The Caribbean Football Club Champions Cup is just around the corner, kicking off March 9 with the First Round. Among the clubs involved in the tournament are USL Pro newcomer River Plate FC of Puerto Rico and their rival Puerto Rico Islanders of the NASL. The tournament concludes March 29, determining the three clubs that will advance to the CONCACAF Champions League
The Islanders, veterans of the CCL and defending CFU champions, enter the event in the Second Round as the lone team seeded with a bye. They will face the winner of the series between St Lucia's Northern United All-Stars and Suriname's Walking Boyz Co.
River Plate's opening series pits the club against Bodden Town from the Cayman Islands. A year ago, the Puerto Rican side performed well in the tournament, but had the misfortune of being drawn into a difficult group in the Second Round which featured San Juan Jabloteh of Trinidad & Tobago. After sweeping group play with a 12-2 aggregate score in three games versus Racing of Haiti and a pair of Antigua & Barbuda clubs, River Plate drew 1-1 with Alpha United (Guyana) and were edged, 1-0, by Jabloteh, who went on to qualify for the Champions League a second consecutive time.
River Plate could once again see Alpha United in round two, which this year will be a two-leg series. Alpha United is playing Bassa Sports Club from Antigua and Barbuda in the First Round.
The Puerto Rican club will open at home and finish its series in the Cayman Islands.
In the three years the event has determined clubs for the CCL, sides from Puerto Rico and Trinidad & Tobago have dominated the tournament. The Islanders have qualified all three times. From Trinidad, Joe Public has qualified twice along with San Juan Jabloteh, neither of whom advanced to the upcoming CFU tournament. In their place are newcomers Caledonia AIA and Defence Force. W Connection also represented T&T previously.
The only exception to the two federations representing the CFU was with Harbour View in the inaugural CCL, however, no Jamaican clubs have participated in the CFU tournament since.
The three fourth-place runners-up over the past three editions of the tournament have been Jabloteh, Tempete (Haiti) and Bayamon FC (Puerto Rico), who missed out on tiebreakers a year ago.
CFU Club Champions Cup
First Round :: First Leg :: March 9-11 (H vs A)
Defence Force (Trinidad) vs. Western Stars (Bermuda)
Newtown United (St Kitts & Nevis) vs. Caledonia AIA (Trinidad)
River Plate FC (Puerto Rico) vs. Bodden Town (Cayman Islands)
Bathestate FC (Dominica) vs. Tempete FC (Haiti)
Northern United All Stars (St Lucia) vs. Walking Boyz Co. (Suriname)
Milerock FC (Guyana) vs. Intermoengotapoe SV (Suriname)
Alpha United FC (Guyana) vs. Bassa Sports Club (Antigua & Barbuda)
First Round :: Second Leg :: March 18-20
Western Stars (BER) vs. Defence Force (TRI)
Caledonia AIA (TRI) vs. Newtown United (SKN)
Bodden Town (CAY) vs. River Plate FC (PUR)
Tempete FC (HAI) vs. Bathestate FC (DMA)
Walking Boyz Co. (SUR) vs. Northern United All Stars (SLU)
Intermoengotapoe SV (SUR) vs. Milerock FC (GUY)
Bassa Sports Club (ATG) vs. Alpha United FC (GUY)
Second Round :: First Leg :: April 12-14
Puerto Rico Islanders (PUR) vs. Northern United-Walking Boyz winner
Milerock-Intermoengotapoe winner vs. Defence Force-Western Stars winner
Newtown United-Caledonia winner vs. Bathestate-Tempete winner
Alpha United-Bassa winner vs. River Plate-Bodden Town
Second Round :: Second Leg :: April 22-24
Northern United-Walking Boyz winner vs. Puerto Rico Islanders (PUR)
Defence Force-Western Stars winner vs. Milerock-Intermoengotapoe winner
Bathestate-Tempete winner vs. Newtown United-Caledonia winner
River Plate-Bodden Town vs. Alpha United-Bassa winner
FINAL ROUND (in Trinidad)
Semifinal - Wednesday, May 25
Third Place - Sunday, May 29
CHAMPIONSHIP - Sunday, May 29
* Schedule/matches/format subject to change - There is a history of clubs withdrawing due to financial or visa difficulties
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