World Cup Round-Up: Part 3 - CONCACAF / Asia

CONCACAF

In the North and Central American hexagonal, the top four teams appear to be decided - the question now is which three will gain the automatic qualification places?

The group table has an unfamiliar look with Honduras in top spot, level on thirteen points with the United States. Mexico have climbed to third after their disastrous start and are now a point behind the leaders, level on points with Costa Rica in fourth. A further seven points behind are El Salvador (5th) and Trinidad and Tobago (6th) who can now consider their campaigns all but over.

In the weekend matches, Honduras scored four for the second successive game, this time beating Trinidad & Tobago who could only manage one consolation goal five minutes from the end. Honduran stalwart Carlos Pavon took his international tally to 55 with two goals inside the first half hour. Amado Guevara and David Suazo added the other two in the second half to round off a comfortable win for Honduras who look a sure fire bet to reach the World Cup Finals for the first time since 1982.

The US team had to come from a goal down to beat El Salvador 2-1 in Utah on Sunday. Christian Castillo put the visitors in front just after half an hour had passed with a header that caught Tim Howard well off his line, but the hosts were back in the game just before half time. Clint Dempsey's diving header brilliantly converted Landon Donovan's free kick and it was the same source and set play that gave Hull City's Jozy Altidore the chance to head home in stoppage time at the end of the game.

Finally in San Jose, Mexico continued their amazing post-Sven transformation with a 3-0 win against Costa Rica. Giovani Dos Santos was the key man for the Mexicans following his stunning goal at the end of the first half before setting up Guillermo Franco and Andres Guardado in the second.

So the top four will now battle out a nervy last three fixtures in a bid to avoid fourth spot in the table which will lead to a play-off match against the fifth-best team in South America. This Wednesday's fixtures see El Salvador play host to Costa Rica, while the USA travel to Trinidad and Tobago and Mexico host Honduras.

Full results and standings from the CONCACAF qualifying zone available here.

Asia

While the four automatic qualifiers for South Africa 2010 are already known in Asia, there is a chance for one more team to go through via a play-off against the Oceania winners, New Zealand.

The team that gets to play them will be either Bahrain or Saudi Arabia who played the first leg of their own play-off on Saturday. The match in Manama finished goalless and was notable for Bahrain's inability to convert the many chances they had and Saudi Arabia's apparent willingness to play for a draw.

With the return leg due to be played in Riyadh on Wednesday, the Saudis will favour their chances of winning in front of a home crowd, but they'll have to do so without their star striker Naif Hazazi who is out for six months with a serious injury.

To be honest, we're not sure if the away goal rule will apply to this week's match, but if it does, Bahrain might be the better bet based on their lively performance on Saturday. That said, they too are desperately in need of someone up front that can put the ball in the net, so don't be surprised if penalties are called for on Wednesday.

World Cup 2010 Qualifying Round-up

South America

Brazil and Paraguay continue to travel in opposite directions following the former's 2-1 win over the latter in Recife yesterday.

With heavy rain pouring down constantly throughout, Salvador Cabanas managed to put the away side in front from a deflected free kick after 25 minutes but Robinho volleyed in an equaliser just before half time. Four minutes into the second half, former Lyon striker Nilmar scrambled in a second and that's the way it ended.

Brazil therefore stay top of the qualifying group by a single point, but Paraguay slip to third after Chile notched up another impressive win, 4-0 at home to Bolivia. A brace from Udinese striker Alexis Sanchez and one each from Jean Beausejour and Marco Estrada mean Marcelo Bielsa's side are now second in the group, two points ahead of the Paraguayans.

And there was a big shock in Quito where Argentina crashed to a 2-0 defeat against Ecuador. "They didn't do anything in the first half," said coach Diego Maradona. "In the second half, they got a couple of rebounds and they scored two goals. If we had scored a goal, it would have finished the game off." The trouble for Argentina was that they didn't - Carlos Tevez had a penalty saved in the first half and Lionel Messi was also guilty of missing some decent chances.

Walter Ayovi, however, was not nearly so wasteful as he struck a brilliant 25-yard effort into the top right-hand corner with 18 minutes remaining. When Pablo Palacios added a second eleven minutes later, it was game over for Argentina.



That win lifts Ecuador up to fifth place above Uruguay who drew 2-2 with Venezuela. Colombia are seventh in the table after a 1-0 win over Peru who suffered their eighth straight defeat in qualifying.

Europe

England made it seven wins out of seven following a comfortable 6-0 defeat of Andorra at Wembley last night. Wayne Rooney and Jermaine Defoe provided two goals each while Frank Lampard and Peter Crouch picked up one apiece to leave England in with a chance of qualifying from Group 6 if they beat Croatia at Wembley in September.

Also in the same group, Ukraine beat Kazakhstan 2-1 thanks to two goals from Sergiy 'Cliff' Nazarenko. Kazakhstan had taken the lead after 19 minutes when Tanat Nusserbayev headed in but the Ukrainians (without star player and captain Andriy Shevchenko) battled back to go level on points with Croatia in third place.

In Group 4, Russia put the pressure back on leaders Germany with a convincing 3-0 win over Finland in Helsinki. With Guus Hiddink now devoid of any Chelsea commitments, his concentration was placed squarely on the Russian national team who are now just a point behind the Germans thanks to two goals from Dynamo Moscow forward Aleksandr Kerzhakov and one from Konstantin Zyrianov.

Elsewhere Sweden got their qualifying campaign back on track with a 4-0 win over Malta in Gothenburg. Kim Kallstrom and Zlatan Ibrahimovic were among the scorers as the Swedes drew level on points with Portugal in Group 1. In addition, the Dutch, who have already qualified from Group 9, reaffirmed their top billing with a 2-0 win at home to Norway while Macedonia beat Iceland 2-0 - both of which will give the Scots a little hope of getting the play-off berth in their group.

North and Central America

Javier Aguirre can finally celebrate a win for his Mexican side after a 2-1 victory at home to Trinidad and Tobago, but they didn't find it easy. Guillermo Franco scored after just one minute for El Tri, but with several chances missed the Soca Warriors equalised through Hayden Tinto at the end of the first half.



Three minutes into the second half, Oscar Rojas regained the lead for Mexico with a long-range effort and hung on uneasily for the win, although a return to third place in the group was prevented by a Honduran victory over El Salvador.

Carlos Pavon, Honduras' all-time leading scorer and star striker, hit the winning goal with a half-volley after just thirteen minutes in a bad tempered game that saw seven players receiving a yellow card. The win, however, means Honduras move up to third place in the hexagonal prior to an altogether more tricky game at home to group leaders Costa Rica in August. Also playing in Gameweek 6 are the United States who travel to Mexico and El Salvador who go to Trinidad and Tobago.

Asia

With three of the four automatic qualification places decided, the main focus in Asia now switches to Group 2 where the race for the remaining automatic spot is hotting up nicely.

While second-placed North Korea sat out yesterday's matches, Saudi Arabia drew level with them on points having fought out a tough 0-0 draw with South Korea. Iran picked up a vital 1-0 win over the UAE, who thus far have managed just one point from the 24 available, but their push for an automatic promotion place may have been left too late.

With North Korea and Saudi Arabia on 11 points and Iran on 10, Iran must beat South Korea in their final match next Wednesday and hope that Saudi Arabia and North Korea draw in order to go through. Anything less than a win for Iran will see their chance of gaining the third place play-off spot severely limited.

In Group 1, Bahrain lost 2-0 to Australia yesterday but remain on course for a play-off after Qatar could only draw 1-1 in Japan. That means Bahrain need only a draw in their final match against bottom-placed Uzbekistan next Wednesday to meet the team finishing third in Group 2.

The two-legged play-off for both of the third-placed teams will take place in early September and the winner of that will go on to play New Zealand in a further play-off nearer the end of the year.

World Cup 2010 Qualifying Report: CONCACAF

Costa Rica are the new leaders in the CONCACAF section after a stunning 3-1 win over the USA last week and a narrow 3-2 victory over Trinidad & Tobago on Saturday.

Rodrigo Kenton's side burst out of the blocks on Wednesday with a couple of quick goals that left Tim Howard and his defence reeling. The US team were 2-0 down after just 12 minutes thanks to goals by Alvaro Saborio and Celso Borges and they still hadn't fully recovered when half time came around.

Things got worse for the Americans half way through the second period when substitute Pablo Herrera easily made it 3-0 to the Ticos and though Landon Donovan scored from an injury time penalty, there was no doubt as to who the better side was.



"We were under pressure from the start and we didn't control the game," US coach Bob Bradley said. "In the first goal our reactions were a little bit slow and Saborio scores a very good goal. We knew we were going to feel the pressure and we did. I just don't think we were good enough".

Luckily for the US, a chance to bounce back came in the form of a home tie against Honduras two days ago but even that started badly when the Central Americans took the lead after five minutes. Carlos Costly's long-range effort silenced the Soldier Field crowd early on but Mario Beata handled the ball in his own area shortly after to allow Landon Donovan the chance to equalise from the penalty spot.

Into the second half and with the Americans battling hard it was Stade Rennais' Carlos Bocanegra who bravely headed in the winning goal through a mass of flying feet after 67 minutes. It means the USA are now second in the hexagonal behind Costa Rica while Mexico fell to their third defeat in four games against El Salvador.

New coach Javier Aguirre was back in charge of El Tri following the sacking of Sven Goran Eriksson earlier in the year, but the outcome remained the same as El Salvador ran out 2-1 winners. Even the return of Cuauhtémoc Blanco from retirement wasn't enough to earn the Mexicans a point although he did score from the penalty spot in the second half to get at least one goal on the scoreboard.

This month's results leave the qualifying table showing a sharp divide between the top two and the remaining four, and it's here that the really interesting battle will surely develop. Further to that, this Wednesday sees two key fixtures - one between Honduras and El Salvador at San Pedro Sula and the other between Mexico and Trinidad & Tobago at the Azteca. A win will be vital for all four teams as they attempt to close the gap on Costa Rica and the United States at the half-way point.

World Cup 2010 Round-up: The rest of the world

And so to the final part of our mammoth World Cup round-up where we tie up all the loose ends in Asia, the CONCACAF region and, to begin with, Africa...

Africa

The third and final round of qualifying got underway last Saturday with the remaining twenty teams split into five groups of which only the winners will reach South Africa 2010.

To start with, we must reflect on the terrible news from Ivory Coast where 19 people were killed and 130 injured in a stampede before the match against Malawi in Abidjan. It's still unclear what caused the stampede, but it is known that thousands of fans were flocking to the Felix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium to witness the return of Didier Drogba to the national side after injury.

Many fans were still outside when the match started and it's believed huge numbers had made a late desperate attempt to get in, thus causing a stadium wall to collapse. Unaware of what was happening, the two sets of players kicked off and after the home side won 5-0, the full scale of the tragedy was made aware to Drogba and his team-mates.

Moving onto other more prosaic events elsewhere, Burkina Faso won their Group E match against Guinea 4-2 to start their campaign level on points with Ivory Coast while in Group B, Tunisia took the early advantage with a 2-1 win over Kenya. Nigeria, favourites to win the group could only draw 0-0 away to Mozambique and it's said the home side could and should have picked up all three points.

Arguably the shock result of this batch of games was the 2-1 win for Gabon over Morocco in Group A. Alain Giresse's side didn't even qualify for the last African Cup of Nations, but two first half goals from Pierre Aubameyang and Roguy Meye were enough to snuff out the threat of the Atlas Lions.

Elsewhere in the group, Emmanuel Adebayor's eleventh minute goal proved good enough for Togo to beat Cameroon 1-0 and he was even allowed the luxury of missing a penalty late on. All is therefore set for a great round of games at the start of June when Togo travel to Gabon and Cameroon play host to Morocco.

Group D predictably saw Ghana get off to a winning start with a 1-0 win over Benin while Fredi Kanoute's goal for Mali was soon equalised by Sudan's El Tahir meaning both teams trail the Black Stars by two points at this early stage.

Finally in Group C, African champions Egypt were held to a 1-1 draw against Zambia while in Kigali Rwanda picked up an impressive point against former African champions Algeria.

June 2009 will see twenty more matches take place, and we'll be reporting on the latest news from across Africa when they happen.

Asia

It's a case of 'as you were' in the two Final Round groups in Asia with the top two teams in each case both retaining their places.

In Group 1, Australia survived a tough first half against Uzbekistan to win 2-0 in Sydney on Wednesday. Goals from Karlsruher's Joshua Kennedy and Galatasaray's Harry Kewell mid-way through the second half ensured the Socceroos stayed top of the table while Japan enjoyed a narrow 1-0 win over Bahrain at the weekend to stay second.

Had Bahrain and Qatar drawn their match a couple of days ago, Australia would have confirmed their place at the 2010 World Cup, but a 52nd minute Fouzi Aaish goal for Bahrain means Pim Verbeek's side will have to wait until at least June 6th to start their celebrations.

In Group 2, South Korea laboured to a rare victory over North Korea thanks to a late goal from FC Seoul's Kim Chi-Woo. It puts the Taeguk Warriors one point clear of their northern neighbours at the top of the group, but Saudi Arabia have turned up the heat on both teams following a poor start to their campaign.

Last Saturday saw the Saudis begin a successful week by beating Iran 2-1 away from home which was followed by a 3-2 win over the United Arab Emirates which ends the latter's chances of reaching South Africa next year.

The Group 2 table appears to show a three horse race but Iran have a game in hand which, if won, will put them only a point behind Saudi Arabia. All remaining matches in both groups will be played throughout June, so watch this space to see which four (or maybe five) lucky teams make it through to the Finals...

North and Central America

News reached us last night that the Mexican FA have sacked Sven-Goran Eriksson following a 3-1 defeat to Honduras which leaves his former side looking at a play-off if they're to reach the next World Cup.

Eriksson went into the match buoyed by a 2-0 win over Costa Rica last Saturday which temporarily lifted the pressure on the former England manager, but the Hondurans were better in every department as a disjointed Mexico once again failed to pick up any points away from home.

That win - Honduras' first in the final round group - lifts them into third place in the table behind leaders United States and Costa Rica. Both teams play each other on March 6th and for home side Costa Rica a win will be vital if they're to overhaul the unbeaten Americans.

SPAOTP's friend on Twitter, @sensei208, tipped us off about the USA's sensational young striker Jozy Altidore and with some justification. The 19-year-old became the youngest ever scorer for the USA when he grabbed the first of two goals in a 2-2 draw away to El Salvador last Saturday. He went onto follow that up with a hat-trick against Trinidad and Tobago during the week.



Without his first goal, the USA may have been on the receiving end of a shock defeat to the Salvadorans who were 2-0 up with 18 minutes remaining. Once Altidore had pulled one back for the visitors, Frankie Hejduk headed in from close range with two minutes left on the clock to salvage a point.

America's second match was an altogether more straight-forward affair and cemented T&T's position at the bottom of the hexagonal. Jozy Altidore's three goals against the Soca Warriors show why he was snapped up by Villareal last year and will no doubt prompt them to recall Altidore from his loan spell at Second Division side Xerez too.

All in all then, the USA and Costa Rica are living up to their top billing at the moment but Honduras are making the most of Mexico's slip. El Salvador and Trinidad & Tobago are yet to win in three matches and with some tough opposition to come in their next games their task won't be getting any easier.

The thing to note, however, is that none of the teams are quite getting things all their own way. The USA and Costa Rica will always bring out the best in the weaker teams and with a relatively few games to play, a point lost or gained here and there could prove vital to all of them. With the competition set to end in October, no-one's taking anything for granted just yet.

World Cup 2010 Round-up: February 2009

With the end-of-year international break now over, it's time once again to plunge head first back into the qualifying competition for the 2010 World Cup Finals.

The last 24 hours have seen a return to action for the remaining teams in Asia and the CONCACAF regions, so let's begin our round-up of who did what with the first of those…

Asia
You'll remember from our last thrilling instalment that we're now in the last qualifying round here and only ten teams are left. Of those, four will earn a ticket to South Africa 2010, namely the two group winners and two runners-up. The two third-placed teams will enter a home and away play-off and the winner of that will meet Oceania winners New Zealand in a further play-off.

In yesterday's Asia matches, there were few goals to be found. In Group 1, Japan and Australia played out an uneventful 0-0 draw to retain second and first places in the group respectively while Bahrain picked up a surprising 1-0 win away to Uzbekistan to leapfrog Qatar into third place.

In Group 2, meanwhile, North Korea did well to beat Saudi Arabia 1-0 in Pyongyang while Iran and South Korea drew 1-1 in Tehran. That win for North Korea means they now squeeze into second place in the group just behind their neighbours south of the border with Iran dropping to third.

With Japan and Australia cruising in Group 1 and South Korea looking solid in Group 2, it would seem that the balance of power is now shifting away from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates who have been two of the stronger Asian teams of recent times. A resurgent Iran and North Korea means there are now some new teams coming to the fore on the continent, but one of them will require a play-off if they're to reach the World Cup Finals next year.

The next matches in the Asian section will be played on March 28th, and with both group leaders sitting out the action, the key games will see Japan host Bahrain in Group 1 while North Korea play the UAE in Group 2.

CONCACAF
In the North and Central American zone (not forgetting the Caribbean, of course), we're down to the final round-robin group of six teams. The top three at the end of qualifying will go through to the Finals while the fourth-placed team goes into a play-off with the fifth best team from the South American zone.

And what better a way to start this final round of CONCACAF qualifying than with a match up between the two biggest teams, the USA and Mexico. They faced each other for the 56th time in Columbus, Ohio with both teams heading in distinctly different directions. The Americans were looking for a third straight shut-out on the trot while the Mexicans were trying not to contemplate the fact that their coach is perhaps more suited to a career at Portsmouth.

In the wet and windy conditions that prevailed, both sides battled away with no real emphasis on playing sexy football, but out of that it was the USA that scored first. Michael Bradley, son of head coach Bob, finished off a decent move just before half time to put the home side in front and it was Bradley again who doubled their lead in stoppage time at the end of the match.

That win leaves Mexico with only one point from their last four qualifiers and back in the same gloomy predicament they ended the last qualifying round in. Can Sven turn things around in time for Mexico before the end of the round or will it be 'adios Eriksson'?

Elsewhere yesterday, Trinidad and Tobago looked to have their away match against El Salvador all sown up inside the first half an hour, but they were forced to settle for a draw. Carlos Edwards (currently on loan to Wolves from Sunderland) gave T&T the lead with a long range shot after just seven minutes and Dwight Yorke added another from the penalty spot twenty minutes later.

But the home team struck back through an Osael Romero free kick eleven minutes from the end and with the El Salvador fans urging a last ditch equaliser in injury time, their wish was granted when Romero scored his (and his side's) second to earn an unlikely 2-2 draw.

Finally, Costa Rica had a rather more comfortable 2-0 win over Honduras in San Jose. A brace from Andy Furtado early in the second half means the Ticos share the lead at the top of the group after Matchday 1 with the USA, and who's to say they won't be the top two when the group ends in October?

Of more pressing concern are the next set of matches to be played on March 28th and 29th. USA travel to El Salvador hoping not to take their foot off the gas like Trinidad and Tobago did, while T&T play host to Honduras and Sven's Mexico side welcome the arrival of Costa Rica in what could be the key game of all three.

World Cup 2010 Round-up: November 2008

With 2008 ambling its way wearily to an end, November was the last chance for many countries to pick up some badly needed points in their qualifying campaign for the 2010 World Cup. In the CONCACAF region, it was more important than that. Some countries had to win or see an end to their dreams of qualifying for the finals. Let's find out what happened over in...

North and Central America

...this week.

As you may recall from last month's update, three of the six Final Round spots had been filled by Costa Rica and El Salvador from Group 3 and the United States from Group 1. The last round of games this week featured a three-way battle between Mexico, Jamaica and Honduras for both the available places in Group 2, plus a two-into-one fight for the remaining Group 1 spot between Trinidad & Tobago and Guatemala.

In Group 2, Mexico were standing on the precipice. A fixture in every World Cup since 1994, they now had to at least draw away to Honduras to stand a chance of reaching their fifth consecutive Finals. A defeat against Jamaica last month showed a worrying change of form for Sven Goran Eriksson's men, so naturally anything was expected to happen at the Estadio Olimpico in San Pedro Sula on Wednesday.

In the end, Mexico's poor away form was maintained when Ricardo Osorio scored an own goal early in the second half without reply. As the game lumbered on towards its end, the Mexicans became more frustrated and they were to finish with only nine men.

Gerardo Torrado was booked for the second time in the match three minutes from the end for a poor tackle on Honduras' Carlos Costly (a Costly challenge if you will, ho ho) and a minute later Arsenal's Carlos Vela received a straight red for lashing out at Ramon Nunez.

The game ended 1-0 to Honduras which secured their passage through to Round 4, but Mexico were now waiting on the outcome of Jamaica's game at home to Canada.

The Reggae Boys admittedly needed a high-scoring win to leapfrog Mexico in the Group 2 table, but they very nearly achieved it. Former Sheffield United player Luton Shelton put his side 1-0 up after 27 minutes before Marlon King (currently on loan to Hull City) made it two with a 58th minute penalty. Though Colorado Rapids' striker Omar Cummings was to add a third four minutes from the end, it would prove not enough.

Jamaica's 3-0 win over Canada gave them a total of ten points - level with Mexico - but their goal difference was just four goals short of what was required. John Barnes' men ended their third round qualifying campaign unbeaten at home, and it only remains to wonder just what sort of effect he might have had on his team had he taken over as head coach earlier.

Sadly, Jamaica had to admit defeat while Mexico and Guatemala breathed a sigh of relief at reaching the final round. Would Trinidad & Tobago get the draw they needed against Cuba to take the last spot, or could Guatemala surprise everyone with a win over the USA to take it from them?

As it turned out, both matches finished in predictable fashion. The US team, despite already having qualified, were easily the better team as they beat Guatemala 2-0 thanks to second half goals from Freddy Adu and Kenny Cooper. As for T&T, they cruised to an easy 3-0 win at home to Cuba. Sunderland's Kenwyne Jones was first on the scoresheet after 67 minutes, swiftly followed by Dwight Yorke and later Keon Daniel.

All of which wraps up the third round of qualifying in North and Central America. The final round-robin group begins in 2009 and will consist of the following six teams:

Costa Rica
El Salvador
Honduras
Mexico
Trinidad & Tobago
USA

The top three go through to South Africa 2010 while the fourth-placed team enters a play-off with the fifth-best team from South America.

Asia

Over in Asia, things haven't been quite as exciting but they are working their way quietly through their own final round of qualifiers.

Australia have hit the top of Group 1 and are already the team to beat with three wins out of three thus far. This week they inflicted a 1-0 away win on lowly Bahrain thanks to a goal from Palermo's Marco Bresciano. They're now two points clear of Japan who last month slipped up by drawing at home to Uzbekistan but this week thumped Qatar 3-0.

Qatar are a further three points behind Japan in third place while Bahrain and the Uzbeks trail on one point in fourth and fifth respectively.

In Group 2, the four-way tie for the lead we reported on last month has now been simplified thanks to South Korea's admirable 2-0 away win against Saudi Arabia. That win puts South Korea top of the group, two points clear of Iran who gave the United Arab Emirates their first point of the round in a 1-1 draw in Dubai.

North Korea didn't play but hold third place in the group, level on four points with Saudi Arabia in fourth while the UAE trail behind in last place.

And that's just about all for now with regards to the World Cup 2010 qualifying campaign. We'll be back in 2009 to pick up the threads on the final run-in and tell you who's in and who's out.

World Cup 2010 Round-up: October 2008

It's been another busy week of World Cup 2010 qualifiers so let's round up all the important information from around the globe, starting off with…

Africa

…and here we have exciting news about the climax to Round 2 and the teams that have battled through to win a place in the last round.

Many of the continent's heavyweights such as Cameroon, Nigeria and Ivory Coast predictably finished top of their groups, but for others there was disappointment.

Angola and Senegal, both recent attendees at the World Cup Finals, failed to make it through to Round 3. Senegal's fate was sealed following a disappointing 1-1 draw at home to Gambia which left both teams unable to qualify from Group 6 behind Algeria who finished top. Angola's 3-1 win over Niger proved too little, too late as they finished two points adrift of eventual group winners Benin.

Elsewhere there were smiles all round as Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda and Sudan all made it through to the last round having played formidable opposition in their groups. Joining them will be Togo who were undoubtedly boosted by the return from exile of Emmanuel Adebayor. He bagged four of his side's six goals as they thrashed Swaziland in Accra.

Winner of the award for the most comfortable qualification goes to Nigeria who eventually topped Group 4 by a whopping eleven points. The Super Eagles won all six of their games and conceded only one goal along the way. South Africa, who qualify for the 2010 World Cup as hosts, finished second in the group on goal difference and could only manage two wins throughout the campaign.

The draw for the final round of qualifying in Africa takes place on October 22nd, and here are the teams that will be involved in their seeding groups:

Pot 1 (Seeds)
Cameroon
Egypt
Ghana
Nigeria
Ivory Coast

Pot 2
Guinea
Morocco
Tunisia
Mali
Algeria

Pot 3
Burkina Faso
Gabon
Zambia
Kenya
Benin

Pot 4
Rwanda
Togo
Mozambique
Sudan
Malawi

Europe

Carlos Queiroz's honeymoon period as coach of the Portuguese team appears to have shuddered to an almighty halt after two successive goalless draws in Group 1 this week - one of them against an Albanian side that played with a man down for around half the match.

A 0-0 draw away to Sweden last weekend means Portugal are currently third in the table with only one win from four. Denmark, who beat Portugal 3-2 last month, remain top of the group ahead of Hungary following a 3-0 win over Malta.

Having slumped to a 2-1 defeat against Luxembourg last month, Switzerland bounced right back with two wins on the trot this week. A 2-1 victory over Latvia plus an impressive repeat scoreline against Group 2 leaders Greece means Ottmar Hitzfeld's team are now up to third in the table. Israel are second despite struggling to a 1-1 draw against the Latvians.

For a while it looked like Germany might fail to pick up all three points at home to Wales on Wednesday. Some excellent Welsh defensive play frustrated the Germans for well over an hour until Piotr Trochowski finally grabbed the winner to open up a four point gap at the top of Group 4.

Russia occupy second place in the table having lost 2-1 to Germany last weekend, but a 3-0 win over Finland put their campaign back on track and keeps them level on points with Wales who cruised to a 2-0 win over Liechtenstein last Saturday.

European champions Spain picked up their fourth win in four games to remain top of the group, but they had to come back from 1-0 down against a resurgent Belgian side to eventually pick up all three points in their second match this week. Andres Iniesta had equalised Wesley Sonck's opener for Belgium shortly before half time but it wasn't until David Villa scored two minutes from the end that Spain could finally relax.

Another team with four wins out of four are England who top Group 5 following their 5-1 win over Kazakhstan at the weekend and Wednesday's 3-1 victory away to Belarus. Fabio Capello's side had their unconvincing moments in both matches, but with half the goals coming from Wayne Rooney along with contributions from Rio Ferdinand, Jermaine Defoe and Steven Gerrard, England now have a five-point lead over nearest rivals Croatia. A goalless draw for them against third-placed Ukraine last weekend means they have much to do when the qualifying campaign resumes again next April.

The number of voices calling for the dismissal of French coach Raymond Domenech grow bigger by the day, but the team remain supportive of him following a decent second-half performance against Romania last Saturday. Two goals down at half-time, France looked to be heading for their second loss in the competition but Domenech change his team's tactics and an altogether more fluent team came out to force a 2-2 draw thanks to goals from Franck Ribery and Yoann Gourcuff.

France are now third in Group 7, five points behind their next opponents Lithuania (although they have a game in hand) and Serbia who beat the Lithuanians 3-0 and Austria 3-1 this week.

In Group 8, it was a case of 'as you were' for Italy as they remained top of the table following a goalless draw with Bulgaria and a 2-1 win over Montenegro while Ireland kept in touch with a narrow 1-0 win over Cyprus. Group 9 sees the Dutch go five points clear of nearest challengers Scotland after beating Iceland 2-0 and Norway 1-0. Scotland lost ground by drawing 0-0 with the Norwegians but it could have been oh so different if Chris Iwelumo hadn't missed that sitter at Hampden…

Asia

Just a handful of games took place in Asia on Wednesday, but among them was a convincing 4-0 win for Australia over Qatar. Blackburn Rovers' Brett Emerton scored two for the Socceroos while Everton midfielder Tim Cahill grabbed another to put the Aussies top of Group A by two points. In the other game in the group, Japan were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Uzbekistan.

In Group B, a four-way tie for the lead has emerged with South Korea top of the pile on goal difference. They managed to thrash United Arab Emirates 4-1 with two goals from Lee Keun-Ho.

Like South Korea, Iran also picked up their first win of the round by beating North Korea 2-1. Eintracht Frankfurt's Mehdi Mahdavikia was on hand with the first goal for the home side before Osasuna's Javad Nekonam added a second after 65 minutes.

All of which leaves Saudi Arabia down in third place in the group, but they'll be in action on November 19th when they play host to South Korea while Iran visit the UAE looking to inflict their fourth straight defeat on them.

Also next month, Australia travel to Bahrain in Group A while Qatar are at home to Japan.

South America

Take a leap of faith with us as we proclaim with justified exuberance "Paraguay are the kings of South America." Yes, it's probably the right time to start looking upon Gerardo Martino's side as the best side on the continent as they maintained their excellent start to the South American qualifying competition.

Up to now, Paraguay have only lost one of their ten games (a 4-2 defeat away to Bolivia in June) and this week saw them add another couple of 1-0 wins to their tally against Peru and Colombia. They now head the table on 23 points - three more than they accumulated in the entire 2006 qualifying group, and they still have eight games left to play.

Brazil now occupy second spot thanks to a third straight goalless draw at home against Colombia and a 4-0 away win in Venezuela. The former of those games saw head coach Dunga subjected to the sort of booing that makes the Ashley Cole story seem like a whole load of fuss about nothing.

Luckily for Dunga, Brazil seem to be playing better on the road and are still able to boast just one defeat in ten like Paraguay. It's just a shame they've only won four out of those ten, otherwise they'd probably have qualified for the next World Cup by now.

Freefalling in a big way are Colombia. They're now seventh in the table and have now gone 532 minutes without scoring a goal. Admittedly their last two games were against the might of Brazil and Paraguay (of which they earned a creditable draw against the former, as we've mentioned), but they've now gone six games without a win and have scored just four goals in the whole campaign thus far.

That's good news for Chile, amongst others, who have climbed to fourth following an excellent 1-0 win over Argentina on Thursday night. Fabian Orellana grabbed the vital winner shortly before half-time to put Chile level on points with their opponents.

The impact of that win for Chile - their first over Argentina since 1973 - was monumental insofar as it cost Alfio Basile his job as coach of the Argentinean side. Basile quit his post for personal reasons yesterday after a recent poor run of form and though Argentina picked up a useful 2-1 win over Uruguay last Saturday, the damage, it seems, had already been done. Argentina now lie third in the qualifying table with eight games remaining.

Luckily for the AFA, the search for Basile's successor can now be conducted at a leisurely pace as the South American qualifying campaign goes into hibernation until March 28th 2009 when the competition begins once again.

North and Central America

Costa Rica became the first team to qualify for the final group stage in the CONCACAF region last weekend following their 4-1 away win over Suriname. A 2-0 victory over Haiti four days later secured top spot in Group 3 as El Salvador also booked their place as group runners-up. A 3-0 win over the Surinamese means they'll be in the group of six that battle it out for the three qualifying spots for South Africa when the competition begins in 2009.

Elsewhere, the USA added their names to the list following a comprehensive 6-1 rout of Cuba on Saturday. DaMarcus Beasley scored two and Landon Donovan, Brian Ching, Jozy Altidore and Oguchi Onyewu picked up one each in a victory that did much to boost the fans spirits just days before Trinidad & Tobago inflicted a 2-1 defeat on them to improve their own chances of qualifying.

T&T are now second in Group 1, three points ahead of Guatemala and need just a draw at home to Cuba on November 19th to book their place in the last round. Guatemala travel to the States on the same day hoping that their hosts have the same relaxed mentality that they showed against Trinidad and Tobago this Wednesday.

Finally to Group 2 where Sven's Mexico side suffered a shock 1-0 defeat away to Jamaica last weekend, stalling the Mexicans' chances of securing a place in the next round. Ricardo Fuller's 14th minute strike gave the Jamaicans their first win of the campaign, swiftly followed as it was by their second on Wednesday at home to Honduras, 1-0. Luton Shelton was on hand with the winner this time to force a three-way fight for the two qualifying spots in the group.

Honduras are the meat in the Mexico/Jamaica sandwich, and they retain second spot following a 3-1 win over Canada on Saturday. All of which means the last round of Group 2 fixtures a month from now are crucial in deciding the two teams to go through. The crunch match is undoubtedly the one between Honduras and Mexico where a draw for Eriksson's side will prove enough for them, while Jamaica have the considerably easier job of trying to beat Canada at home.

So have Honduras stumbled at the wrong moment? Will the crack in Mexico's form turn into an irreparable crevasse that sees them fail to qualify for a World Cup for the first time since 1982?

Join us next month to find out…

World Cup 2010 Round-up

We know it's been a week or two since the most recent round of World Cup qualifiers took place, but we never quite got round to summing up all the action from outside Europe, so here's our whistle-stop tour of all you need to know, starting with…

South America
It seems we were a little hasty to cast our judgement on Brazil after the September 6th/7th matches. Brazil's surge up to second spot in the table came to a crashing halt when they could only draw 0-0 with bottom-dwellers Bolivia. With Argentina also drawing against the lower-placed Peru 1-1, Paraguay were able to extend their lead at the top by beating Venezuela 2-0.

Cristian Riveros and Nelson Valdez put the game out of reach before half time in Asuncion to leave the Paraguayans four points clear of Brazil, Argentina and a Chile side that bounced back from their 3-0 drubbing against the Brazilians by beating Colombia 4-0.

That result sees Chile push the faltering Colombians out of the automatic qualification places with Uruguay occupying the play-off spot following their goalless stalemate against Ecuador.

Oh and one other piece of late breaking news: Colombia's head coach Jorge Luis Pinto has been fired after his team's recent run of poor form. His replacement's first game will be next month against Paraguay… nice.

Yes, the CONMEBOL section resumes with another double-header programme between October 11th and 15th where the top three all look to be facing (supposedly) weaker opposition. In this part of the world, however, don't be surprised if the likes of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay all slip up somewhere along the line.

North and Central America
As predicted by us (and probably most of you, to be fair), each of the three Third Round groups in the CONCACAF section are all being led by the strong favourites in each one.

The USA have a 100% record after three games in Group 1, the second of which was the historic meeting with Cuba in Havana on September 6th. Clint Dempsey's first half goal proved to be enough in what was a slightly uninspiring performance in front of a partisan crowd of 8,000, and with a more convincing 3-0 home win over Trinidad and Tobago taking place four days later, the States look almost home and dry already in their group. Guatemala are their nearest challengers some five points behind, and despite beating Cuba 4-1 at home they could only earn a 1-1 draw with the Soca Warriors.

In Group 2, Mexico have a maximum nine points to their name and look totally at ease against all-comers thus far. Earlier this month, they beat Jamaica (who this week announced former England star John Barnes would be their new head coach) 3-0 before a narrow 2-1 win over Canada ensued. Honduras almost matched the Mexicans goal for goal after beating the Jamaicans 2-0 four days after their own 2-1 win away to Canada on September 6th. Honduras are now second in Group 2, three points behind Mexico.

Finally in Group 3, Costa Rica lead the way with three wins out of three. In their pair of games this month they managed to score ten (seven at home to Suriname) and concede just one in their away win in Haiti.

El Salvador are doing their best to stay in touch but find themselves three points behind. They managed to notch up a 5-0 win at home to Haiti along with a 2-0 away win in Suriname.

The next double header's played on October 11th and 15th and sees a reversal of the previous two fixtures taking place. That means Cuba go to the USA looking for their first win, Mexico go to Canada hoping to avoid another scare and Costa Rica look to inflate their +10 goal difference tally with a repeat performance against Haiti and Suriname.

Africa
We've much to get through here as there's just one fixture remaining for most teams in each of the twelve groups. That means if you're not one of the countries still in with a chance of finishing top, you're probably stand a fair chance of getting one of the eight best runners-up places which also guarantees entry to Round 3.

A few months ago, we told you that Nigeria had become the first team to confirm their place in the next stage of the African qualifying competition, and this month three more managed to join them - Cameroon and Benin.

In Group 1, Cameroon got the vital win they needed by beating the Cape Verde Islands 2-1 but the islanders could yet grab one of those valuable second place finishes if they can get at least a draw against Tanzania next month.

In Group 3, Benin beat nearest challengers Angola 3-2 this month leaving the Angolans and Uganda to fight over the runners-up spot. The final round of games in the group see Uganda play at home against the already qualified Benin while Angola are at home to bottom-placed Niger. An intriguing finish to that group looks to be on the cards.

In the other groups, there are more permutations surrounding who could go through than there are English words in Juande Ramos' vocabulary. In Group 10, any of the four teams involved could yet progress, although leaders on goal difference Mali had to suffer a recent defeat against second-placed Congo. They'll be grateful to face bottom-of-the-group Chad next month while a resurgent Sudan play hosts to the Congolese.

Group 12 is almost as tight with the top three all still looking to go through to Round 3 in October. Egypt have a three point lead at the top and should be all set to confirm their place when they play Djibouti next month as their opponents are yet to pick up a point thus far. But it's the teams in second and third place, DR Congo and Malawi that will battle it out to go through when they meet in Blantyre in three weeks' time. DR Congo won 1-0 in their first encounter in June but may be feeling less than confident after their recent defeat by the same score at home to the Egyptians.

Only one point covers the top three in Group 6, so that means Algeria's slender lead of one point may yet prove insufficient as Gambia and Senegal follow on in hot pursuit. As it is, Algeria may be the more relaxed going into the final fixtures on October 11th and 12th as they play the only team in the group that can't go through - Liberia. Senegal play Gambia in Dakar needing to win if they're to reach the Finals again after a six-year absence.

In a tight Group 7, Ivory Coast find themselves leading the way despite drawing three of their five matches so far - the most recent being against Mozambique a fortnight ago. The Ivorians' final game comes at home to their only challengers, Madagascar. A draw will be enough for Ivory Coast to go through, but a win for their opponents by four clear goals will see them swap places. At that point, The Elephants will have to suffer the lottery of the runners-up placing system, but to be honest, we don't think it'll come to that. Both sides drew 0-0 in Antananarivo back in June, and a similar result may yet prevail.

By way of a sum-up, here's the need-to-know on the remaining groups. Libya need just a draw against second-placed Gabon in Group 5 while a slip-up for Gabon could let Ghana through to take one of the top two spots if they can beat lowly Lesotho.

Morocco play host to Mauritania next month looking for the win that will secure their place in Round 3. They currently lie second in Group 8 behind Rwanda, but a win will put the Moroccans top on goal difference. In Group 9, however, Tunisia look as though they'll have to qualify as one of the best runners-up. They're currently three points behind leaders Burkino Faso with a much inferior goal difference. The two sides recently fought out a goalless draw in Burkino Faso leaving the hosts as good as qualified for the next stage.

Finally in Group 2, a draw between Kenya and Guinea will be good enough to see the former go through, and perhaps the latter too if they turn out to be one of the best runners-up while in Group 11, Zambia will be watching on helplessly as Togo play at home to Swaziland. A draw or a win for Togo will see the Zambians make it to the third round while a win for Swaziland will mean they're knocked off the top and entering the runners-up lottery.

Asia
It's still early days here in the fourth and final round so there's not too much in the way of excitement at the moment. In Group 1, Japan got a win in their first and only match so far, 3-2 away to the Bahrainis while Australia also got their campaign underway with a 1-0 away to the Uzbeks. Qatar top the group, though, after beating Uzbekistan 3-0 and drawing 1-1 with Bahrain.

Saudi Arabia are top of Group 2, picking up four points out of their first six with a draw at home to Iran and a win in the United Arab Emirates. North Korea join them on four points following an impressive 2-1 win in the UAE and a 1-1 draw with their South Korean counterparts.

The top two in each group are guaranteed a place in the 2010 Finals while the two teams finishing third play each other in a play-off, the winner of that going on to another play-off with the winner of the Oceania section. If only we knew who that might be...

Oceania
New Zealand are the winners of the Oceania section after a brace of victories over closest challengers New Caledonia. That means with one match left to play against Fiji, the All Whites are assured of a high-profile showdown with one of the Asian elite as well as a place in next year's FIFA Confederations Cup.

Well done to them on a competent qualifying campaign and let's hope they can go one better by reaching South Africa in 2010, if only to silence those people who snigger about the Oceania section being a waste of time.

World Cup 2010 Update: CONCACAF

A quick update now on last week's World Cup 2010 qualifiers in the North and Central American (CONCACAF) section. It's the third round of four and the twelve remaining teams are split into three groups of four, the winners and runners-up going through to the final round.

So what's to report? Well each of the clear favourites from all three groups came through their opening games with a win, but none of them had an easy time of it.

n Group A, USA faced an aggressive Guatemala team who tried to disrupt their opponent's play with a physical approach that bordered on brutal at times, and it may have been this that caused many of the US players to show poor passing and control. Consistency-wise, they lacked a certain something and many of the players had a poor game, but after 70 minutes of a match that had seen seven yellow cards and two reds, the USA finally broke through with what turned out to be a winning goal.

DaMarcus Beasley, on as a substitute for Eddie Lewis, took a perfect corner that allowed captain Carlos Bocanegra to head home, thereafter allowing the visiting side to shut up shop and hold out for a vital three points. It was the first time the American team had beaten the Guatemalans in their own country since 1988 and with the hosts currently at the peak of their abilities, they'll be glad to have survived a potentially treacherous encounter.

Elsewhere in Group A, Trinidad and Tobago swept aside an inferior Cuba side 3-1 in Havana. Midfielder Daniel Keon, who plays his club football for United Petrotrin, scored a goal in each half and with Cornell Glen adding a third after 69 minutes, the Soca Warriors were home and dry well before Jeniel Marquez pulled one back for the Cubans five minutes from the end.

That scoreline means T&T lead the group after one game with the USA second, but all eyes will be on the following round of fixtures taking place next Saturday. That's where we'll get to see the Americans playing in Cuba for the first time since 1947 while Trinidad and Tobago play their first home game of the round against Guatemala.

Can the USA improve on their last performance and live up to their billing as strong favourites against Cuba, and can T&T deal with the brusque approach of the Guatemalans? Watch this space to find out...

Group B now, and Mexico continued their march towards the Finals in South Africa with a 2-1 victory over a tricky Honduran side. It was Honduras who took the lead when Julio Cesar de Leon's free kick thundered in off the crossbar and Mexico had no reply going into the half time break.

Mexico, trying to avoid only their second ever defeat at the Azteca Stadium, came out with all guns blazing in the second half, but an equaliser didn't arrive until the 73rd minute. Stuttgart's Pavel Pardo converted a long-range effort to bring the Mexicans right back into the game on Sven Goran Eriksson's managerial debut for El Tri, and it wasn't long before a second arrived too.

Just two minutes later, Pardo took a free kick not far from the Honduran goal which flew over everyone's head and beyond the stranded keeper Valladares. The Mexicans finally had their lead and Honduras had nothing left to offer. A close run thing for Eriksson's men, and they'll be looking to improve in their next game against Jamaica next weekend.



The other game in the group saw Canada get off to a great start against the Jamaicans thanks to a goal early in the second half for Julian de Guzman. However just five minutes later, Canadian goalkeeper Pat Onstad allowed a corner kick to slip through his fingers and that was the end of the goalscoring in Toronto. A 1-1 draw means a solid start for both teams, but you already get the impression we've seen the bottom two for Group B here.

Finally to Group C and Costa Rica only narrowly squeaked through their game with El Salvador 1-0 thanks to a 48th minute penalty scored by FC Sion's Alvaro Saborio. That should have set the Costa Ricans on course for a comfortable win but Saborio was then sent off towards the end of the match to give El Salvador a slight hope of gaining an equaliser. Sadly it never arrived and Costa Rica can now breathe a sigh of relief as they look forward to the visit of lowly Suriname next weekend.

Suriname, the rank outsiders of all the remaining twelve teams in the CONCACAF section applied themselves well in their match away to Haiti and even went 2-0 up thanks to a brace from Wensley Christoph. Were it not for some better goalkeeping by his team-mate Ronny Aloema, they may even have won the game, for it was his poor handling that allowed a Brunel Fucien shot to crawl over the line four minutes into added time at the end of the game.



It was this goal that tied the game at 2-2 after Frantz Bertin had pulled one back for Haiti in the 90th minute, all of which must have left the Surinamese frustrated at coming so close to getting their first win of the campaign. As it is, Suriname travel next to Costa Rica where their hosts will no doubt be certain not to underestimate them, while Haiti go to El Salvador in the hope of equalling or bettering their 1-0 win in a San Salvador friendly last year.

More news from CONCACAF next week.

CONCACAF Gold Cup 2007 Update

Owing to the frequent references to Guadeloupe on many recent posts (and we have Chris 'B Squad' to thank for that), I thought it wise to put them into context by giving you an update on the 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup.

Group A

This year's tournament for North and Central American countries is being held in the United States (as it almost always has been since 1991) and was kicked off on June 6th with the first two games of Group A; Costa Rica v Canada and Guadeloupe v Haiti.

Both games were played at Miami's Orange Bowl and in the first Canada earned a shock 2-1 win over last year's World Cup finalists thanks to two goals from Julian Deguzman after Walter Centeno had put the Costa Rican's in front on 56 minutes.

The following match saw Guadeloupe - now adopted as SPAOTP's favourite non-FIFA-registered team - pick up their first ever Gold Cup point with a 1-1 draw against Haiti. Cedrick Fiston was the man who put his name in the record books as the Guadeloupeans' first Gold Cup scorer after Mones Chery had put Haiti in front with a penalty in the first half.

Three days later, Guadeloupe were to out-shock Canada who had hoped to secure qualification through to the quarter-finals with a second win. The Caribbean side took the lead on 10 minutes when captain Jocelyn Angloma (one-time winger for France in the 1990's) chipped Canadian keeper Greg Sutton from 35 yards out.

Canada equalised in the 31st minute when Ali Gerba despatched an easy chance but Gaudeloupe were not to be beaten and six minutes later David Fleurival restored the lead at 2-1. The Canadians were left reeling and despite much pressure for the rest of the match it was Guadeloupe who all but secured their quarter-final place.

Later on June 9th, Costa Rica met Haiti, neither of whom had won their first match but as it turned out neither were to win this one either. In an intense and physcial match, the far more experienced Costa Ricans finally took the lead when Walter Centeno got his second of the tournament on 62 minutes but Haiti pulled one back nine minutes later through Boucicaut and that's the way it ended - 1-1.

Costa Rica were looking at an early flight home having gained just one point from a possible six and had to beat Guadeloupe in their final game to stand any chance of reaching the quarter-finals. When they met on June 11th, the Costa Ricans were in luck. That man Walter Centeno scored again in the thirteenth minute and it proved to be the only goal of the match.

With Guadeloupe now wondering if they'd qualify, all eyes turned to the last game of the group as Canada took on Haiti. The islanders had to win if they were to go through to the next round while Canada were looking for at least a draw. In a dull game, it was the Canadians who cruised to victory thanks to a Dwayne De Rosario brace in the 30th and 35th minutes and with that Haiti were out of the competition.

Canada had secured top spot in the group with six points but Costa Rica snatched second on goal difference ahead of Guadeloupe. In this year's Gold Cup, only two of the three third-placed teams would go through. Would Guadeloupe be one of them?

Group B

Group B was seen as the strongest of all three groups and so it proved to be as the United States began proceedings on June 7th with a nervy 1-0 win over Guatemala in Los Angeles. Clint Dempsey scored from close range to get the only goal of the game enabling the hosts to carry on from where they left off at the end of the 2005 tournament which they won.

Later in the day, Trinidad and Tobago (finalists at the 2006 World Cup) were given the dubious task of beating a strengthening El Salvador team at the Home Center Depot. Despite a well-taken early free kick from Silvio Spann to put T&T in front, El Salvador battled back with a goal near the end of each half from Ramon Sanchez and Dennis Alas to win the tie 2-1.

Next for El Salvador was a match against beaten Guatemala on June 9th. In an aggressive encounter, the form book was thrown out the window as Jose Contreras struck with a 69th minute volley to put both teams level on three points in the group. Not necessarily good news for El Salvador whose last game was to be against the United States...

The hosts had no such worries as they faced an unsettled Trinidad and Tobago team later in the day. A win would send them through to the quarter-finals and almost certainly end their opponents' chance of doing the same.

This time the form book did account for something. In front of a sell-out crowd, a much-changed American team cruised past the weak Trinidadians thanks to a 29th minute tap-in from Brian Ching and a 54th minute tap-in from Eddie Johnson. It was all too easy for the USA, though arguably not for their 'keeper Kasey Keller who struggled to find something to do for much of the match.

Despite knowing they'd qualified for the next round, the hosts didn't take their foot off the gas for their final group game against El Salvador. Goals rained in on the Salvadorian goal and more were avoided only because of the woodwork as DaMarcus Beasley scored two and Landon Donovan and Taylor Twellman picked up a goal each. The USA deservedly finished up group winners with a 4-0 win which only left one question remaining: Could anyone stop the Americans winning this tournament?

Meanwhile, Guatemala were in the fortunate position of knowing that a point against Trinidad and Tobago would be enough to take second place in the group. In a tough-fought battle, Guatemala gained an early advantage as Trinidad had Dwayne Jack sent off for violent conduct after 29 minutes.

Guatemala should have been in the ascendancy but struggled to overcome their awkward opponents until Carlos Ruiz finished off a well-worked move to give his side the lead in the 83rd minute. Even then, however, it wasn't 'game over' as just two minutes later Errol McFarlane rose to head home a high ball into the penalty area which ensued the game would finish a draw, 1-1.

The result was good enough for Guatemala who joined the USA in the quarter finals, but for third-placed El Salvador and last-placed Trinidad and Tobago there would be no such silver lining. Group B was said to be tough at the start, and the experts had been proved right.

Group C

June 8th saw the start of play in Group C and in the first game Panama put in a spirited performance to beat Honduras 3-2 while the second match at the Giants Stadium, New Jersey, saw Mexico win 2-1 having been a goal down against Cuba.

Reynier Alcantara smashed the ball past Mexican goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa in the 22nd minute but just when Hugo Sanchez's first game in charge as coach was starting to look like an embarrassing one, Jared Borgetti equalised with a header sixteen minutes later.

Eleven minutes into the second half, Mexico took the lead when Nery Castillo followed up to put the ball in after a shot from Jose Fonseca was spilled by the 'keeper. Cuba had to little to offer by way of a comeback and could have even have conceded a third late on but the score remained 2-1 to Mexico.

Two days later, a tournament which was already getting a reputation for throwing up surprises created another when Mexico lost 2-1 to Honduras. Blanco scored from a penalty to put the Mexicans 1-0 up after 29 minutes and everything seemed to be going according to plan for the rest of the half, but Honduras came out a different side for the second.

In the 57th minute, Carlo Costly, currently playing his club football in Poland, scored an equaliser and at the end of normal time he added a second to hand Mexico a rare Gold Cup defeat to leave both teams on three points from two matches.

Later in the day, Panama continued their unbeaten run with a 2-2 draw against a much-improved Cuba side to leave the group wide open going into the final round of games on June 13th.

The action for the last two Group C games switched to the Reliant Stadium, Houston where Cuba, almost certainly without a chance of qualifying for the quarter-finals faced a Honduras side playing in front of many of their own fans.

It was to be a retched night for the Cubans as Carlos Pavon went goal-crazy for Honduras. He scored in the 3rd, 12th, 42nd and 53rd minute to become only the third player ever to score four goals in a Gold Cup match and to make matters worse Amado Guevara added a fifth in the 90th minute to seal a 5-0 victory for the Hondurans.

They could rest safe in the knowledge that they'd secured at least second spot in the group but if Mexico avoided defeat against Panama, they'd finish top.

The Mexicans dominated the first half but couldn't find a goal thanks to some largely wayward shooting but on the hour mark Carlos Salcido headed in from a corner and the deadlock was broken. Panama fought back desperately looking for an equaliser but none came. Mexico won by a single goal and that was enough to take second place in the group on goal difference behind Honduras. For Panama, they had the satisfaction of being one of the best third-placed teams so they, too, entered the quarter finals.

Quarter-Finals

Well the action began yesterday in explosive style as Canada won their game against Guatemala 3-0. Some familiar faces ended up on the scoresheet as the Canadians proved too powerful for a static Guatemalan side. Dwayne De Rosario opened the scoring in the 17th minute by tapping in a shot from Ali Gerba, but it was then Gerba himself who added two of his own in the 33rd and 44th minutes. Canada wound down the clock in the second half, making sure of their first semi-final appearance in the Gold Cup since 2002.

In the second quarter-final, the USA struggled to overcome Panama but they gained advantage in the 60th minute when Landon Donovan was hauled down by Carlos Rivera who converted the resulting penalty.

Two minutes later, Carlos Bocanegra doubled the lead when he scored from a DaMarcus Beasley free kick and the game was all but over despite a Blas Perez pulling a goal back late on for Panama.

So the USA earn their place in the semi-finals where they'll play Canada in what looks to be a mouth-watering tie. The remaining two quarter-finals are due to take place later today (June 17th) where Mexico will face Costa Rica and Honduras take on the minnows from Guadeloupe.

If you're waiting for some predictions from me, I'm afraid you won't get any. I've already come to the conclusion that this exciting tournament has been anything but predictable, so it's probably best to just sit back and watch the action unfold.