CONCACAF Champions League kicks off

On August 26th the long awaited CONCACAF Champions League kicked off for the first time. There have been rumors of a CONCACAF competition modeled on the famed UEFA Champions League for some time now, but now the rumors are finally a reality.

The competition features 24 clubs: 4 Mexican, 4 American, 2 Costa Rican, 2 Salvadorian, 2 Guatemalan, 2 Panamanian, 2 Honduran, 1 Belizean, 1 Canadian, 1 Nicaraguan, and 3 from the Caribbean Football Union (the CFU).

New Boys

While many of the household names are in the tournement, it's interesting to note a few lesser known teams who have found their way in. Among them are the Montreal Impact, a Canadian club playing in the United Soccer Leagues First Division, or the second tier of American soccer. The Impact qualified through the newly formed Canadian Championship, a three team cup featuring Canada's three professional clubs. The other two clubs taking part in the Canadian Championship were Toronto FC and the Vancouver Whitecaps. The Championship may be expanded in future years to include more teams. It should be noted that Toronto FC cannot qualify for the CCL via MLS as the four American spots are allocated to the US Soccer Federation and not Major League Soccer.

Montreal are not the only USL team in the competition, they're joined by the Puerto Rico Islanders who took a long and winding road to reach the qualifying round. The Islanders qualified as one of three CFU representives, but didn't find out until very late. In the old CONCACAF Champions Cup the CFU could only qualify it's Champion to be represented in the tournement, therefore Puerto Rico thought they had come up short by only reaching the semi-final. However a third place playoff was played to determine the final spot, which Puerto Rico claimed. Puerto Rico qualifies for the CFU Champions Cup through it's reserve team, Seville FC Bayamon (formerly Islanders B), who play in Puerto Rico's newly formed Puerto Rican Soccer League.

Guatemalan club Deportivo Jalapa are also on their maiden voyage to international waters. The club from Southern Guatemala won the Liga Nacional for the first time in 2007.

This is also a first international trip for Chivas USA. The 2007 MLS regular season runners-up will try to win the cup in the absence of their Mexican counterpart. A point of interest is a potential matchup with Santos Laguna and former Chivas Guadalajara icon goalkeeper Oswaldo Sanchez.

Old Kings seek the new throne

The first CONCACAF Champions League promises to be an intersting affair. Cruz Azul are the most successful club in North American competition, but have not claimed an international honor since 1997, can la Maquina Celeste reclaim their crown, will Saprissa shake off their recent lowlites, or will a new king come from elsewhere?