San Juan Jabloteh forward Nathan Lewis and his troops at the club will have to settle for contesting a 16-team Concacaf League for the chance of making it to the Concacaf Champions League. This, after Jabloteh failed in its attemp to secure automatic qualification after losing 1-0 to Cibao FC of Dominican Republic in the Caribbean Club championship final last Sunday.
Lewis missed a close range header inside the opening two minutes of the contest. A miss that would come back to haunt him and the team.
“It was very disappointing to make it to the final and lose out the way we did. We had the game to win because a couple goals would have made life difficult for the opponent,” Lewis said.
“Now we have to focus on the start of the Pro league and the Concacaf League in order to qualify. I thought overall we could have been better and I take responsibility for not taking the chances that came my way. We have a lot of work to do if we want to be successful at the international level,” he added.
The revamped Concacaf club competitions framework, allowing for a less congested schedule for all participating clubs, features two distinct tournaments which each crown a champion – an August to October championship, the Concacaf League, featuring qualified teams from Central America and the Caribbean (Central FC, Jabloteh and Portmore United), and the February to May Champions League featuring top clubs from across the region, including Liga MX and Major League Soccer.