So now we entered the semifinals, and we were too shame-faced to pick. We would have lost money on BOCA again. We would have picked San Pedro to beat them. We would have won with New Site over FC Belize.

The Big Dance begins on Saturday night, January 21, in Independence?s Michael Ashcroft Stadium. BOCA host New Site Erei. Next week Sunday, January 29, New Site Erei will host BOCA at Carl Ramos. The championship of the RFG Insurance Cup Tournament will therefore be decided in Dangriga on Sunday evening, January 29.

Football fans in Belize owe BOCA the respect to make the trip to Independence Saturday night, if it is at all possible. BOCA are the champions of the last Football Federation of Belize tournament. They are owned and managed by a man called Marco Chan, and they come from a village which is called Bella Vista, geographically in the South Stann Creek District, but the residents vote in Toledo.

Bella Vista, a banana belt village, is about nine years old and has about 600 families. They have all the amenities of life ? electricity, telephone, running water, and a police station.

Most of their players are naturalized Belizeans or Belizeans born here to immigrant parents. Their stars include Julio ?Chucky? Valle, Victor Morales, Wilmer Garcia, Henry Jimenez, Carlos Castillo, Marlon Barnica, and Isaias Reyes. Their goalkeeper is Steven Polonio, whom no one in the rest of Belize had ever heard of before.

BOCA, coached by Pascual Noralez, are now the Cinderella team of The Big Dance. In other words, they were not supposed to be here. BOCA will therefore be the underdogs for the third playoff series in a row. They have already eliminated one of the Dangriga teams, Wagiya, and now they meet the other, New Site Erei, in the finals.

The New Site Erei football program was organized by Justin Gonzales some years ago, and it stretches from primary school age children all the way up to semi-pro. New Site Erei is participating in its first BPFL semi-pro tournament ever, having replaced the previous Dangriga franchise, Griga United, which finished at the bottom of the standings in the last BPFL tournament, which was held in the first part of 2005.

New Site is coached by Anthony Francisco and managed by John Castillo. They are led by the superstar who has dominated the last fifteen years in Belize football ? Norman ?Tilliman? Nunez. Tilliman moved to Dangriga after the last BPFL tournament. New Site?s electrifying stars include the Castillo brothers ? Lennox ?Criminal? and Darwin ?Cayo,? Ryan Simpson, Glenn Martinez, Elroy Smith, Harrison Roaches, Lloyd Nunez, Aaron ?Taz? Nolberto, and a man who has starred on the national selection ? Deon Frazier. Their goalkeeper is Woodrow West, a son of Corozal?s Joe West.

It is said that offences win games, but defences win championships. New Site will be looking to score on Saturday night, but BOCA have reached this far because their defence, featuring Marvin Alvarado and Ramon Rodriguez, became impenetrable in the playoffs. It seems to us that both teams need to draw first blood. New Site need to score first in order to draw BOCA out of their shell. If BOCA gets an early goal, they know how to slap it around, use the whole field and frustrate the New Site thoroughbred studs into impatience. For this reason, Tilliman, although reportedly not at 100 per cent, remains important to New Site, because he is like a coach on the field.

For years, you could pencil in the BPFL playoff semifinalists by just picking the teams with the goalies ? Charlie Slusher, Shane Moody, Darren Hinds and Giovanni Rodriguez. Shane is in Costa Rica, while Charlie, Darren and Giovanni are all eliminated before The Big Dance. This is the first time this has happened in many years. One of two young goalies unknown before this tournament ? Stephen Polonio and Woodrow West, will be a champion on January 29. It will be symbolic of a new age in Belizean football at the very highest level.