corea, a stricker currently training in FESA, may incorporate for he received his Salvadoran passport.[32]

The members of El Salvador did not train on Friday, May 13, 2011, morning, because they did not have a financial arrangement with the FESFUT for the period in which they attended to the training camps. This would be the last day of the second week of the trainings. The players issued a statement for which was signed by the group and released by Marvin González, central defender and captain. The document proposed that they would assist the concentration but would not train until there were an agreement. The preliminary squad asked to cancel salaries that they earned on their club and to not receive a bonus. The FESFUT also sent a statement in which Rafael Villacorta, a member, proposed a meeting for 16 May. Villacorta mentioned that they have not talked about the economical part because the rest of the members have been out of the country and because the financial structure of the federation does not allow them to.[35]

Players

These players have been capped during the 2011 season (listed alphabetically):

Debutants

Retirees

Player statistics

Competitions

Overall

Competition Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Started Round Current
position / round		 Final
position / round		 First match Last match
International Friendlies 531186+2 10———9 February 20117 August 2011
2011 Central American Cup 521276+1 7Group StageThird place matchThird place match14 January 201123 January 2011
2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup 4121880 5Group StageQuarterfinalsQuarterfinals5 June 201119 June 2011
2014 FIFA World Cup qualification 6600205+15 18Second roundThird roundThird round2 September 201115 November 2011

Results summary

OverallHomeAway
PldWDLGFGAGDPtsWDLGFGAGDWDLGFGAGD
20 12 4 4 43 25  +18 40 7 0 1 24 7  +17 5 4 3 19 18  +1

2011 Central American Cup

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Panama 330060+69
 El Salvador 320174+36
 Nicaragua 301215−41
 Belize 301238−51

Friendly

2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Mexico 3300141+139
 Costa Rica 311175+24
 El Salvador 31117704
 Cuba 3003116−150

World Cup Qualifiers

Group A

Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 El Salvador 6 6 0 0 20 5 +1518
 Dominican Republic 6 2 2 2 12 8 +48
 Suriname 6 2 1 3 5 11 −67
 Cayman Islands 6 0 1 5 2 15 −131
  Cayman Islands Dominican Republic El Salvador Suriname
Cayman Islands  — 1–1 1–4 0–1
Dominican Republic  4–0 — 1–2 1–1
El Salvador  4–0 3–2 — 4–0
Suriname  1–0 1–3 1–3 —

Coaching staff

Position Staff
Head coach Uruguay Rubén Israel
First assistant manager El Salvador José Luis Rugamas
Second assistant manager El Salvador Mauricio Alfaro
First physical coordinator Uruguay Nicolás dos Santos
Second physical coordinator Argentina Esteban Coppia
Sports coordinator Argentina Carlos Fuscaldo
Goalkeeping coach El Salvador Carlos Felipe Cañadas

Last updated: 28 April 2011
Source: http://fesfut.org.sv/verfotos.php?id_album=31&nombre=Cuerpos_Técnicos FESFUT

Ranking

Date FIFA ranking position Total Points +/- Ranking +/- Points
December 694630 Steady0
November 6946312 Increase37
October 824266 Increase36
September88390−13 Decrease−41
August754313 Increase30
July78401−6 Decrease−33
June7243415 Increase43
May873910 Steady3
April873885 Increase15
March923736 Increase26
February9834718 Increase96
January1162511 Increase0

References

  1. ↑ "Se avecina un técnico español en El Salvador" (in Spanish). espndeportes.espn.go.com. Retrieved 2 January 2011.
  2. ↑ "Lillo, Floro y Azkargorta, los candidatos" (in Spanish). elsalvadorfc.com. Retrieved 3 January 2011.
  3. ↑ "Ramón Sánchez, fuera de la Selección" (in Spanish). elsalvadorfc.com. Retrieved 22 December 2010.
  4. ↑ "Marvin González, el nuevo 'capi' azul" (in Spanish). elsalvadorfc.com. Retrieved 4 January 2011.
  5. ↑ "Arturo Álvarez ya entrenó con la Azul" (in Spanish). elsalvadorfc.com. Retrieved 4 January 2011.
  6. ↑ "Juanma Lillo llegará a El Salvador el lunes por la noche" (in Spanish). losprovocadores.net. Retrieved 7 January 2011.
  7. ↑ "Lillo llegará el lunes 10" (in Spanish). El Gráfico. Retrieved 7 January 2011.
  8. ↑ "Mendoza, el primer descarte en la Azul" (in Spanish). elsalvadorfc.com. Retrieved 7 January 2011.
  9. ↑ "Copa Centroamericana squad released" (in Spanish). FESFUT.org.sv. Retrieved 7 January 2011.
  10. ↑ "Panama will be the host of the 2011 Central American Cup" (in Spanish). FedefutGuate. 1 February 2010. Retrieved 15 March 2010.
  11. ↑ "El Salvador wins Haiti" (in Spanish). elsalvadorfc.com. 9 February 2011. Retrieved 19 February 2011.
  12. ↑ "'For five people, $ 300 thousand is not serious'" (in Spanish). elsalvadorfc.com. 9 February 2011. Retrieved 19 February 2011.
  13. ↑ "FESFUT confirms friendly between El Salvador and Syria" (in Spanish). FESFUT. 18 February 2011. Retrieved 19 February 2011.
  14. ↑ "Iraq, not Syria, will be El Salvador's opponent" (in Spanish). Diario El Mundo. 3 March 2011. Retrieved 3 March 2011.
  15. ↑ "The bad habit of putting obstacles" (in Spanish). elsalvador.com. 7 March 2011. Retrieved 7 March 2011.
  16. ↑ "Rivals change for March friendlies" (in Spanish). FESFUT. Retrieved 2011-03-09.
  17. ↑ "March ranking released" (in Spanish). FESFUT. Retrieved 2011-03-09.
  18. ↑ "Two Timbers Get International Calls". Prost Amerika. Retrieved 2011-03-17.
  19. ↑ "Purdy will not play the two friendlies" (in Spanish). FESFUT. Retrieved 2011-03-19.
  20. ↑ "Rugamas made the cut" (in Spanish). elsalvadorfc.com. Retrieved 2011-03-21.
  21. ↑ "El Salvador conquered Havana" (in Spanish). elsalvadorfc.com. Retrieved 2011-03-24.
  22. ↑ "Reprogrammed for Tuesday" (in Spanish). elsalvadorfc.com. Retrieved 2011-03-26.
  23. ↑ "Defeat with defensive fragility" (in Spanish). elsalvadorfc.com. Retrieved 2011-03-29.
  24. ↑ "Honduras, next rival of the Blue and White" (in Spanish). elsalvadorfc.com. Retrieved 2011-03-31.
  25. ↑ "'We have come to honor the work,' Israel" (in Spanish). elsalvadorfc.com. Retrieved 2011-04-13.
  26. ↑ "Against Argentina in September" (in Spanish). elsalvadorfc.com. Retrieved 2011-04-06.
  27. ↑ "'I don't want to talk about prognostics'" (in Spanish). La Prensa Grafica. Retrieved 2011-04-26.
  28. ↑ "Second Press Conference with DT Israel" (in Spanish). fesfut.org.sv. Retrieved 2011-04-28.
  29. ↑ "Israel Day 1" (in Spanish). el salvador.com. Retrieved 2011-05-03.
  30. ↑ "National team makes its first training with the hand of Israel" (in Spanish). fesfut.org.sv. Retrieved 2011-05-02.
  31. ↑ "The goal, safe" (in Spanish). elgrafico.com. Retrieved 2011-05-03.
  32. 1 2 3 "The return of the "Halcon" to the national team" (in Spanish). elgrafico.com. Retrieved 2011-05-10.
  33. ↑ "Israel calls new players" (in Spanish). fesfut.org.sv. Retrieved 2011-05-09.
  34. ↑ "Two new additions to the blue" (in Spanish). fesfut.org.sv. Retrieved 2011-05-09.
  35. ↑ "Selection will train until there is agreement" (in Spanish). elgrafico.com. Retrieved 2011-05-13.
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