CONCACAF 2nd round World Cup qualifying

[VCC]

This round is a 2-legged aggregate contest. Here are the first leg results.

Surinam 1-1 Guatemala
Cuba 2-2 Costa Rica
Haiti 1-1 Jamaica
Netherlands Antilles 1-2 Honduras
USA 3-0 Grenada
El Salvador 2-1 Bermuda
Nicaragua 2-2 St. Vincent and the Grenadines
Dominican Republic 0-2 Trinidad and Tobago
Panama 4-0 St. Lucia
Canada 4-0 Belize
Barbados 0-2 St. Kitts and Nevis
Dominica 0-10 Mexico

 

[koivu]

How bout those Canadians! We should have won 10 against poor Belize.

 

[VCC]

Heh. The US should have had 15 or so. Outshot Grenada 34-6. Had 17 corners to Grenada's one. Very tough to shoot through 8 defenders though.

I expect them to win at home, but if any of Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Jamaica go out, it'll be shocking.

 

[USArsenal]

LOL, i saw the highlights on FSW... its almost like we were toying with them.... how can you have 34 shots and only score 3 goals... TBH, the USA didnt exactly play all their "first-teamers" either.... it wasnt as close as the score indicated..... and neither was the Canadian score..........

i would like to see Canada qualify for the WC.. i hold a special place in my heart for the canucks! lol (keeping in mind i played hockey in western NY for 15 years, so i think you could see why)....


and VCC, yeah, Costa Rica and Jamaica would be a shock, but Guatemala? i dont think thats too much of a stretch for them to lose... although, they are playing Surinam..

 

[VCC]

Well, I remember them always giving us a tough game in Guatemala always. When we beat them in 2000, everyone was shocked we'd beaten them in central America.

 

[USArsenal]

we didnt have the best record in CA back then... now it shouldnt be quite as tough since we are a much better team now....

 

[AFCG7]

Actually the Haitian result v Jamaica isnt that shocking.. Haiti was the first ever Caribbean qualifier for the World Cup.. they have very good players but of course their infrastructure is poor , so they dont have much top class match practice.
CUba are also an improving team.
The shocker of the round is lowly ST Kitts beating Barbados.. away win too.
In qualifying round for WC2002, Barbados made it all the way to the final round, and also beat Costa Rica and Honduras.

 

[AFCG7]

A note too about Surinam.. they also have good players... if you look at the Dutch squad.. GUllit Rikjaard Davids Seedorf Winter Kluivert and a few others have Surinamese roots, but being a former Dutch Colony with ties to Holland , all their top players are snatched up early..like the French do with GUadeloupe and Martinique

 

[VCC]

2nd leg:
Belize 0-4 Canada

Canada through 8-0 on aggregate.

 

[koivu]

It feels so good to see Canada go through 8-0...but my university side could probably have gotten by poor Belize. I'm glad to hear at least one other person is rooting for us canucks, they desperately need to qualify for a WC...haven't been there since 1986!

 

[VCC]

Today the final first leg was played. Mexico beat Dominica 10-0 in San Antonio, Texas. Some 2nd legs are being played this weekend.

 

[VCC]

Second leg results:

Honduras 4-0 Netherlands Antilles
St. Kitts and Nevis 3-2 Barbados

Honduras, who nearly qualified for WC 2002, missing out to Mexico on the last day, advance 6-1 on aggregate.

St. Kitts advance 5-2 on aggregate.

Honduras and St. Kitts join Canada in the semifinal round of CONCACAF World Cup qualifying. The semifinal round consists of 3 groups of 4 teams, with the top 2 in each group advancing to the final group of 6 teams.

Today, the following ties will be decided

Costa Rica v Cuba (2-2 first leg)
Guatemala v Suriname (1-1)
St. Vincent and the Grenadines v Nicaragua (2-2)
Grenada v USA (0-3)
Trinidad and Tobago v Dominican Republic (2-0)
St. Lucia v Panama (0-4)
Bermuda v El Salvador (1-2)
Jamaica v Haiti (1-1)

Yes, I know most of you don't care about CONCACAF, but this thread is for those of us CONCACAFites out there who like following all the scores.

 

[VCC]

And the results:

Costa Rica 1-1 Cuba
Tied 3-3 on aggregate. Costa Rica goes through an away goals.

Guatemala 3-1 Surinam
Guatemala through 4-2 on aggregate.

St. Vincent and the Grenadines 4-1 Nicaragua
St. Vincent through 6-3 on aggregate.

Grenada 2-3 USA
USA through 6-2 on aggregate.

Trinidad and Tobago 4-0 Dominican Republic
T & T through 6-0 on aggregate.

St. Lucia 0-3 Panama
Panama through 7-0 on aggregate.

Bermuda 2-2 El Salvador
El Salvador through 4-3 on aggregate.

Jamaica 3-0 Haiti
Jamaica through 4-1 on aggregate.

I think it's safe to say Mexico will win (up 10-0 after the first leg). I saw the first 35 minutes of the Grenada-US game. It was pouring down rain and it was really effecting play.

If I'm reading the FIFA website right, the semifinal groups will be:

Group 1
USA
El Salvador
Jamaica
Panama

Group 2
Costa Rica
Guatemala
Honduras
Canada

Group 3
Mexico
St. Kitts and Nevis
Trinidad and Tobago
St. Vincent and the Grenadines

Group 2 looks very competitive, while Mexico looks to have gotten a nice walk in the park.