18386: (Hermantin)Miami-Herald-S. Florida to host Cup qualifiers (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>


Posted on Sun, Feb. 08, 2004

SOCCER NOTEBOOK
S. Florida to host Cup qualifiers
BY SANTOS A. PEREZ
sperez@herald.com

South Florida, home to countless international friendlies and a familiar
fixture in the biennial Gold Cup, will be the site for two World Cup
qualifying matches within three days.

Haiti, no stranger to local games, will play Turks and Caicos Islands on
Feb. 18 at the Orange Bowl. Political unrest in the homeland has prompted
Haiti to switch the game to Miami for its host site of this home-and-home
set.

And Haiti won't have to travel far for its road set of this early phase of
CONCACAF qualifying for the 2006 World Cup in Germany. Turks and Caicos also
will use a South Florida venue -- Ted Hendricks Stadium in Hialeah --for its
Feb. 21 home match.

''Friendlies and regional tournaments are exciting, but a WorldCup qualifier
is something special,'' Haiti head coach Fernando Clavijo said. ``We are
excited about playing in a city where a community will come out and support
us.''

Clavijo, who took over Haiti's squad six months ago, understands his players
would have enjoyed playing the game in Haiti but also accepts the cautious
alternative in South Florida. ''The game might be here, but that doesn't
mean our players will not be worried about the situation back home,''
Clavijo said.

Meanwhile, Turks and Caicos Islands did not have a stadium ready to play
such an important game.

Enter longtime South Florida soccer executive Tom Mulroy. Mulroy, whose Se
Habla Futbol company has run the popular Copa Latina soccer tournament for
12 years, will market Turks and Caicos Islands' home match in the series.

''Because Turks and Caicos has a large Haitian population, they felt this
game was a natural for Miami,'' Mulroy said. ``This is their first game; it
will be memorable, and it will be in Miami.''

The Haiti-Turks and Caicos Islands game at Ted Hendricks will be sandwiched
between the Copa Latina semifinals on Feb. 20 and the tournament final Feb.
22.

South Florida previously played host to a World Cup qualifier in January
2001 when Costa Rica and Guatemala needed to play a third match to break a
tie. A neutral site was required, and it resulted in the Orange Bowl playing
host to a Costa Rica victory.

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