Football at the 1970 Central American and Caribbean Games

1970 Central American and Caribbean Games
Tournament details
Host countryPanama
CityPanama City
Dates1-13 March
Teams6 (from 1 confederation)
Venue(s)1 (in 1 host city)
Final positions
Champions Cuba (2nd title)
Runners-up Netherlands Antilles
Third place Colombia
Fourth place Venezuela
Tournament statistics
Matches played22
Goals scored86 (3.91 per match)
Top scorer(s)Cuba José Verdecia
(9 goals)
1966
1974

Football was contested for men only at the 1970 Central American and Caribbean Games in Panama City, Panama. All matches took place at the newly constructed Estadio Rommel Fernández.

The gold medal was won by Cuba for the third time, who earned 6 points in the final stage.[1]

Event Gold Silver Bronze
Men's football  Cuba (CUB)  Netherlands Antilles (AHO)  Colombia (COL)

Participants

Results

Group 1

A 2 point system used.

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1  Colombia 3 3 0 0 12 3 +9 6 Final stage
2  Cuba 3 2 0 1 9 5 +4 4
3  Panama 3 1 0 2 7 10 −3 2 Eliminated
4  Nicaragua 3 0 0 3 5 15 −10 0
Source: [1]
Panama 4–3 Nicaragua
G. Romero 13'
I. Torres 32'
Bounting 75', 78'
Report F. Romero 31'
Cuadra 65', 77'
Panama 3–4 Cuba
Espinoza 43', 90'
Nimbley 80'
Report Hernández 26'
Verdecia 38', 82', 87'

Group 2

A 2 point system used.

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1  Netherlands Antilles 4 4 0 0 17 2 +15 8 Final stage
2  Venezuela 4 3 0 1 12 6 +6 6
3  Dominican Republic 4 1 1 2 8 8 0 3 Eliminated
4  Puerto Rico 4 1 0 3 3 9 −6 2
5  Bahamas 4 0 1 3 3 18 −15 1
Source: [1]

Final stage

A 2 point system used.

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1  Cuba (C) 3 3 0 0 9 2 +7 6
2  Netherlands Antilles 3 1 0 2 3 4 −1 2
3  Colombia 3 1 0 2 2 4 −2 2
4  Venezuela 3 1 0 2 2 8 −6 2
Source: [1]
(C) Champions

Colombia won 3-0, but the result was later awarded to Venezuela 2-0[1]

Colombia won 1-0, but the result was later awarded to Cuba 2-0 when Cuba protested against Colombian players Pedro Zape and Armando Torres for being professionals; in fact, it was discovered that Zape indeed was, and therefore, on 12 March the "Tribunal de Honor de los XI Juegos Centroamericanos y del Caribe" decided to award the match to Cuba 2-0.[1]

Cuba 5–0 Venezuela
Masso 17', 20'
Verdecia 57', 80'
Fariñas 72'
Report
Netherlands Antilles 0–2
Awarded to Colombia 2-0
 Colombia
Report

Apparently, due to a misunderstanding (hour change), the Antilleans did not show up to play in the morning, but instead in the afternoon of March 13. Colombia was present in the morning, but not in the afternoon as the game was originally scheduled. Curiously, the same referee who gave the victory to Colombia in the morning also gave a win to the Netherlands Antilles in the afternoon. Finally the "Tribunal de Honor" made a Solomonic decision, Colombia was awarded a 2-0 result in its match against the Netherlands Antilles and with these results, Cuba obtained the Gold medal, the Netherlands Antilles the Silver medal on goal difference and Colombia the Bronze medal.[1] There are versions that affirm that Colombia was expelled from the tournament after the Cuban protest, but they fall into contradictions because in the medal table Colombia was awarded the bronze medal. Everything indicates that Colombia was not expelled, they only lost the games in which they used professional players against Cuba and Venezuela respectively with the score of 2-0, but won the game against the Netherlands Antilles by forfeit with the score of 2-0.[1]


 1970 Central American and Caribbean Games 

Cuba

2nd title

Statistics

Goalscorers

There were 86 goals scored in 22 matches, for an average of 3.91 goals per match.

9 goals

6 goals

4 goals

3 goals

2 goals

1 goal

1 own goal

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h "Central American and Caribbean Games 1970 (Panama)". RSSSF.com. 25 November 2021. Retrieved 2 June 2022.