Wednesday, 31 August 2011
Monday, 1 August 2011
Concacaf Nations Ready Themselves for World Cup 2014
FIFA revealed the teams to contest Round Two and Three, in Concacaf, on the long road to Brazil 2014.
The draw procedure is difficult, but I will attempt to explain. Round One has already been played, it featured the ten lowest ranked nations in Concacaf, based on the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Rankings of March 2011. These teams were paired into five home-and-away series with the winner of each series moving on to Round Two.
The five Round One winners, Belize, Dominican Republic, U.S. Virgin Islands, St. Lucia and the Bahamas, now join the 19 next highest-ranked nations in the region, based of course on the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Rankings of March 2011. These 24 teams were drawn into six groups on Saturday July 30 with the winner of each group advancing to Round Three. Round two matches are expected to be played from September 2 to November 15 of this year.
The winner of each Round Two group will advance to Round Three where they face the remaining six teams which received byes for Round One and Two, the U.S.A. and Jamaica in Group A, Mexico and Costa Rica in Group B, Honduras and Cuba in Group C.
The Round Two winners of Group E and F will be placed in Round Three Group A; the Round Two winners of Group A and B will be placed in Round Three Group B; the Round Two winners of Group D and C will be placed in Round Three Group C.
The top two teams in Groups A, B and C will advance to Round Four with the top Three teams advancing to the World Cup in Brazil 2014. The fourth placed team will advance to the intercontinental play-off.
Canada, where I reside, is in Group D of Round Two with St. Kits and Nevis, Puerto Rico and St. Lucia. They should be able to cruise through Round Two and earn a berth into Round Three placing them with Cuba, Honduras and most likely Panama. Round Three will prove to be more difficult for the Canadians. I predict Honduras to advance while Panama and Canada will dispute second place and Cuba will most likely stay behind. I hope the Canadians can pull through, but in order to do so, I believe, they will have to earn wins, home and away, against Panama and Cuba.
The other Round Two group I'll be keeping my eye on is Group A which features my native land, El Salvador. They as well should cruise through Round Two and advance to Round Three. As in Canada's case, Round Three will be a lot more difficult for the Salvadorians as they would have to face Mexico, Costa Rica and most likely Trinidad and Tobago. I believe El Salvador have a chance to advance to the Fourth Round, but they will have to win four games, the two against Costa Rica and the two against their other rival, which I believe will be Trinidad and Tobago. I predict Mexico to take top spot while Costa Rica and El Salvador will fight for second place and Trinidad and Tobago will most likely stay behind. However, Trinidad and Tobago have been known to put together strong sides and if they do El Salvador and Costa Rica will have their hands full come game time.
Only time will tell which top three nations will advance to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil until then all we can do is hope, speculate and enjoy the beautiful game that is football.
The draw procedure is difficult, but I will attempt to explain. Round One has already been played, it featured the ten lowest ranked nations in Concacaf, based on the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Rankings of March 2011. These teams were paired into five home-and-away series with the winner of each series moving on to Round Two.
The five Round One winners, Belize, Dominican Republic, U.S. Virgin Islands, St. Lucia and the Bahamas, now join the 19 next highest-ranked nations in the region, based of course on the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Rankings of March 2011. These 24 teams were drawn into six groups on Saturday July 30 with the winner of each group advancing to Round Three. Round two matches are expected to be played from September 2 to November 15 of this year.
The winner of each Round Two group will advance to Round Three where they face the remaining six teams which received byes for Round One and Two, the U.S.A. and Jamaica in Group A, Mexico and Costa Rica in Group B, Honduras and Cuba in Group C.
The Round Two winners of Group E and F will be placed in Round Three Group A; the Round Two winners of Group A and B will be placed in Round Three Group B; the Round Two winners of Group D and C will be placed in Round Three Group C.
The top two teams in Groups A, B and C will advance to Round Four with the top Three teams advancing to the World Cup in Brazil 2014. The fourth placed team will advance to the intercontinental play-off.
Canada, where I reside, is in Group D of Round Two with St. Kits and Nevis, Puerto Rico and St. Lucia. They should be able to cruise through Round Two and earn a berth into Round Three placing them with Cuba, Honduras and most likely Panama. Round Three will prove to be more difficult for the Canadians. I predict Honduras to advance while Panama and Canada will dispute second place and Cuba will most likely stay behind. I hope the Canadians can pull through, but in order to do so, I believe, they will have to earn wins, home and away, against Panama and Cuba.
The other Round Two group I'll be keeping my eye on is Group A which features my native land, El Salvador. They as well should cruise through Round Two and advance to Round Three. As in Canada's case, Round Three will be a lot more difficult for the Salvadorians as they would have to face Mexico, Costa Rica and most likely Trinidad and Tobago. I believe El Salvador have a chance to advance to the Fourth Round, but they will have to win four games, the two against Costa Rica and the two against their other rival, which I believe will be Trinidad and Tobago. I predict Mexico to take top spot while Costa Rica and El Salvador will fight for second place and Trinidad and Tobago will most likely stay behind. However, Trinidad and Tobago have been known to put together strong sides and if they do El Salvador and Costa Rica will have their hands full come game time.
Only time will tell which top three nations will advance to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil until then all we can do is hope, speculate and enjoy the beautiful game that is football.
Tuesday, 26 July 2011
Monday, 25 July 2011
Sunday, 24 July 2011
Uruguay win the 2011 Copa America in Style
The Uruguayans winning the 2011 Copa America should come as no surprise, after all they did finish in fourth spot at last year's World Cup in South Africa.
Against Paraguay they were definitely the better side. They showed their superiority from the start and were almost up 1-0 after only minutes. It was Paraguay's Justo Villar - who had an excellent campaign by the way and gets my vote for best keeper in the tournament - who managed to keep Parguay level after a well executed Uruguayan corner kick. Justo Villar's heroics would not prevent Uruguay from winning its 15th Copa America. They were the hungrier and much stronger side.
They took opened the scoring with a goal that was half lucky, half skill. The ball hit a wide open Luis Suarez off a Paraguayan deflection, he controlled it beautifully, spun around and unleashed a hell-of-a shot, which oddly took a deflection off a Paraguayan defender and ended up in the back of the net. Justo Villar had no chance at all.
Although Paraguay tried to mount a comeback they were unable to create any clear scoring opportunities. Their constant surge up field left them wide open for the counter attack, which Uruguay was not able to capitalize on, but the Uruguayans kept on pressuring as well and it was their constant pressure which led to their second goal, scored by who else but Diego Forlan.
Paraguay came out flying in the second half, but still could not muster any clear scoring chances and it wasn't until the 85th minute, when off a great counter attack Forlan netted his second goal of the match and gave Uruguay the Victory.
Congratulations to an Uruguay who have fought hard to get to where they are today. Lets not forget this was a side which almost did not make it into the 2010 World Cup. Once in the prestigious tournament however they earned fourth place and today Crowned themselves Champions of South America!
My prediction was pretty close, I did predict three goals though!
See you guys in a weeks time for the U20 World Cup, FIFA really knows how to generate revenue these days!
Against Paraguay they were definitely the better side. They showed their superiority from the start and were almost up 1-0 after only minutes. It was Paraguay's Justo Villar - who had an excellent campaign by the way and gets my vote for best keeper in the tournament - who managed to keep Parguay level after a well executed Uruguayan corner kick. Justo Villar's heroics would not prevent Uruguay from winning its 15th Copa America. They were the hungrier and much stronger side.
They took opened the scoring with a goal that was half lucky, half skill. The ball hit a wide open Luis Suarez off a Paraguayan deflection, he controlled it beautifully, spun around and unleashed a hell-of-a shot, which oddly took a deflection off a Paraguayan defender and ended up in the back of the net. Justo Villar had no chance at all.
Although Paraguay tried to mount a comeback they were unable to create any clear scoring opportunities. Their constant surge up field left them wide open for the counter attack, which Uruguay was not able to capitalize on, but the Uruguayans kept on pressuring as well and it was their constant pressure which led to their second goal, scored by who else but Diego Forlan.
Paraguay came out flying in the second half, but still could not muster any clear scoring chances and it wasn't until the 85th minute, when off a great counter attack Forlan netted his second goal of the match and gave Uruguay the Victory.
Congratulations to an Uruguay who have fought hard to get to where they are today. Lets not forget this was a side which almost did not make it into the 2010 World Cup. Once in the prestigious tournament however they earned fourth place and today Crowned themselves Champions of South America!
My prediction was pretty close, I did predict three goals though!
See you guys in a weeks time for the U20 World Cup, FIFA really knows how to generate revenue these days!
Thursday, 21 July 2011
Uruguay Face an Unlikely Oponent
The Copa America Semifinals did not produce as much drama as the quarter finals, except perhaps for the game between Venezuela and Paraguay.
Paraguay have historically been the better footballing nation and were therefore the favorites, in my books anyway. However, this years Copa America produced some unlikely score lines such as the mighty Argentinians falling to Uruguay and Brazil being embarrassed in a shootout by Paraguay.
Therefore it would not have been strange to see Peru face Venezuela in the final. It seems to me the Vino Tinto, as they are known in Latin America, had the upper hand in their game against Paraguay. They hit posts galore and it was perhaps fitting they lost this match in the same way in which they knocked Chile out of the tournament, with a little luck.
Penalties are a horrible way to bow out of a tournament, but it has happened to some of the best sides in world football and Venezuela were no exception; a miss handled penalty cost them their ticket to Buenos Aires.
Uruguay, the fourth best side in the world, according to last year's World Cup, did not fall and it should come as no surprise that they are in the Finals and should be favorites to win it. However, their road to the finals was not an easy one. They drew their first two matches against Peru and Chile respectively and did not look like the side who fought for third place in South Africa 2010. However, like any great side in a tournament they stepped up when they needed to and managed to squeak out of the group stage and eliminate the hosts in the first knockout phase.
Their match against Peru could have produced an upset and I have to admit that at the end of the first half I thought the game could go into Penalties with Peru knocking out the final great side left in the tournament. The Uruguayans outplayed their rivals, but could not finish their opportunities and it was these missed chances which made me wonder whether Uruguay could over come lady luck.
My predictions did not come to fruition as Uruguay's Luis Suarez scored eight minutes into the second half to give Uruguay a 1-0 lead and iced it with his second goal scored off a beautifully executed counter-attack.
The Final is settled; Paraguay vs. Uruguay in Buenos Aires. I put my money on Uruguay 2-1 in what should be an exciting finish to an historical Copa America.
Paraguay have historically been the better footballing nation and were therefore the favorites, in my books anyway. However, this years Copa America produced some unlikely score lines such as the mighty Argentinians falling to Uruguay and Brazil being embarrassed in a shootout by Paraguay.
Therefore it would not have been strange to see Peru face Venezuela in the final. It seems to me the Vino Tinto, as they are known in Latin America, had the upper hand in their game against Paraguay. They hit posts galore and it was perhaps fitting they lost this match in the same way in which they knocked Chile out of the tournament, with a little luck.
Penalties are a horrible way to bow out of a tournament, but it has happened to some of the best sides in world football and Venezuela were no exception; a miss handled penalty cost them their ticket to Buenos Aires.
Uruguay, the fourth best side in the world, according to last year's World Cup, did not fall and it should come as no surprise that they are in the Finals and should be favorites to win it. However, their road to the finals was not an easy one. They drew their first two matches against Peru and Chile respectively and did not look like the side who fought for third place in South Africa 2010. However, like any great side in a tournament they stepped up when they needed to and managed to squeak out of the group stage and eliminate the hosts in the first knockout phase.
Their match against Peru could have produced an upset and I have to admit that at the end of the first half I thought the game could go into Penalties with Peru knocking out the final great side left in the tournament. The Uruguayans outplayed their rivals, but could not finish their opportunities and it was these missed chances which made me wonder whether Uruguay could over come lady luck.
My predictions did not come to fruition as Uruguay's Luis Suarez scored eight minutes into the second half to give Uruguay a 1-0 lead and iced it with his second goal scored off a beautifully executed counter-attack.
The Final is settled; Paraguay vs. Uruguay in Buenos Aires. I put my money on Uruguay 2-1 in what should be an exciting finish to an historical Copa America.
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