The draw for the preliminary stage of the CONCACAF Champions League is on Wednesday and it will mark the beginning of the 2011-2012 tournament. Not all the teams for the tournament have been decided, with some teams to be determined in the final weeks of their league seasons, the Caribbean Club Championship or in the case of the Mexican teams, whether a team goes straight to the group stage or has to play in the preliminary stage will be decided when the Liguilla final is played.
A Look At The Pot B Teams For The CONCACAF Champions League Prelim Stage
The 16 teams in the preliminary stage are split into two pots, with teams from Pot A being drawn against teams from Pot B. FC Dallas is one of the teams in Pot A and Daniel Robertson from SBN's FC Dallas website Big D Soccer took a look at which teams from Pot B the Hoops could play in the preliminary stage as the club makes its first appearance in a CONCACAF tournament since 1998.
Municipal (Guatemala)- The runners up of the last Guatemalan apertura and clausura championships, Municipal finished third in Group C of last year's edition in a tough group with Monterrey, Saprissa and Seattle Sounders. This would probably be the toughest draw Dallas could get.
San Francisco (Panama)- 2010 Panamanian Apertura winners. Last year they got knocked out in the preliminary round by Marathon of Honduras. Probably right in the middle of teams Dallas would want to get.
Alianza (El Salvador)- 2011 Clausura Champion of El Salvador, Alianza just won their first championship since 2004. Alianza has Cristian Castillo a player you might remember from DC United. This would be another tough draw for Dallas...El Salvadorian teams always seem to play tough.
Real Esteli or Walter Ferretti (Nicaragua)- These two play this week in a home and home series to decide who moves on. This would likely be a very easy draw as last year Real Esteli was kicked out of the tournament for failing CONCACAF stadium requirements.
Defence Force (Belize)- Much like Nicaragua, they were kicked out last year for failing to meet stadium requirements. I would love this draw just to see ads pimping FC Dallas vs Defense Force.
Puerto Rican Islanders/Alpha United (Guyana)/Defence Force (Trinidad)/Tempete (Haiti) (Caribbean 1,2,3)- Three of these four teams will qualify for the preliminary stage of the Champions League. We will know who they are on May 25 and 27. Yes, there is another Defence Force, that's not a typo and yes FC Dallas could potentially go to Guyana, a country on the continent of South America. I would really hate to play Puerto Rican Islanders though.
In last year's CONCACAF Champions League, both Cruz Azul and Santos Laguna began the tournament in the preliminary stage and made it to the knockout stages, with Cruz Azul making it all the way to the semifinals. The year before, finalists Cruz Azul and eventual champion Pachuca both came through the preliminary stage so the road to the confederation championship could very well start in the preliminary stage this year.
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