CONCACAF 2010 World Cup Qualifying Matches

November 19 saw the last round of matches for North, Central America and Caribbean zones, also known as CONCACAF. The group winner and runner up from each of the three groups will advance to the final hexagonal stage. Three teams will qualify directly for 2010 World Cup. The fourth-placed team will take on the fifth-placed finisher in South American qualifying for a place at the world finals.

USA 2-0 Guatemala

The United States Men’s National Team ended the semifinal round of CONCACAF World Cup qualifying with a win. A different squad with many young players beat Guatemala by a score of 2-0. The Guatemalan team needed a win to have any kind of chance to qualify. The U.S. was dominating through the match, but it took them 53 minutes before they opened the score. Kenny Cooper’s shot from inside the box gave the U.S. team a 1-0 lead. Freddy Adu made it 2-0 in the 69th minute from a free kick. It was Adu’s first goal for the national team. The USA finished the qualifying on a high note in the first place of Group A with 5 wins and only one loss. Trinidad & Tobago is the other advancing team.

Honduras 1-0 Mexico

“We forced the Mexicans to their knees once more,” was on many headlines in Honduran newspapers after  Wednesday’s huge victory. It was  Mexico’s third match without win. They won only three of their matches in their group, losing to Jamaica and only tied with Canada.  Sven Goran-Eriksson position as a coach is on shaky ground and many in Mexico are calling for his head. Honduras’ win came from Mexican defender Ricardo Osorio on his own goal in the second half. Mexico never gained control of the match and finished with only nine players after Torrado and Vela were shown red card. Both teams qualified for the next round, with Mexicans edging out Jamaica on goal difference.

Costa Rica 3-1 El Salvador

Costa Rica finished their impressive World Cup qualifying campaign with win over host El Salvador. Roy Myrie scored two of the goals and Jose Fernandez added one. Costa Rica is the most successful qualifier, winning all of their matches outscoring other teams 20:3. El Salvador also qualified, finishing seven points ahead of third place Haiti.

Qualifying for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa continued on Wednesday with matches in CONCACAF, Asian and Oceania zones. The rest of the world had some very interesting friendly matches.

The Oceania zone underdog Fiji ended New Zealand’s unbeaten record at home with a surprise 2-0 win. Despite the loss, New Zealand will advance to next round of qualifiers.

In the Asian zone, Japan comfortably beat Qatar 3-0, while United Arab Emirates tied with  Iran 1-1. Australia  with stars like Harry Kewell and Tim Cahill faced Bahrain, but had to wait till 94th minute to break the tie on goal from Marco Bresciano. South Korea’s 2-0 win over Saudi Arabia move them to the top of their group.

The only European zone World Cup qualifier was between the Czech Republic and San Marino. The Czechs were the clear favorites and the only question was by how many goals they would win. But in front of only a thousand fans, it took the Czech team almost 50 minutes to score their first goal. The final score was 3-0 but the Czechs didn’t look to convincing.  Striker Baros and Fenin once again failed to score and one of the few positive things was a goal by rookie Tomas Necid. The Czechs occupy the second spot in Group 3, with two points less than first place Slovakia.

England beat host Germany 2-1 and recorded their fifth win in a row under coach Fabio Capello. Both teams were without their major stars. England was missing Wayne Rooney, Rio Ferdinand, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and last minute injured Theo Walcott. Germany were without Michael Ballack, Philip Lahm and Torsten Frings. England opened the score by Matthew Upson in the 23rd minute. Germany equalized in the 63rd minute when Helmes put it through the goalie’s legs. John Terry delivered the winning goal after Downing’s free kick. A victory in Germany provided the perfect end to England’s 2008 season. Fabio Capello should get most of the credit for that. Tough coach but knows how to deliver results, something England didn’t have for awhile.

Serbia trashed Bulgaria 6-1 in what was a farewell match for former Aston Villa striker Savo Milosevic. He scored two goals but managed to miss two penalties, yes you heard right two. He blamed the misses on his emotions. What a way to end one’s career.

The Netherlands 3-1 win over Sweden proved to be too easy. Robin van Persie scored twice and Dirk Kuyt added one. Kallstrom came on as a substitute and scored the lonely goal for Sweden.

Argentina won their first match under Diego Maradona’s coaching. They beat Scotland at Hampden Park by a score of 1-0. Maxi Rodriguez scored in the eighth minute on a pass from Carlos Tevez.

Theofanis Gekas’ goal in the 50th minute put Greece 1-0 ahead in friendly match with Italy. But not for long. Luca Toni equalized on 1-1 after a free kick from Daniele De Rossi. It was 31 consecutive international matches without defeat for coach Lippi.

more results….

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Petr Cech-Czech National Team

Anderlecht’s goalkeeper Daniel Zitka will take over the role from Petr Cech and start for the Czechs in Wednesday 2010 World Cup qualifier against San Marino. The number 1 goalie Petr Cech who won the Czech Golden Ball for  the 2007/2008 season as best player is out with an injury. He sustained a calf injury in  the match with Blackburn, missing last Saturday’s Premier League action. Cech said at a press conference that he will start practicing with his club Chelsea soon and should be back in action within several days. Instead  of going to San Marino he is planning to watch the match at home on TV.

Bernd Schuster-Real Madrid

Real Madrid coach Bernd Schuster survived the vote of confidence but his future is on shaky ground. Real is not doing well in the Champions League where they lost both matches to Juventus and exited early from Copa del Ray. They are leading Primera Liga but “only” by three points.  According to the Spanish media, the club’s president Ramon Calderon already has lined up Schuster’s replacement. Despite the players “supporting” their coach, rumors about problems within the team are also circulating. For the management of a team like Madrid, being in first place is the choice. We all know that Madrid leaders won’t hesitate to get a new coach, eight coaches in nine years proves that.

Andrej Arsavin-Bayern Munich

Russia Internacional and Zenit St. Petersburg’s player Andrej Arsavin may be heading for the German Bundesliga. He told German newspaper Bild that he is done playing for Zenit and his dream was always to play for Bayern Munich. The 27-year-old Arsavin made a name for himself during the EURO 2008, when Russia won the bronze medal. Several Europeans super clubs among them Real Madrid and Barcelona show interest in him. One obstacle may be the asking price of around 25 million euros. According to his representative there won’t be any decisions made before December 10.

Didier Drogba-Alex Ferguson

British Football Association handed an early “Christmas present” to Chelsea striker Didier Drogba and Manchester  United coach Alex Ferguson. Drogba will spend next three matches watching them from stands. He was suspended immediately for his coin throwing incident. It happened during Carlin Cup’s match with Burley when Drogba threw a coin launched at him back to the stands. Also receiving a ban is Man Utd coach Alex Ferguson for his outburst against referee Dean during match with Hull City. He was “awarded” a two match touchline ban and a $15,400 dollar fine. Last year he served similar fine after a verbal fight with referee Mark Clattenburg.

MLS-St. Louis

The freshly named National League MVP star Albert Pujols has announced he joined group which is trying to bring expansion team to St. Louis. “I am very proud and excited to join the effort to bring Major League Soccer to the St Louis area,” Pujols said.  St Louis Soccer United applayed for 2011 an MLS expansion team franchise last October. St. Luis has rich history of soccer involvement and getting a team it’s been long overdue.

Diego Maradona-Hand of God

Twenty two years later and some fans still won’t let it go. Yes, we’re talking about that that infamous “Hand of God” goal. Maradona will be making his coaching debut against Scotland, but the media is more interested in that, then the match with Argentina. Scotland assistant manager Terry Butcher added fuel to the fire saying he won’t offer Maradona the traditional post-match handshake. Maradona seems to be irrateded by the whole thing and had this to say, “England won a World Cup with a goal that was plain to see to everyone that it did not cross the line,” Maradona said. “So I don’t think it is fair that people should judge me when stuff like that goes on.

2010 World Cup Qualifying - CONCACAF Matches

USA-Guatemala

U.S. Men’s National Team is hosting Guatemala on Wednesday and for the first time ever Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Colorado will see a World Cup qualifier. This will be Guatemala’s last chance to qualify for the World Cup 2010.

USA already qualified, winning their Group with four wins and only one loss .  That secured them first place in Group 1 of the Semifinal Round of FIFA World Cup qualifying.

Wednesday’s match with Guatemala will give coach Bradley a chance to try some different players. Bradley nominated a 20 man squad with the addition of goalie Brad Guzan, forward Jozy Altidore and midfielder Freddy Adu.

The U.S. team expects it to be a very hard game because Guatemala is chasing Trinidad for second place. A win could give them a theoretical chance of advancing to the final round of regional qualifying. But make no mistake the U.S. team is also going for win since they lost the last qualifier to Trinidad back in October. They sent inexperienced youths to Trinidad and the result was 2-1 for the host. That gave Trinidad the hope to qualify, putting them in second place with eight points.

What team will  to advance will go down to the wire on the final matchday. The match will be televised on ESPN Classic (why not ESPN2 ?!). Kickoff is at 6pm MT.

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Maradona-Mascherano

The new Argentina coach Diego Maradona ended his European trip with naming Javier Mascherano the new captain of the Argentine national team. He will take over the captaincy from Javier Zanetti. Maradona was also trying to make Barcelona release Lionel Messi for upcoming international matches but without success. Because of an agreement between Barcelona and the Argentine soccer federation, Messi won’t be available till the World Cup qualifiers at Venezuela in March. Maradona was named the coach of Argentina’s national team last week after the team suffered several defeats under coach Alfio Basile.

Juventus Turin-Gianluigi Bufffon

Juventus’ goalie Gianluigi Buffon’s comeback will have to be delayed till after the New Year. He suffered a leg muscle problem on October 5 and was expected to return to action in Serie A this month. Juve is doing surprisingly well without him, winning their last four matches. “The last few games have shown I’m not indispensable,” Buffon said. Buffon joined Juventus in 2001 and appeared in 228 matches for the club.

Bayern Munich-Landon Donovan

LA Galaxy star Landon Donovan was given a chance to stay in shape by practicing with Bayern Munich for 10 days. He played in Germany for Bayer Leverkusen, but without much success. Donovan is not hiding the desire to stay with Bayern if they should show an interest. “The unfortunate part about the soccer world in that sense is that it isn’t up to me. There are a lot of issues with the league and with Galaxy also,” he said. That is bad news for Galaxy who may also lose David Beckham to AC Milan if the rumors are right.

MLS Playoffs-NY Red Bulls

Two time defending champion Houston Dynamo is out of the  playoffs after losing 3-0 to NY Red Bulls on Sunday. Dynamo was one of the favorites to win this year’s MLS Cup, while NY was not supposed to survive the first round. Next for the Red Bulls is Real Salt Lake who is another underdog. They overcame Chivas USA on aggregate score of 3-2. In the other match-up we have Chicago Fire against Columbus Crew. Both matches will be televised: Chicago vs Columbus on ESPN2, Deportes on Thursday, Nov 13 at 7:30 pm EST. NY Red Bulls vs Real Salt Lake will be on Fox Soccer Channel on Saturday, Nov 15 at 9:30 pm EST.

Bolivia-Players vs Police

Two of the Bolivian Soccer championship matches suffered from clashes between players and police in the past few days . Bolivian champions Aurora players attacked police while they were trying to hurry one of Aurora’s players off the field. Police used pepper spray to control the situation. Leaders of the club issued a public apology for their players behavior. The match between the Oriente Petrolero-Blooming also witness a brawl, this time not only involving players and police but also the officials.

Barack Obama-2008 World Cup

We witnessed a history on November 4 when Barack Obama became the first African-American president elect. One of the many good things people are expecting will come with his administration is to have successful bid for the right to host the 2018 World Cup. Obama is an extremely popular choice among many people around the world and that could only help in landing the 2018 World Cup. Obama himself is not a stranger to soccer. He is a fan of Premier League club West Ham and his older daughter Malia plays soccer. There is also very real chance he may travel to the openings of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Experience over Youth

Trinidad & Tobago scored a surprising win over the US on Wednesday night, their first in 14 years against them. The US team already qualified for next year’s CONCACAF final round and coach Bob Bradley chose to play several young players. He started the World Cup qualifying match with Freddy Adu, Jozy Altidore and Brad Guzman in goal. T&T went ahead on a goal by 40-year-old Russell Latapy, in the 61st minute. Freddy Adu’s substitute Charlie Davies equalized on 1-1 fifteen minutes later. Then another T&T “old timer” the 36- year -old Dwight Yorke scored the winning goal from a penalty kick. The US will be facing Guatemala for the final match of the year at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colorado.

Wednesday October 15 results

Standings

World Cup qualifying results for European Zone on October 15.

CZECHO’S SOCCER CORNER

Germany-Michael Ballack

Germany’s National team may have to do without their captain Michael Ballack against Wales. Ballack remains questionable for Wednesday’s World Cup qualifier due to his sore calf. He got hurt during Saturday’s match against Russia, where he scored the second goal. Germany won 2-1 and they are leading Group 4 with seven points, one ahead of Wales.

Roman Bednar-Czech National team

Czech striker Roman Bednar whom The Times are comparing to Cristiano Ronaldo, was once again left out of the Czech National team. He told the newspaper that he doesn’t understand why he wasn’t nominated since his season in EPL was going so well. The Czechs have a string of five matches without a win and coach Petr Rada sure could use his services. Bednar scored three goals in his last six matches and West Bromwich coach Tony Mowbray praised him for his focus and determination.

Atletico Madrid-Champions League

Thanks to violence and racist behavior, Atletico Madrid must play their next two Champions League matches away from home. UEFA’s also fined the team $204,600 and ordered them to play at least 186 miles from Madrid. On top of that Atletico’s coach Javier Aguirre was suspended for both matches with Liverpool. UEFA firmly believes and enforces zero tolerance for violent and racist behavior.

Camacho-Osasuna

Former coach of the Spanish National team Jose Antonio Camacho was appointed as the new coach of Primera Liga team Osasuna. Camacho was in charge of national team from 1998-2002 and coached several top flight teams in Spain. He will replace Jose Angel Ziganda who has been the team’s coach since 2006. Ziganda also played for Osasuna for three years, appearing in 68 matches and scoring nineteen goals. Osasuna has yet to register a win this season, having only four points from six matches.

England-World Cup Qualifier

England will travel to next the World Cup qualifier against Belarus without their injured defenders John Terry and Ashley Cole. They will be replaced with Matthew Upson and Wayne Bridge. England has nine points from three matches but Fabio Capello warned about their next opponent. “Belarus is a very good team and it will not be an easy game,” he said. “They drew with Argentina and Germany. It will be a very, very tough game.” Group 6 is a tough group with Croatia and Ukraine, and England needs maximum points from each match.

Brazil-Venezuelan Off-field Tactics

According to Brazil defender Lucio, him and a few more of his teamates were intentionally poisoned before the match with Venezuela. Lucio along with Maicon, Gilberto Silva and Elano complained of stomach aches after drinking coffee in the hotel were the team was staying, the players also complained of excessive noice during their stay at the hotel. The team’s doctor said it was food poisoning but where it came from, nobody knows. Their stay in Caracas started on the wrong foot for the Brazilian players, who complained of being left waiting 90 minutes on the runway before being allowed to disembark the plane. Despite all the problems Brazilians were exposed to, they won easily by beating Venezuela 4-0.

2010 World Cup qualifiers continue on Wednesday, October 15. Fox Soccer Channel will be covering four matches from the European and Asian zones. We will be having up to the minute results of all the matches played on Wednesday. Come back to check results. Enjoy the “Greatest show on Earth.” All times are EST.

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Cristiano Ronaldo-Real Madrid

The Cristiano Ronaldo saga is on again. Real Madrid’s coach Bernd Schuster once again saying that Ronaldo will move to Real next season. “I think that next year it is going to be a little more complicated for his club to retain him. There is hope that next year he could be with us,” said Schuster. It’s a known fact that Ronaldo wants to play for the Spanish super-club. Manchester United filed a tampering complaint with FIFA in June accusing Madrid’s club of actively pursuing the player.

USA-World Cup

The US national team scored a fourth victory in a row by trashing Cuba 6-1. DaMarcus Beasley scored twice and  Landon Donovan, Brian Ching, Jozy Altidore and Oguchi Onyewu added one each. This win means the US team is in the final round of 2010 World Cup qualifying with two more matches to go. Next match is with Trinidad & Tobago on October 15.

Petr Cech-Slovenia

The Czechs received another blow in their quest to qualify for the 2010 World Cup. Thier goalie Petr Cech and defender Marek Jankulovski are most likely out of next Wednesday’s match against Slovenia. Both players sustained their injuries in Saturday’s match with Poland. The Czech team lost to Poland 2-1 and has only one point from two matches in their Group 3. They were also missing their captain Tomas Rosicky who is recovering after a knee surgery.

Brian McBride-Chichago Fire

Brian McBride faced his old team Columbus on Sunday, but that didn’t stop him from scoring twice and helping to secure a playoff spot for the Chicago Fire. McBride spent eight seasons with Columbus Crew before heading to England. The 36-year-old McBride returned to his hometown Chicago this summer to join MLS where he wants to end his career. He played in nine matches so far and scored four goals.

Kevin Kuranyi-German team

German striker Kevin Kuranyi walked out on the national squad on Saturday during a match with Russia. Because of that, he won’t be playing for the national team again. Kuranyi didn’t make the 18-man team for the match with Russia and had to watch from the stands.  Coach Joachim Loew said, “I have not heard a word from him, but given the way things have gone, as a coach, I cannot nominate him again.” Sources close to the player said he is ready to announce his retirement from international competition.

Canada-CONCACAF

Honduras’ 3-1 win over Canada means that the Canadians were eliminated from 2010 World Cup qualification. Canada stands last in the Group 2 with one point from a draw. Last time Canada qualified for the World Cup was back in 1986. In another qualifying disappointment, Mexico lost to Jamaica in Kingston 1-0. It was coach Eriksson’s first loss since taking over the team. The Mexicans will face Canada next and a win will guarantee them qualifying for the fourth round.

Results for October 11 World Cup qualifying matches in European zone.

CZECHO’S SOCCER CORNER

Ronaldo-Paris Saint-Germain

Brazilian star Ronaldo will start full training next week with club Flamengo. He has been out of action for eight months after his horrific injury while playing for AC Milan. The number one question now is where the Brazilian will end-up playing. He became a free agent and he voiced his desire to play along side Robinho in Manchester City. The French team Paris Saint-Germain is showing serious interest in signing him but Ronaldo is leaving himself open to the option to play for Flamengo. The 32-year-old said, “For the time being, my only aim is to return to playing, the rest will follow.”

Poland - FIFA

The World Cup qualifier between the Czech Republic and Poland will go on after FIFA, UEFA and the Polish Soccer Federation reached an agreement today. Poland has agreed to remove a government-appointed administrator and will hold an election on October 30. The Polish government suspended PSF after they refused to investigate possible corruption in Polish soccer. Besides forfeiting  matches with the Czech Republic and Ukraine, FIFA was also threatening to take way the Euro 2012 finals.

Manchester United-Jaap Stam

The former Dutch International Jaap Stam has joined his old club Manchester United as their scout for the South American region. While playing for Manchester Stam published an autobiography where he voiced his displeasure with Alex Ferguson and some of his team-mates. He was then traded in a hurry to Serie A team Lazio. Stam ended his career in October 2007 playing for Dutch super-club Ajax Amsterdam .

Liverpool- Martin Skrtel

In an interview with the Daily Mail newspaper, Liverpool’s defender Martin Skrtel revealed that he thought his injury would end his career. “I can’t remember a lot about the moment, but it was terrible. I thought that was the end for me.” said the the 23-year-old Slovak international. Fortunately he only sustained a partial tear of the cruciate ligament in his right knee. According to the doctor’s prognoses he should be back before Christmas.

Germany - Russia

Germany’s National team will have to face Russia on Saturday without their number one goalie Robert Enke. During Wednesday’s practice he broke his left arm. He inherited the number one position after Jens Lehmann retired from International soccer in August. He will undergo surgery today and will be out for about three months. He will be replaced by 23-year-old Bayer Leverkusen goalkeeper Rene Adler according to coach Joachim Loew.

Fox Soccer Channel will show a total of six World Cup qualifying matches between October 11 and October 15. Kick back and enjoy “The Greatest show on Earth.” All times are EST.

2010 South Africa World Cup qualifying is back after a month long break with matches on all five continents. Two rounds of matches start on October 11 and go to October 15…..read more

Schedule for European Zone matches

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Tomas Ujfalusi disgusted with loss

Tomas Ujfalusi revealed that after Saturday’s 6-1 trashing by Barcelona he dumped his soccer shoes into the garbage, out of disgust. When he was asked about the debacle, he jokingly said that after two nights of sleep he doesn’t remember it.  He admitted that Barcelona had one of the best offensive lines he ever played against. Ujfalusi is right, it took only eight minutes into the match for Atletico Madrid to be down by 3-0.

Rush of injuries for Marcello Lippi’s team

Italian coach Marcello Lippi has to deal with a rush of injuries before Saturday World Cup qualifier against Bulgaria. Gianluigi Buffon, Marco Materazzi, Mauro Camoranesi, Fabio Grosso and Andrea Pirlo are all on the injury list. According to Lippi the most likely replacement for Buffon is Marco Amelia from Serie A club Palermo.

Ze Roberto headed to Dallas?

FC Dallas is reportedly interested in signing Bayern Munich’s Brazilian star Ze Roberto for the next season. Ze Roberto’s contract with Bayern will expire at the end of this season and he wants to move on. He is planning to play for two more years and the MLS sounds like the place to finish his career. Ze Roberto joined Bayern in 2002 and had a one year spell with Santos in 2006-2007 season.

AC Milan under pressure to win UEFA Cup

AC Milan’s role as a favorite to win the UEFA Cup got little more difficult after today’s draw. Milan will have to face  Portsmouth FC and VfL Wolfsburg in their Group E. Equally difficult is Group F were Bundesliga leader Hamburg SV is facing AFC Ajax, Slavia Prague and Aston Villa. But Group A can definitely be called the group of death, where former Cup champions Schalke 04 drew Paris Saint-Germain FC, Manchester City FC, Real Racing Club and FC Twente. The Cup’s competition resumes on October 23.