Guatemala
Preview
Coming into the qualification, Guatemala probably had some hope that they could challenge for one of the two berths which would provide participation at Italia ’90. Manager Jorge Roldán, always impeccably dressed, had led them at the football tournament in the 1988 Summer Olympics, although without much success. They lost all three matches heavily.
Guatemala at the 1988 Olympic Games football tournament
Having negotiated the qualifying rounds for the CONCACAF championship, a tournament which indeed doubled as World Cup qualification, having knocked out Cuba and Canada, Guatemala embarked on the group stage of the qualification with some optimism. They had some experienced campaigners in their midst, and were led by strapping centre-back Víctor Hugo Monzón. He would often have the seasoned Allan Wellman behind him as the spare man in defence. Between the sticks, Ricardo Jérez was a highly thought of goalkeeper, while Marvin Ceballos was a decent, hard-working central midfield man, with the versatile Carlos Castañeda ready to either fill in alongside Ceballos or along either flank. The strong Raúl Chacón was often a feature up top.
Results
Friendly
10.04.1988: El Salvador 0-0 Guatemala
Friendly
21.04.1988: El Salvador 1-1 Guatemala (in USA)
Goal: Sandoval
Team: Piccinini – Dávila, Mazariegos, Monzón, Salguero (Rivera) – Ceballos (McDonald), Sandoval, Castro (Martínez), López – Westphal, Pérez (Castañeda)
World Cup qualifier, 1st qualifying round, 1st leg
30.04.1988: Cuba 0-1 Guatemala
Goal: Dávila (44)
Line-up: Piccinini – Dávila, Wellman, Monzón, Rivera – Castañeda (Ceballos), McDonald, Sandoval, Pérez (Paniagua) – Martínez, Westphal
World Cup qualifier, 1st qualifying round, 2nd leg
15.05.1988: Guatemala 1-1 Cuba
Goal: Pérez (68 pen.)
Line-up (4-4-2): Piccinini – Dávila, Wellman, Monzón (c), Rivera – Castañeda, McDonald, Sandoval (López 65), Pérez – Westphal (Paniagua 17), Martínez
Friendly
05.08.1988: Guatemala 2-1 El Salvador (Marlboro Cup in USA)
Goals: Paniagua, Castañeda
Team: Jérez – Dávila, Wellman, Mazariegos, Ortíz – Funes (Alburez), Sandoval, Castañeda, Rodas – Paniagua (Delva), Pérez
Friendly
31.08.1988: Trinidad&Tobago 2-2 Guatemala
Goals:
World Cup qualifier, 2nd qualifying round, 1st leg
09.10.1988: Guatemala 1-0 Canada
Goal: Pérez (20 pen.)
Line-up: Jérez – Dávila (Gardiner), Wellman, Monzón, Ortíz – Funes, Sandoval, Castañeda, Rodas – Paniagua, Pérez (Chacón)
World Cup qualifier, 2nd qualifying round, 2nd leg
15.10.1988: Canada 3-2 Guatemala
Goals: Paniagua (7), Castañeda (37)
Line-up: Jérez – Batres (Dávila), Wellman, Monzón, Ortíz – Funes, Sandoval, Castañeda, Rodas – Paniagua (León), Chacón
Friendly
09.11.1988: El Salvador 0-0 Guatemala (in USA)
Line-up: Piccinini – Gardiner, Batres (Mazariegos), Monzón, Ortíz – Alburez, Delva (de León), Castañeda, López – Paniagua (Chacón), Guevara
Friendly
12.02.1989: Guatemala 0-1 Poland
Line-up: Piccinini – Dávila, Wellman, Monzón, Ortíz (Rivera) – Funes, McDonald (Westphal), León (Batres), Ceballos – Paniagua, Chacón
Friendly
21.02.1989: Mexico 2-1 Guatemala (Camel Tournament in USA)
Goal: Rodas
Line-up: Piccinini – Dávila, Wellman (Mazariegos), Monzón, Ortíz – Funes, McDonald (Castañeda), Ceballos, Rodas – Westphal, Paniagua
Friendly
23.02.1989: Guatemala 3-2 Costa Rica (Camel Tournament in USA)
Goals: Westphal, Funes, Belteton
Line-up:
Friendly
03.03.1989: Guatemala 3-0 El Salvador
Goals: Funes, de León, Rodas
Line-up:
World cup qualification group stage
Qualifier 1
19.03.1989: Guatemala 1-0 Costa Rica
Goal: Chacón (39 pen.)
Line-up (4-4-2): Jérez – Dávila, Wellman, Monzón (c), Ortíz (Rivera 69) – Funes, Ceballos (McDonald 61), Castañeda, Rodas – Chacón, Westphal
Qualifier 2
02.04.1989: Costa Rica 2-1 Guatemala
Goal: Rodas (51)
Line-up (4-4-2): Jérez – Dávila, Wellman, Monzón (c), Ortíz – McDonald (Rivera 62), Castañeda, Ceballos, Rodas – Paniagua, Chacón
Qualifier 3
17.06.1989: USA 2-1 Guatemala
Goal: Chacón (22)
Line-up (4-4-2): Jérez – Dávila, Mazariegos, Monzón (c), Ortíz – Funes, McDonald (Paniagua 78), Ceballos, Rodas (Westphal 78) – Chacón, Pérez
Qualifier 4
20.08.1989: Guatemala 0-1 Trinidad&Tobago
Line-up (4-3-3): Jérez – Dávila, Wellman, Monzón (c), Rivera – Sánchez, Ortega, Ceballos – Castañeda, Chacón, Pérez (Sims approx 75)
Qualifier 5
03.09.1989: Trinidad&Tobago 2-1 Guatemala
Goal: Rodas (6)
Line-up (4-5-1): Jérez – Dávila, Wellman, Monzón (c), Rivera – Sims, Sánchez, Ortega, Castañeda, Rodas (Chacón 80) – Paniagua
Qualifier 6
08.10.1989: Guatemala 0-0 USA
Line-up: Piccinini – Hernández, Rodríguez, Monzón, Gonzáles, Castañeda, Sánchez, Gardiner, Alburez (McDonald 86), Paniagua (Mora 66), Almengo
Note
The final two qualifiers, against El Salvador away and home, were both cancelled. This had to do both with the difficult political situation in El Salvador, and also with neither team having the chance to move past either of the three nations ahead of them in the group standings.
Qualifier 7
19.11.1989: El Salvador-Guatemala
Cancelled
Qualifier 8
26.11.1989: Guatemala-El Salvador
Cancelled
Qualification verdict
Guatemala came into the group stage of the CONCACAF World Cup qualification having knocked out Cuba and Canada in the qualifying rounds. In particular the aggregate win against the Canadians had been an impressive achievement, even if they had surrendered a two goal lead and eventually lost the away leg by three goals to two. They needed the away goals rule to go through.
They were under the tutelage of Jorge Roldán coming into the group stage, and had an experienced goalkeeper and back four first and foremost. They were somewhat younger further up the pitch, but had players of fine individual quality both in midfield and up front. The onus was on the management team to make the team pull in the same direction, and not least to have them organized defensively, making them a difficult proposition to face. They started with an impressive win at home to Costa Rica, where star striker Raúl Chacón netted the solitary goal of the game from the penalty spot.
That was about as good as it got for Guatemala during the group stage of this qualification. They subsequently lost away to the same opponents in the group’s next match, although it had taken a winning goal 12 minutes from time for the Ticos. Guatemala would then lose at USA in another tight game, and with Chacón again on target, this time to level the game at 1-1 during the first half, before defeats both home and away to an up and coming Trinidad&Tobago. By then they were of course out of the reckoning, and rounded their fixtures off with a 0-0 draw at home to USA. Their final pair of matches, both against neighbouring El Salvador, were never played, with the safety of the players and team managements being prefered ahead of deciding which of the two teams would finish fourth and fifth respectively.
In the dug-out, there had been a managerial change after the 2-1 loss in Costa Rica, with Roldán being relieved of his duties having lost two from three and 61 year old Rubén Amorín taking over. Roldán had then assisted Amorín during the 2-1 defeat in the US, but he would not be seen on the bench for either match against Trinidad&Tobago, so there is indeed a chance he quit the assistant’s role sooner rather than later.