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The Opposition

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 11, 2008

In order to advance to this summer's Olympics, the U.S. under-23 men's soccer team must first qualify by advancing through its group and into the final of the qualifying tournament. Here is a look at the other teams the U.S. must get past in the group stage.

Cuba

Colors: Red and white

Population: 11.26 million

Capital: Havana

Official language: Spanish

Previous Olympic appearances: 1976, 1980.

Coach: Raul Gonzalez

Player to watch: Roberto Linares - The forward scored seven goals in Cuba's opening round of qualifying, and bagged another three in two games as the Cubans advanced past Grenada and Trinidad and Tobago in the second group stage and into the final qualification stage for the first time since 1984.

How it advanced: Cuba went 3-0 in its opening round of pool play, scoring 20 goals while conceding none against Puerto Rico, Bermuda and the Cayman Islands in Group C to put it into the second preliminary round. There, Cuba defeated Trinidad and Tobago 3-0 and Grenada 2-1 to win Group G and advance to the final Olympic qualifying round.

Honduras

Colors: Blue and white

Population: 6.67 million

Capital: Tegucigalpa

Official language: Spanish

Previous Olympic appearance: 2000

Coach: Alexis Mendoza

Player to watch: Ramon Nunez - While a native of Honduras, midfielder Nunez spent a large part of his upbringing in Texas, and was drafted by FC Dallas in the 2004 MLS SuperDraft. Nunez started last season with Dallas before being traded to Chivas USA. Since then he was moved onto Olimpia in the Honduran National League, and in September was called onto the full national squad for the first time, and has made five appearances.

How it advanced: Honduras advanced from Triangular 1 in Central American qualifying on goal difference after finishing tied with Panama. The Hondurans' 3-0 win against El Salvador in their other pool game proved enough to send them through to the final qualifying round.

Panama

Colors: Red, white and blue

Population: 2.96 million

Capital: Panama City

Official language: Spanish

Previous Olympic appearances: None.

Coach: Alexandre Guimares

Player to watch: Gabriel Torres - Torres may be one of the most talented players to ever come out of Panama. Only 19, he currently plays for Equidad in the Columbian first division, but has twice been brought in for trial spells with Manchester United, and also once with Spanish club Valencia.

How it advanced: Panama finished tied with Honduras in Triangular 1 in Central American qualifying, but lost out on goal difference after only beating El Salvador 2-1. After finishing second, Panama played off with Costa Rica for the last berth in the final qualifying round. After the two teams played to a 1-1 tie in a home-and-home series, Panama advanced by winning a shootout 4-3. Torres, Erick Vasquez, Alberto Quintero and Armando Cooper all scored for Panama, with goalkeeper Gilmar Torres' save against Costa Rica's Celso Borges proving the difference.

THE OPPOSITION

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