There have been many cases in world football where the exploits of a national team have had a positive effect on the domestic game of a particular country. In Puerto Rico the exact opposite has occurred in the past five years. The Puerto Rico Islanders have been the driving force behind the sudden interest football has garnered on the island.
Founded in 2003, though an earlier Islanders’ franchise under the same team existed in the mid 1990′s, the Puerto Rico Islanders have helped revolutionise the football landscape in Puerto Rico. A place where baseball and basketball have always reigned supreme, football in Puerto Rico was finally given life with the introduction of the Bayamon-based club.
The Islanders have competed in the United Soccer Leagues (USL) First Division since 2004. The team have enjoyed superb fan support in their short history as they have been embraced by the entire island thanks to the team’s success and the public’s thirst for football.
The islanders have improved every season and under the guidance of current manager Colin Clarke have enjoyed their greatest successes by advancing to the semi-finals of the USL play-offs last season. The club will also have the opportunity later this year to qualify for the revamped CONCACAF Champions’ League. Supporters packed the club’s Estadio Juan Ramon Loubriel (capacity 12,500) during last season’s play-off run and Clarke credits the club with the overall improvement of football on the island, “If the islanders hadn’t come around, then football here would still be struggling along.”
Over the years some top-notch foreign players have turned out for the club, including Argentine Gustavo Barros Schelotto, Chilean Sebastian Rozental, and Salvadoran Raul Diaz Arce. Diego Maradona’s brother, Hugo, also coached the side during the early days.
It has been the Puerto Rican players themselves though that have been the biggest story. The likes of Marco Velez, Petter Villegas, and Andres Cabrera, all current Puerto Rican internationals, have played for the team. The club has given Puerto Rican football an identity and has helped form the nucleus of the national team and that perhaps will be the lasting legacy of the Islanders as football in Puerto Rico continues to improve.

Years of inactivity in international play saw the Puerto Rico national team take a free fall in the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking. The Boricuas have now emerged from the depths with a former FIFA World Cup™ player at the helm, and in the process have become one of CONCACAF’s most improved sides.
Considered a semi-autonomous territory of USA, Puerto Rico has been a FIFA member since 1960. While there are obvious connections to the USA, such as the love of baseball and basketball, Puerto Rico does not share America’s football success. Results have been mixed at best over the years and there have been few shining moments in Puerto Rico’s football history.
In the early part of the millennium, football in Puerto Rico had virtually no identity. With the national team not playing any FIFA-sanctioned matches for a number of years, support for football had plummeted to an all-time low. In addition to that, Puerto Rican fans also had to endure the sight of their side being ranked amongst the five lowest in the FIFA/ Coca-Cola World Ranking.
The nadir seemingly came in November 2004 when Puerto Rico was ranked 202nd, ahead of only The Turks and Caicos Islands, American Samoa and Guam. The Federacion Puerto rriquena de Futbol (FPF) even decided to forgo qualification for the 2006 FIFA World Cup™ in order to get its house in order and refocus efforts on developing a competitive team.
That decision has seemingly paid off as 2008 has proved to be a year of renewal for the Puerto Rico national team. It all began in mid-January as the team played Bermuda twice in the span of three days. The first friendly ended in a 2-0 win for Puerto Rico. The victory was a godsend for Puerto Rico supporters who had waited 14 long years since the national team’s last success in an official match. A second victory over Bermuda (1-0) followed just days later. Puerto Rican football was back on the map thanks to the two victories in Hamilton.
THE PERFECT BOOST
The real shock, however, came in February when the team managed a 2-2 draw against Trinidad and Tobago, finalists at the 2006 FIFA World Cup™. That result showed the entire CONCACAF region that Puerto Rico were becoming a side to be reckoned with.
The draw against the Soca Warriors was the perfect boost for Puerto Rico ahead of their clash with nearby rivals Dominican Republic in the first round of CONCACAF qualifiers for the 2010 FIFA World Cup™. The Dominicans did not have a stadium that met FIFA standards, so the series became a one-match play-off in late March at the Estadio Juan Ramon Loubriel in Bayamon.
The atmosphere was electric and the 8,000 supporters in attendance were made to wait but eventually celebrated a 1-0 extra-time win thanks to a 96th minute penalty by Petter Villegas. It was only the second ever win for Puerto Rico in their FIFA World Cup™ qualifying history, the first incidentally also coming against the Dominican Republic back in 1992.
The victory set up an exciting second-round home-and-away series with highly-rated Honduras in June. Win or lose, Puerto Rico have already surpassed expectations. As FIFA magazine went to press, the team had made an astonishing jump to 149lh in the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking, rising nearly 50 places since the start of the year.
So, what are the reasons for this seemingly sudden success? Credit must be given to the FPF, which has sorted out its affairs and has proved to be a stable organisation ready to support the growth of football on the island. Grassroots interest in football has also grown considerably in recent years thanks to the formation of the Puerto Rico Islanders (see separate article). The Bayamon-based club plays in the United Soccer Leagues (USL), which is essentially the second-tier league of the USA.
COLIN CLARKE’S INFLUENCE
The greatest credit, however, for the recent rise of Puerto Rican football may go to current manager Colin Clarke. A former Northern Ireland international, Clarke enjoyed a distinguished playing career that saw him score 13 times in 38 matches for his country while also having the distinction of scoring in a World Cup final competition (Northern Ireland’s lone strike against Spain in the 1986 tournament). His club career was equally impressive as he played for the likes of Southampton, Queen’s Park Rangers, and Portsmouth scoring 146 goals in 361 matches.
Clarke cut his managerial teeth in the USA, first in the USL with the likes of the Richmond Kickers and San Diego Flash and then with the Dallas Burn of Major League Soccer (MLS). Clarke enjoyed two highly successful seasons with Dallas, helping the team break a series of club records including victories in a single season.
In May 2007, the Islanders came calling and Clarke was excited by the challenge. An ambitious coach with a superb track record, Clarke was impressed with what he saw when he first arrived in Puerto Rico. “The team was in good shape and had come along very quickly in the first four years. What was needed was some structure and organisation – those were the main ingredients missing,” said the 45-year-old coach.
Under Clarke’s guidance, the islanders gained those attributes and soon became one of the league’s top sides. The FPF was impressed by Clarke leading his team to the USL semi-finals and earmarked the coach as the man to lead the national team.
Clarke was charged with taking the Boricuas out of the international football doldrums. It seemed a perfect match as the accomplished coach would be working with an association possessing a clear vision and offering him full support. Clarke’s dual role as club and national team manager helped him amass a squad that was a mix of Puerto Rico islanders and players based in the USA.
Clarke was able to recruit several players with Puerto Rican connections to the squad including the likes of Chris Megaloudis, Taylor Graham, Terry Boss, Richard Martinez, and Eloy Matos. These players were in the squad for the qualifying victory over the Dominican Republic and all ply their trade in the USA, either in the MLS, USL or collegiate ranks.
VELEZ IS THE STAR
According to Clarke, native-born talent is the key to the side. The current star of Puerto Rican football is Marco Velez. The 27-year-old, recently selected as captain by Clarke, was sold by the Islanders to Toronto FC earlier this year. The Boricuas are a very young side and some, such as 19-year-old Andres Cabrero, a skilful winger, are potential stars.
Clarke has focussed on fostering young talent and said, “There are lots of young players coming in who are 19, 20, and 21 and are the future of our team. We have to make sure there is a future by creating a foundation for the national team to build on.”
Certainly these are promising times for football in Puerto Rico. Future plans such as the construction of a National Football Training Center in Bayamon is a testament to the hard work being done to improve the sport at all levels. Speaking about the training centre, FPF President Joe Serralta explained his hopes, “It is a project that is already standard in all countries where they practise football. This will provide housing and training facilities for all national teams, as well as directing all programmes in youdi categories. We have already spoken with many personalities and the omens are very positive.”
For so long a mere afterthought in the region, Puerto Rico is quickly gaining respect as an up-and-coming football power in CONCACAF. With strong leadership from the FPF, a groundswell of support from football fans on the island, and with the positive direction being laid out by the national team manager, the sky is the limit for football in “The Island of Enchantment”.
So could participation in FIFA World Cup™ finals become a reality some day? Clarke thinks so, “Yes, I think we all live with that dream. That’s why we play the game, isn’t it?” That kind of rhetoric would have been non-existent a year ago and is a clear indication of the positive winds of change sweeping through Puerto Rican football.

The 2008 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup is due to be held in the French city of Marseilles from 17 to 27 July. Among the 16 qualifiers for the finals are El Salvador, a team entirely made up of enthusiastic amateurs and fishermen.
The wedding was an unforgettable occasion, with guests including dozens of local people from each and every one of the humble districts of San Sebastian island, the bay of Jiquilisco and neighbouring areas. People from Rancho Viejo, Costa del Sol, Chirilagua, California all made their way to La Pirraya in a symbolic show of loyalty.
They then made the 20-minute crossing on boats that tirelessly shuttled between the jetty at Puerto Parada and the island. The groom, Agustin Ruiz, was better known to most people than the bride, Idalia Marvin, but some did not know them at all. All they knew was that it was the wedding day of the man who scored the goals for the El Salvador beach soccer team, one of the heroes of Puerto Vallarta and one of the fishermen who helped take El Salvador to the World Cup. And that was good enough for them.
La Pirraya has produced more successful footballers per square kilometre than anywhere else in El Salvador. Five of the 12 members of the country’s beach soccer team were born on the island. This is no ordinary statistic, but tlien ordinary is not a word you would use to describe anything that has happened in this small patch of earth in the last four years.
It all began in 2004 when Israel Cruz, a representative of the Salvadorean football association (FESFUT) got to know the island as part of a national football development programme. Aware of the beach soccer’s potential on die islands of La Pirraya, Rancho Viejo and San Sebastian, the frequency of Cruz’s visits to the region increased to up to three times a week. I think how tiring those journeys — more than 100 a year – must have been as the boat taking me to La Pirraya negotiates a mangrove swamp. “You even see blood on the pitches around here. You play out of love for the game but nobody likes losing. We say ‘Don’t get angry’ because people who get angry lose and we don’t let them play,” says international defender Medardo Lobos to illustrate the intensity of matches in die area and the typical mentality of the players.
FISHING FOR A LIVING
With Cruz’s assistance, a tournament was soon set up for each island as well as a “best of die best” event for the champions of each district. “After seeing how the people lived, we opted for a more social project that included primary schools, beach soccer, small-sided football and women’s football. Then we created a beach soccer team for the department of Usulutan,” explained Cruz in an interview in 2006.
When FESFUT asked him to put together a national beach soccer team to take to an invitational tournament in Costa Rica, Cruz did not hesitate to call up the best players from the myriad of recreational tournaments he had organised, even though the association recommended that he rely on first- and second-division players.
After subjecting them to an exhaustive series of tests and ascertaining that the rigours of tlieir daily lives as fisherman had worked wonders for the physical fitness — the players were all above average in terms of musculature and only two players’ bodies contained more than ten per cent fat. Cruz then declared his team ready, although in die end the trip fell through due to lack of funds. The coach carried on as before, working for the Usulutan amateur football association.
His chance came just over a year later, in June 2007, when the as yet untried beach soccer team was entered for the CONCACAF qualifying tournament for the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup following a request from FIFA. Cruz was put in charge and he immediately thought of his island proteges. His inexperience counted against him as El Salvador were unsuccessful in their matches against the USA (9-5), Mexico (6-4) and Costa Rica (4-3), but a strong feeling remained that the team had a future.
“Our inexperience worked against us, that’s clear; but considering that we had never played an international qualifier before, the difference witli respect to teams who had being playing for years was not that great; we clearly improved with each match,” recalled Cruz.
His efforts earned him an invitation from the Costa Rica football association to the inauguration of a beach soccer pitch for tlieir national league the following September. This proved to be a gratifying experience, as El Salvador won their first ever beach soccer match and were joined by striker Agustin Ruiz, who had taken part in die preparations for the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup preliminary competition but not the tournament itself.
Seven mondis later, Ruiz had become one of the team’s most veteran players and had also joined the no less heroic ranks of Salvadoreans who are married. Four days before the wedding, we were privy to the rehearsals as well as to the couple’s emotions and the aspirations in the run-up to the big event. They are young people just like any others, humble and full of optimism; they have known each other all their lives and come from the local area. During tlieir courtship, Idalia would watch Agustin play at La Canchita, a sandy square on which two sets of goalposts promise either glory or ignominy.
After leaving La Canchita, die couple spoke a lot about the future, in which for the next few months football would not enter into their plans. This was because the national team would not be in action from November to January and as a responsible adult, Ruiz could not think of any other way to earn a living than on board a fishing boat.
NO BIG DEAL
Other players with similar ideas included Cipriano Hernando, the 17-year-old forward who caused a sensation at the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup qualifiers. For personal reasons he decided to leave Espiritu Santo island and travel to the USA as an illegal immigrant.
Consequently, the team’s initial surprise at being called up for training and the novelty of taking part in another FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup preliminary competition, this time in Puerto Vallarta against the same opponents, turned to concern.
First of all, there was a new coach, Rudy Gonzalez; secondly, there were five places to be filled in the side following Hernandez’s departure. However, the project was set to work wonders once again. This was largely due to Gonzalez’s optimism and positive talking. Indeed, one month before setting off for Puerto Vallarta, he was bold enough to say that “the objective is to secure a ticket to the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup. After what they achieved at the last World Cup, the group is more solid and we are pleased with the performance levels; we are not novices.”
The coach’s defiant tone soon infected the players. For example, the goalkeeper and only player hailing from the Salvadorean capital, Luis Rodas, a veteran of the previous qualifying campaign, dismissed the threat posed by the Costa Ricans. “Mexico’s star players are their goalkeeper and a couple of others players, but they’re no big deal,” said the 24-year-old, who is a member of the parish of Don Rua.
Even the team’s new recruits shared in the group’s self-confidence. “Everyone looks down on us because we don’t have any experience, but don’t rule us out, we will be fighting to the death,” said “Ronaldinho”, a.k.a. Elias Ramirez, a barnstorming forward who joined the national team purely by chance rhrough a man he met when he was playing in a local side.
“He said he wanted me to join a second-division team and he took me to San Salvador for a time. One day some people from FESFUT came along to watch some players and they asked me if I wanted to go for a trial for the beach soccer team.” That was in March.
Ramirez took part in the ambitious training schedule that had begun in February, consisting of three training sessions per week, held alternately in La Pirraya, El Espino island and Costa del Sol.
A SENSATION
The news spread like wildfire. On the night of 19 April it reached La Pirraya, leaving hundreds of its inhabitants incredulous and glowing with pride: five of their boys – Medardo Lobo, Wilber Hernandez, Tomas Antonio Hernandez, Agustin Ruiz and Roberto Membreno -had played a major part in their country’s qualification for the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Marseille 2008, beating Costa Rica 24 hours after a historic victory over former FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup runners-up the USA.
“It was an unbelievable feeling; we were all thrilled, many of us couldn’t even speak to the journalists because they were crying,” admitted the coach as he described the feelings unleashed by one of the greatest moments in Salvadorean footballing history. “There was even more commotion than when Firpo won the league,” said vendor Jose Cortez on recalling the depth of feeling that swept through the area, a happy sense of anticipation that will intensify from 17 July when the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup kicks ofFin the south of France.
One knock-on effect of this effervescent feeling is that Atletico Balboa, who won the second-division Apertum 2007 championship, have already offered work to Luis Rodas, Elias Ramirez and Agustin Ruiz – not bad for three sons of La Pirraya, California and Espiritu Santo who only used to play football as a pastime when the sea was too rough to go out in.