Radio Free CONCACAF

Jamaica vs. St Vincent and the Grenadines - Gold Cup Qualification

Back again for part 2 of our March window double header, we cover a deeper cut between two nations with deeper-than-expected historical connections: Jamaica and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. They clash in Gold Cup prelims/qualification matches on March 21 at the famous Arnos Vale cricket stadium in Kingstown, SVG, and then March 25 in another cricket ground, Sabina Park, this time in Kingston, Jamaica.
Situated on opposite ends of the Caribbean, these countries were both influence by Guyanese Black Power activist Walter Rodney while he taught at the University of the West Indies (UWI) campus in Mona, Kingston, Jamaica. After his anti-colonial speech rubbed Jamaica's post-independence elites the wrong way, he was forcibly encouraged to leave his position at UWI. 
While that exit would push Rodney to achieve great influence across the Caribbean as well as in Africa, one of his most ardent defenders would later return to his native St. Vincent and become, as of 2025, the longest-serving democratically-elected state leader - Ralph Gonsalves. 
Rodney's anti-colonial influence lives on more in St. Vincent than in Jamaica, as SVG is party to the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America – Peoples' Trade Treaty while Jamaica prefers more traditional neoliberal free trade deals.
As you well know, after we run through these connections, we also run through the distant and recent past for both national team squads, and make our prediction for the matches!
Song - Protoje (son of a Vincentian calypso singer father and a Jamaican singer and lawyer mother) - Who Knows feat. ChronixxJam

Dominican Republic v Puerto Rico - March Friendlies

Welcome back radiofreeconcacaferos!
 
New episode, first half of a double header for this exciting March window!
Neighboring islands Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic will have a double header of their own - a home and home series of friendlies on March 21 and 25.
While these two nations were populated by similar indigenous populations, and were both colonized very early on in the Castilian Nueva España era, their fortunes diverged as they reacted to other hegemonic powers in the region. The DR's contentious relationship with neighboring Haiti led them towards sovereignty, while PR never quite had the momentum to break free of Spain, and then found itself handed over to the USA.
 
While these two nations knock it out of the park when it comes to béisbol / pelota, they are both on an upward trajectory on the footballing front, and as you well know by now, we will break down the current squads after we handle the historical connections.
 
Song - Khe by Rauw Alejandro (PR) feat. Romeo Santos (DR/PR via El Bronx)

[Jan 2025 Friendlies] USA v Venezuela / Costa Rica

Welcome back esteemed listeners!!
January friendlies are famous for the US National team, as they represent a chance for MLS-based players to make a statement. This year, friendlies against Venezuela and Costa Rica in Florida created some interesting football moments and reminded us of some historical connections between the three.
 
Rómulo Betancourt was a classic middle of the road liberal leader, opposed to both authoritarian rule as well as communist philosophy, and his tenure as the President of Venezuela overlapped with a period of internal stability but external conflict with...you guessed it, the authoritarian and communist leaders throughout the Americas. An attempt on his life by Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo helped to galvanize public opinion against "El Jefe" and set in motion his downfall. His centrism appealed to the United States at the time, and as we discuss in the episode, Betancourt won praise from two US presidents who agreed on little else - JFK and Reagan.
 
As far as on the pitch, we take a look at some previous exciting January moments, analyze the lineups coming into the match, and Cullen reports on his view from the Barra 76 supporters' section in Ft Lauderdale of debut goals from Jack McGlynn, Matko Miljevic, and Patrick Agyemang.
 
Thanks for listening!!
 
Music - Himno de Acción Democrática

[CONCACAF NL Nov 2024] USA vs Jamaica

USA and Jamaica face each other in the @concacafnationsleague QF in two weeks, with a spot in the @goldcup and the Nations League Finals on the line. Pochettino's first elimination matches, and a key moment for the @jamaicamnt to avenge their bitter loss in last year's edition.Your faithful co-hosts return from their hiatus to dish on the footy, history, and footy history involving these two nations.We'll look deeper into a few topics in this episode:The interactions between the two nations when they were both under British rule.The unique journey of Jamaica-born "Honest John" Brown Russwurm, an abolitionist publisher who ran the first Black-owned newspaper in the USA, and later ended up moving to Liberia.Similar ideas resurfaced 70 years later when another Jamaica-born leader also proposed resettlement as a solution to race relations in the Americas - Marcus Garvey.On the footy front, we'll fill you in on the latest with both national teams, the overall League A and League B setup, and of course predict the outcome!Check out our episode on Jamaica v Brazil from the Women's World Cup for more on Jamaican history (https://open.spotify.com/episode/4EEq8J1RjWnx23ZxrgOA2w)For more on the USA, our episode from earlier this year on USA v Panama in the 2024 @copaamerica covers that ground. (https://open.spotify.com/episode/5N2LjzZdfRJv9Z7jJAjvQR)

[2024 Copa America] Canada v Chile

Les Rouges vs La Roja!!The teams have limited but fascinating history inside the lines, with Chile twice competing in one-off Cups in Edmonton and at U of Toronto's Varsity Stadium, along with a 2007 U-20 meeting in Toronto which would foreshadow Chile's golden generation.Off the field, Fernando chats with Dra. Berenice Villagómez, scholar of Latin American history, on the diverse relationships that emerged between Canada and Chile during the latter's coup d'etat in 1973, While Canadian civil society orgs assisting those fleeing the new Pinochet regime, the Canadian government delayed their resettlement through cautiously scrutinizing their political ideologies.With a Chile team in transition away from their golden generation (only Bravo, Vargas, Bravo, and Isla remain), and Canada's prospects looking brighter than ever, this match could represent a defining moment for the Copa América's CONCACAF edition.

[2024 Copa America] USA v Panama

As you prepare to watch the USA v Panama, Radio Free CONCACAF's latest episode is here to prepare for fully experiencing the match!
USA vs Panama is an emerging regional rivalry on the footy front, but the fascinating history between the two nations that predates Panama's nationhood makes this matchup even more intriguing.
Fernando chats with our esteemed guest and scholar of Latin American history Professor Luis van Isschot to riff on US imperialism in the Western Hemisphere, its role in Panama's "independence" from Colombia, and predict the match!
Meanwhile in the studio, Cullen covers the recent footy intrigue, including Hexagonal WC Qualifier drama from 2013 (San Zusi), 2017 (Historic qualification via a late winner vs Costa Rica), and the 2023 Gold Cup where Panama finally knocked out the USA in a competitive fixture.

2024 Concachampions Semifinals!!

Time for the Champions League semifinals!! Real Ma-what?? Descolonízate!!We're talking about the Champions League in our part of the world - the ConcachampionsAmerica v PachucaColumbus Crew v MonterreyIn this episode, Fer and Cullen delve into the Concachampions lore - who owns it, who has scored the most goals, who has the most titles, and why are the answers to that all Mexican clubs??We also delve into this edition's matchups. Monterrey has owned this competition, winning all of its 5 titles in the last 15 years, and they knocked out the Crew in the QF in 2021. Ohio-based regiments assisted in the Siege of Monterrey in the Mexican American War, and you can be sure it's on everyone's mind!!Pachuca has some pedigree as Liga MX's oldest club, but America has the edge as by far the most dominant club in @concacaf , as well as their recent Liguilla titles. We take the rivalry between these two regions back to the Pre-Classic period, when the Chichimecas negotiated their niche on the periphery of the Mexica/Aztec empire.Episode available on Spotify and Podbean

2023 Caribbean Cup - Robinhood (SUR) v Cavalier (JAM)

Our next episode offering covers the 2023 CONCACAF Caribbean Cup! We delve into the strongest Caribbean clubs in history, and their records in the CONCACAF Champions League/Cup.The final will be contested between SV Robinhood of Suriname, who entered the tournament as the second-lowest seed after winning the lesser Caribbean Shield, and is one of the most successful domestic clubs. They have lost five CONCACAF Champions League finals, all coming during their golden era (70s-80s) when they would tour Holland and face off with Eredivisie teams.The opponent is Cavalier FC of Jamaica, who overcame traditional power @harbourviewfc to make the final, especially thanks to Golden Boot leader Shaniel Thomas.In addition to these two teams, we highlight a topic we also covered in our @womensworldcup2023 episode on Jamaica v Brazil - Maroons! Suriname has a parallel population descended from African people who escaped enslavement and formed their own societies.Thanks for listening, and please share with your footy-minded friends!CB & FML

[Nations League QF] Panama v Costa Rica

Welcome back CONCAfición!
Always a treat when two neighboring states confront each other, especially when the stakes are high. Panama and Costa Rica cross swords in this CONCACAF Nations League QF, with the winner qualifying directly to the Copa América. Jamaica v Canada, Mexico v Honduras, and USA v T&T round out the other quarter-finalists.
Outside of the lines, these two countries navigated a tricky border dispute in the early 1900s that led to a diplomatic stalemate for over a decade, despite both the USA and France attempting to mediate. That political rift did not prevent Los Ticos from inflicting Panama's largest-ever defeat though!
We also cover notable matchups between these two teams, including the final in which the son of a coach who has managed both national teams missed a key penalty...while facing his father's team! Tune in to find out more.
Finally, we predict the outcome of this home-and-home series. Costa Rica is hitting the reset button in the twilight of their 2014 golden generation, and Los Canaleros are ascending to new heights in their footballing history. 
Thanks for listening, and we look forward to seeing you soon for our coverage of upcoming confederation-wie club tournaments!
Cullen & Fernando

[2023 WWC] PAN v FRA / JAM v BRA

To close out our coverage of the 2023 Women's World Cup group stage, we focus on the deciding day for Group F, which saw some surprises after we recorded!
In this double-header we cover France's role in the creation of the Panama Canal, including one Fernando de Lesseps whose links to the Suez Canal also show up in the historical record. We also cover the various meanings of the word "Panama".
Secondly, Jamaica and Brazil have both been home to sovereign polities founded by people of African descent who escaped slavery. We focus on the "quilombo" of Palmares in northeastern Brazil and the Maroons of Jamaica, examining how the people who were brought from Africa to the Americas implemented their traditions of governance as they explored their freedom.