Thursday, December 2nd 2010 – Fort de France, Martinique: As the Digicel Caribbean Cup finals 2010 continue in Martinique, the final four teams – Cuba; Grenada; Guadeloupe and Jamaica – are through to tomorrow's semi-finals and as a result automatically qualify to the CONCACAF Gold Cup 2011. Coincidentally this year's final is a mirror situation to The Digicel Cup final four from 2008 – however, on that occasion the match ups were slightly different. Here, www.digicelfootball.com takes a closer look at the four teams and their route to the championship finals.
As current champions, Jamaica are one of the tournament favourites and are through to the final four following a 100% record in their Group I games against Antigua & Barbuda (3-1), Guadeloupe (2-0) and Guyana (4-0). With four Reggae Boyz players up for the 'Digicel Player of the Tournament' award, and Luton Shelton and Marvin Morgan joint top at the leader board for the 'Digicel Golden Boot' prize, the Jamaicans are so far looking very strong for a place in the Digicel Cup final and even retaining their championship title.
Former semi-finalists at the 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup, Guadeloupe, got off to a shaky start in Group I with a 1-1 draw against a weak Guyana side, followed by a 2-0 loss to Jamaica. However, the Gwada Boys came back to beat Antigua & Barbuda 1-0 and secure their place in the final four. Captain, Stephane Auvray, said; "Obviously in terms of our ambitions, we want to make the final four, that's what we aspire to. Then we will be looking to win the DCC 2010 and become Caribbean Champions." While they have fulfilled the first of their ambitions, they now face an unbeaten Cuba in tomorrow's semi-final. In their favour, they have strong local support from the people of Martinique and the many Guadeloupeans living here – and they are hungry for the Digicel title.
Their second-place finish in the 2008 Caribbean Cup gave Grenada their first qualification to a major international competition – that being the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup. For the second consecutive time, Grenada are again through to the 2011 Gold Cup having secured their position among the final four. However, they have the daunting task of beating tournament favourites, Jamaica, tomorrow to be in with a chance of a position in Sunday's final.
Cuba are the pretenders to the crown and have been in fine form both in their qualifying Group G where they were unbeaten, surpassed only by their impressive form when they reached the Digicel Finals tournament. With the team competing in the final four in the past three Digicel Cup Finals tournaments, they are no strangers to the pressures of this game but hope to go one better than their last two endeavours and reach the penultimate stage on the journey to being crowned Digicel champions.
Although all four teams have qualified to the CONCACAF Gold Cup in 2011, the distribution of the highest prize money for football in the CONCACAF region at US$270,000 is yet to be determined. With the first place team receiving a staggering US$120,000, second place US$70,000, third place US$50,000 and fourth an impressive US$30,000 – the final four will all be fighting for the number one position.
All matches from the Digicel Caribbean Cup Finals 2010 will be aired live throughout the Caribbean along with coverage on FOX Television in North America. Live streaming – as well as radio commentary – is available on www.digicelfootball.com.
For more information – as well as ways to win with Digicel – log onto www.digicelfootball.com, and get the very latest news, images and results as they happen. The site provides all the up-to-date information on every single match and event relating to the Digicel Caribbean Cup, including live match reports, team information and a comprehensive image bank from every match played. In addition, video highlights from stage one and two of the competition are available online showing some of the best action from the top teams throughout the tournament.
The finals fixtures are as follows:
| Group | Date | Time | Venue | Team A | vs. | Team B |
FINAL STAGE
| SF 1 | 3/12/2010 | 17:30 | Pierre Aliker, Dillon | Cuba | Guadeloupe | |
| SF 2 | 3/12/2010 | 20:30 | Pierre Aliker, Dillon | Jamaica | Grenada | |
| 3rd Place | 5/12/2010 | 16:00 | Pierre Aliker, Dillon | Loser SF 2 | Loser SF 1 | |
| FINAL | 5/12/2010 | 19:00 | Pierre Aliker, Dillon | Winner S0F 1 | Winner SR 2 |
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