Pacific FC avoided a weather-beaten Latin American venue for its opening match of the 2022 CONCACAF League tournament, but the streets are no less hectic in fellow-Commonwealth Jamaica, where the Tridents will meet Waterhouse FC tonight in Kingston.
The Island-based pro soccer club qualified for play in the Scotiabank CONCACAF League this year by winning the Canadian Premier League championship last year and opens against Waterhouse with the second leg Aug. 2 at Starlight Stadium in Langford.
PFC will be facing a Waterhouse team itching to make right after winning the Red Stripe Jamaican National Premier League regular-season title only to underperform recently in the playoffs. Waterhouse FC finished first in the regular season at 15-3-4 in wins-losses-draws and received a quarter-final bye before being upset by sixth-seed and eventual upstart-champion Harbour View 2-1 on aggregate in a two-legged playoff semifinal series. Waterhouse then lost 4-1 to regular-season fifth-seed Cavalier in the playoff bronze-medal game.
The current Waterhouse roster boasts a combined 48 caps for the Reggae Boyz, as the Jamaican national team is known. Former English League 1 Preston North End midfielder Keammar Daley has 27 caps and two goals for the Boyz, forward Tremaine Stewart 11 caps and two goals, defender Ricardo Thomas five caps, goalkeeper Akeem Chambers and midfielder and former Whitecaps Residency prospect Keithy Simpson two caps each and forward Colorado Murray made his Reggae Boyz debut in 2020 against Bermuda.
Pacific FC, meanwhile, is tied atop the CPL at 8-4-5 and comes into Kingston on the boil with three consecutive league wins.
“This is very important for our club and organization and we are excited to be here,” said PFC head coach James Merriman, in a Zoom news conference from Kingston.
“This is our first time [in a CONCACAF tournament] we are here to embrace the challenge. This is what helps us grow as an organization and club.”
Tridents captain, also from Kingston, labelled it a “special and major moment for the club and is something that is earned.”
Dixon experienced CONCACAF away games during 2018 World Cup qualifying with Canada in Honduras and El Salvador: “The most important thing is how we play as a group,” he added Monday.
When the draw was announced last month, Dixon said: “It’s a completely different atmosphere down there — from the noise of the purposeful partying outside your hotel until 4 a.m., and so playing with very little sleep, to having things thrown at you during the game, including bags filled with urine. You have to stick together tightly as a unit in that environment.”
Pacific FC avoided a matchup against a Central American team. That will come in the later rounds if PFC gets past Waterhouse FC in the first round.
“It’s not going to be nice on the away leg. Teams play differently down there,” noted PFC striker and former Liga MX player Alejandro Diaz, about CONCACAF in general, when the draw was announced last month.
“It’s not the same football,” added the CPL leading scorer, who played for his native Mexico in the FIFA U-17 and U-20 World Cups.
“Teams play to kill time and it’s going to be rough games. And you never know the condition of the pitch. We have to be super intelligent in that environment and stick to our game plan. This is a big opportunity for our club and we have to take it.”
The PFC-Waterhouse winner will advance to the CONCACAF Sweet Sixteen Aug. 16-18 for the first legs and Aug. 23-25 for the second legs. The quarter-finals are Sept. 6-8 for the first legs and Sept. 13-15 for the second legs. The semifinals are Oct. 4-6 and Oct. 11-13. The finals are Oct. 25-27 and Nov. 1-3.
Six teams — the semifinalists and top-two quarter-finalists — will advance to the 22-team 2023 CONCACAF Champions League featuring the big-league clubs of the region.
The format, however, will change after that with three regional tournaments qualifying clubs for a confederation-wide expanded 27-club CONCACAF Champions League beginning in 2024 that will crown the region’s best club team.
The 2020 CPL champion, Forge FC of Hamilton, reached the CONCACAF League semifinals last year and advanced to play in the CONCACAF Champions League this year.
“Forge has done amazing to show the CPL level is growing and can compete with anybody,” said Diaz.
Now it’s PFC’s turn to step into the CONCACAF circle.
After tonight’s CONCACAF fixture in Kingston, PFC flies into Winnipeg for a CPL game Saturday against Valour FC.
cdheensaw@timescolonist.com
