Puerto Rico national football team

Puerto Rico

Nickname(s)	El Huracán Azul (The Blue Hurricane)
Association	Puerto Rican Football Federation
Confederation	CONCACAF (North America)
Sub-confederation	CFU (Caribbean)
Head coach	Carlos Cantarero
Captain	Emmanuel D'Andrea
Most caps	Andrés Cabrero, Héctor Ramos (32)
Top scorer	Héctor Ramos (18)
Home stadium	Estadio Juan Ramón Loubriel
FIFA code	PUR
First colors Second colors
FIFA ranking
Current	145 6 (24 November 2016)
Highest	97 (March 1994)
Lowest	202 (November 2004)
Elo ranking
Current	181 1 (10 July 2016)
Highest	171 (21–25 May 1993)
Lowest	201 (3 February 2001, 21 July 2002)
First international
Cuba 1–1 Puerto Rico  (Havana, Cuba; November 12, 1940)
Biggest win
Puerto Rico 9–0 Saint-Martin  (Port-au-Prince, Haiti; September 9, 2012)
Biggest defeat
Netherlands Antilles 15–0 Puerto Rico  (Caracas, Venezuela; January 15, 1959)

The Puerto Rico national football team (Spanish: Selección de fútbol de Puerto Rico) is the national team of Puerto Rico and is controlled by the Federación Puertorriqueña de Fútbol (FPF). Puerto Rico's national football team is a member of the Caribbean Football Union, part of CONCACAF.

History

1940–1990

Puerto Rico's first international match was against Cuba in 1940 in which they drew 1–1. They did not record a win until a 3–0 result in 1970 against the Bahamas. In 1972 Puerto Rico recorded a 1–0 win against Panama in a friendly. Wins between the '80s and '90s were mainly against the Bahamas, the Dominican Republic, and Martinique.^[1]

Chris Armas Years (1993–1994)

Chris Armas played for Puerto Rico in the 1993 Caribbean Cup. In the tournament Puerto Rico established a 4-game win streak without conceding a goal.^[1] The competition was not then recognized by FIFA and so his five matches were considered friendlies. As a result, he was later allowed to switch his allegiance to the United States of America,^[2] for whom he has since been capped over fifty times.

1995–2007

Puerto Rico did not record a win, and had only 4 draws. During this time the team dropped down in the FIFA Rankings to 202nd.^[1]

Puerto Rico playing against Spain.

2008–2015

Over the past few years Puerto Rico has begun to emerge as a contender, like they were in the 1990s. In 2008, they drew with Trinidad and Tobago. They also won for the first time since 1994 when they beat the Dominican Republic in the first round of World Cup qualifiers. Although they lost the first leg 4–0 to Honduras, they fought a 2–2 tie in the home leg in the second round. The Puerto Rican Football Federation has announced plans that would allow them to participate in the next editions of the Caribbean Cup and Gold Cup.^[3]

Puerto Rico were supposed to make their debut in the 21st Central American and Caribbean Games in 2010 on home soil in Mayagüez, but due to the controversy of CONCACAF not approving the stadiums, the team couldn't compete in the football event. The team was supposed to play in Venezuela instead but due to the lack of teams, the male event was cancelled.^[4]

Puerto Rico faced World and European champion Spain in a friendly on August 15, 2012, losing 2–1 in the Juan Ramón Loubriel Stadium in Bayamón, Puerto Rico. On June 5, 2015, Puerto Rico played a friendly against Bermuda their last friendly before the World Cup qualifiers for the 2018 FIFA World Cup ending in a 1–1 draw. After losing to Grenada 2–1 in the 2018 World Cup Qualifiers round 2 Puerto Rico's Interim coach Jose 'Cukito' Martinez resigned and a few days later the Uruguayan Carlos Avedissian solved his visa problems and could finally arrive as the head coach of the national team. On December 11, 2015, Puerto Rico played a friendly against MLS team New York City FC losing 2–1.

2016–present

On May 22, 2016, Puerto Rico played a friendly match against the United States for the first time ever ending in a 3–1 loss. They advanced for the first time to the third round of the 2017 Caribbean Cup qualification when they defeated Grenada and Antigua and Barbuda in the second round, only two games away for reaching the CONCACAF Gold Cup for the first time. The team played three friendlies, two against Dominican Republic and one against India, prior to the third round matches against Antigua and Barbuda and Curacao. Puerto Rico lost the decisive match against Curacao after being 2-0 up front for which Curacao as head of group advanced to the Gold Cup.

Tournament results

Caribbean Cup

• 1989 to 1990 – Did not enter
• 1991 – Did not qualify
• 1992 – Did not enter
• 1993 – Group stage
• 1994 to 1995 – Did not qualify
• 1996 – Did not enter
• 1997 – Withdrew
• 1998 to 2005 – Did not qualify
• 2007 to 2008 – Did not enter
• 2010 to 2017 – Did not qualify

Gold Cup

• 1991 to 2017 – Did not enter or Did not qualify

Pan American Games

• 1979 – Round 2 (5th Place)

World Cup

• 1930 to 1970 – Did not enter
• 1974 – Did not qualify
• 1978 to 1982 – Did not enter
• 1986 to 2002 – Did not qualify
• 2006 – Did not enter
• 2010 to 2018 – Did not qualify

Coaching staff

Role	Name	Start date
Head coach	Carlos Cantarero	July 29, 2016
Assistant coach	David Guillemat	August 19, 2016
Goalkeeper coach	Omar Dimas
Fitness coach

Players

Current squad

The following players were called up for 2017 Caribbean Cup qualification against Antigua and Barbuda and Curaçao in October 2016^[5]

Caps and goals updated as of October 11, 2016 after the match against Curaçao.

0#0	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
	GK	Cody Laurendi	August 15, 1988	0	0	Oklahoma City Energy
	GK	Matthew Sánchez	August 4, 1994	14	0	Loyola Greyhounds
	GK	Marcos Rivera		0	0	Bayamón
	DF	Jason Hernandez	August 26, 1983	3	0	New York City
	DF	David Cabán	March 30, 1993	4	0	Ånge
	DF	Elliot Vélez	April 24, 1988	8	0	Criollos de Caguas
	DF	Juan Vélez	December 5, 1989	10	0	Criollos de Caguas
	DF	Marcos Martínez	March 27, 1992	11	0	Club Atlético Fajardo
	DF	Jacob Conde	October 13, 1992	3	0	Unattached
	DF	Emmanuel D'Andrea	January 20, 1995	16	1	Manlleu
	MF	Joseph Marrero	April 9, 1993	27	6	Puerto Rico
	MF	Jorge Rivera	March 24, 1996	7	1	Puerto Rico
	MF	Jeremy Hall	September 11, 1988	6	0	Tampa Bay Rowdies
	MF	Manolo Sanchez	November 10, 1991	6	1	San Antonio
	MF	Andrés Cabrero	January 4, 1989	32	4	Kultsu
	MF	Juan Coca	May 31, 1993	15	2	Kultsu
	FW	Héctor Ramos	May 4, 1990	32	18	Puerto Rico
	FW	Mike Ramos	January 29, 1991	5	1	Kitsap Pumas
	FW	Luis Betancur	March 30, 1995	2	1	FIU Golden Panthers
	FW	Olvin Ortiz	November 28, 1990	7	2	Yabuco

Recent call-ups

The following players have been called up within the last 12 months.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
GK	José Arroyo	April 4, 1996	0	0	Nittany Lions	v.  Antigua and Barbuda; June 4, 2016
GK	Johnny Santana	April 23, 1989	2	0	Criollos de Caguas	v.  India; September 3, 2016
GK	Christopher Echevarría	November 19, 1994	1	0	Metropolitan	v.  India; September 3, 2016
DF	Patrick Lopez	July 12, 1993	1	0	Unattached	v.  United States; May 22, 2016
DF	Javier Lalondriz	June 18, 1987	5	0	Criollos de Caguas	v.  India; September 3, 2016
DF	Joan Morales	December 8, 1988	14	0	Criollos de Caguas	v.  India; September 3, 2016
DF	Alberto Montesino	June 21, 1993	2	0	Atléticos de Levittown	v. New York City, December 11, 2015
DF	Carlos Rosario	January 30, 1994	7	0	Bayamón	v.  Guyana; March 29, 2016
DF	Alexis Rivera	October 29, 1982	31	0	Bayamón	v.  India; September 3, 2016
DF	Christian Abreu		1	0	Guayanilla Pumas	v.  Antigua and Barbuda; June 4, 2016
DF	Victor Pinto	January 2, 1992	3	0	Club Atlético Fajardo	v.  Dominican Republic; August 30, 2016
DF	Luis Lorenzo	March 3, 1993	1	0	Club Atlético Fajardo	v.  Dominican Republic; August 28, 2016
MF	Alex Oikkonen	October 15, 1994	8	2	Kultsu	v. New York City, December 11, 2015
MF	Darren Rios	October 14, 1995	1	0	FIU Golden Panthers	v.  United States; May 22, 2016
MF	Carlos Clark	January 1, 1997	3	0	Albany Great Danes	v.  Antigua and Barbuda; June 4, 2016
MF	Michael Fernández	February 9, 1994	7	0	Bayamón	v.  United States; May 22, 2016
MF	Samuel Soto	August 11, 1992	16	0	Metropolitan	v.  Dominican Republic; August 28, 2016
MF	Andony Burgos		2	0		v.  Dominican Republic; August 28, 2016
FW	Reid Strain	January 4, 1994	2	0	Aserrí	v.  Guyana; March 29, 2016
FW	Karlos Ferrer	January 28, 1998	3	0	Metropolitan	v.  India; September 3, 2016
FW	Dennis Beltré		2	0	Don Bosco	v.  Guyana; March 29, 2016
FW	Ricardo Rivera	April 17, 1997	2	0		v.  Dominican Republic; August 30, 2016

• PRE = Preliminary squad

Results and fixtures

  Win   Draw   Loss

2016

Anguilla  v  Puerto Rico

March 26 2017 CCQ	Anguilla	0–4	Puerto Rico	The Valley, Anguilla
		Report	Coca  16', 53' Rivera  42' Ortiz  62'	Stadium: Raymond E. Guishard Technical Centre Referee: Moeth Gaymes (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines)

Puerto Rico  v  Guyana

March 29 2017 CCQ	Puerto Rico	0–1	Guyana	Bayamón, Puerto Rico
		Report	Austin  60'	Stadium: Juan Ramón Loubriel Stadium Referee: Rodphin Harris (Trinidad and Tobago)

Puerto Rico  v  United States

May 22 Friendly	Puerto Rico	1–3	United States	Bayamón, Puerto Rico
	Betancur 41'	Report	Ream  20' Wood  34' Arriola  55'	Stadium: Juan Ramón Loubriel Stadium Referee: Kimball Ward (Saint Kitts and Nevis)

Grenada  v  Puerto Rico

June 1 2017 CCQ	Grenada	3–3 (a.e.t.) (3–4 p)	Puerto Rico	St. Geroge's, Grenada
	John-Brown  3', 27' Phillip  38'	Report	Ramos  44' (pen.), 54' Ortiz  86'	Stadium: Grenada National Stadium Referee: Wilson Dacosta (Bahamas)
		Penalties
	J. Rennie George Andall Phillip Charles		Ramos Rivera Sánchez Ortiz

Puerto Rico  v  Antigua and Barbuda

June 4 2017 CCQ	Puerto Rico	2–1 (a.e.t.)	Antigua and Barbuda	Bayamón, Puerto Rico
	Ramos  5', 115'	Report	Blackstock  35'	Stadium: Juan Ramón Loubriel Stadium Referee: Sandy Vásquez (Dominican Republic)

Puerto Rico  v  Dominican Republic

August 30 Friendly	Puerto Rico	0–1	Dominican Republic	Bayamón, Puerto Rico
		Report	Cabán 12' (o.g.)	Stadium: Juan Ramón Loubriel Stadium Referee: Javier Santos (Puerto Rico)

India  v  Puerto Rico

September 3 Friendly	India	4–1	Puerto Rico	Mumbai, India
20:00	Das  18' Chhetri  26' Lalpekhlua  34' J. Singh  58'	Report	Sanchez  8' (pen.)	Stadium: Mumbai Football Arena

Antigua and Barbuda  v  Puerto Rico

October 8 2017 CCQ	Antigua and Barbuda	2–0	Puerto Rico	Saint John's, Antigua and Barbuda
	Byers  43' Smith  86'	Report		Stadium: Antigua Recreation Ground

Puerto Rico  v  Curaçao

October 11 2017 CCQ	Puerto Rico	2–4 (a.e.t.)	Curaçao	Juan Ramón Loubriel Stadium, Bayamón
	H. Ramos  16' M. Ramos  27'	Report	Janga  69' Bacuna  85', 120+1' Zschusschen  97'

Records

Most capped players

As of September 3, 2016

Players in bold are still active, at least at club level.

#	Name	Career	Caps	Goals
1	Héctor Ramos	2010–	32	18
	Andrés Cabrero	2008–	32	4
2	Alexis Rivera	2004–2016	31	0
3	Joseph Marrero	2011–	27	6
4	Noah Delgado	2008–2012	23	3
5	Cristian Arrieta	2010–	22	5
6	Chris Megaloudis	2008–2012	20	6
7	Andrés Pérez	2011–2015	19	0
8	Richard Martinez	2008–2012	17	0
	Tyler Wilson	2010–2012	17	0
9	John Krause	2010–2012	16	1

Top goalscorers

As of September 3, 2016

#	Name	Career	Goals	Caps
1	Héctor Ramos	2010–	18	31
2	Joseph Marrero	2011–	6	25
	Chris Megaloudis	2008–2012	6	20
3	Cristian Arrieta	2010–	5	22
4	Andrés Cabrero	2008–	4	31
5	Josh Hansen	2010–2012	3	9
	Noah Delgado	2008–2012	3	22
	Petter Villegas	2008–2011	3	14
	Raphael Ortiz	2000–2010	3	11
6	Juan Coca	2012–	2	12
	Alex Oikkonen	2011–	2	8
	Olvin Ortiz	2016–	2	5
	Isaac Nieves	2004–2010	2	9

Managers

Eduardo Ordóñez Munguira (1959) Raúl Marchant González (1966) - Luis Villarejo (1974–75) Carlos Martinolli (1978–79) Joe Serralta (1979–1982) Juan "Tato" Tullier (1982–84) Víctor Hugo Barros (?–1991) Arnie Ramirez (1992) Oscar Rosa (1992) Cristóbal Vaccaro (1996) José Luis "Majo" Rodríguez (1999) Raimundo Gatinho (2000) Toribio Rojas (2002–2003) Víctor Hugo Barros (2004) Colin Clarke (2007–2011) Adrian Whitbread (2012–11) Jeaustin Campos (2011–2013) Víctor Hugo Barros (2013–2014) José Martínez (2015) (Interim) Carlos Avedissian (2015–2016) Jack Stefanowski (2016) (Interim) Carlos Cantarero (2016–)

See also

• Puerto Rico women's national football team
• Puerto Rico national under-20 football team

References

1. "Puerto Rico – List of International Matches". Rsssf.com. Retrieved 2010-06-30.
2. Lewis, Michael (February 2001). "Now You See Him". Soccer Digest. Archived from the original on 2007-12-21. Retrieved 2007-12-10.
3. "Primerahora.com". Primerahora.com. Retrieved 2010-06-30.
5. Toma forma nuestra sele en busca del pase a la Copa Oro 2017

External links

• Puerto Rico web page at FIFA.com
• Puerto Rico List of International Matches at RSSSF.com
• Official site: Federación Puertorriqueña de Fútbol