As we told you at the top of our newscast, Belize's National "A" Team qualified for the first time in its history of participating in the UNCAF's Copa Centroamericana.
The team remains in Costa Rica tonight - as it preps for Friday night's semi-final match against Honduras. But, while they keep their eyes on this prize, they're also looking to the horizon: the prestigious Gold Cup, which will be played in July in the US at some of the finest football stadiums in the U.S and against 11 other countries including Canada, Cuba, Haiti, Martinique, Mexico, Trinidad and Tobago and the United States.
Indeed, it is a time of excitement in football circles, and after less than one year as President of the FFB, Ruperto Vicente is on top of the world. He returned to Belize today after watching history being made yesterday. He explained that the international community, which was skeptical of Belize, is now stunned by the team's performance thus far:
Ruperto Vicente - President, FFB
"I am very excited about the performance from our national team in Costa Rica. Certainly, the other Central American countries were not expecting Belize to perform so well, and they did not believe us when we said to them that we're here to surprise them. So, certainly, our national team has perform well, and we're excited about it."
Daniel Ortiz
"What is the next step for the Belize team? Where do we go now?"
Ruperto Vicente
"Well, right now, we got to play on Friday to determine the first, second, third, and fourth place position in the Central American tournament. We're going to be playing against Honduras on Friday, and the winner of that game will play the winner of the game between Costa Rica and Panama. Then, the loser of our game will play the loser of that same. But, that already propelled us; our victory yesterday already propelled us into the Goal Cup Tournament, which is going to be played in the United States in July. So, that's the way forward for our national football team. Belizeans have been giving my administration, and my presidency of the Football Federation of Belize the support that we need. The emotional support has always been there, but what we need now is the financial support behind this emotion because we now have to maintain a national team. We cannot dismantle this national team; we have got to keep it together for July, and for World Cup 2018. In tournaments like this, for the first time, we're going to be sharing the winnings with our national team players. They deserve it; they worked hard for it. It is only fair that we give that national team the respect that they deserve."
Belize plays Honduras on Friday at 5:30 p.m.; if they win they will play in Sunday's final; if they lose, they will play in the 3rd place match. Either outcome would be considered a major international upset.
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