Panamá took a 1-0 aggregate lead into San Salvador for the return match against El Salvador. Things were absolutely rosy for Panamá after a goal in the first quarter hour made the score 1-0. At that point, Panamá knew they would advance as long as they did not lose by more than one goal. When halftime struck, Panamá still had the 1-0 lead. With twenty minutes to play, El Salvador finally broke even, but 1-1 would not win the aggregate; only 3-1 would. In the eightieth minute, Panamá’s Cárlos Rivera grabbed his second yellow card and was ejected. On the ensuing penalty kick, El Salvador pushed the score to 2-1. If Panamá could just hold down the fort for ten more minutes despite being a man down, they would have advanced. It was not to be, however, as El Salvador scored with two minutes to go for a 3-1 victory. To add insult to elimination, Panamá left the field with only nine men after Adolfo Machado was shown the exit after a straight red. El Salvador advance to Round Three on a 3-2 aggregate victory.United States of America went to Bridgetown to finish of the tie against Barbados. There would be no 8-0 whitewash in this matchup, but the United States of America won again 1-0 on a first-half score. The 9-0 aggregate victory pushes the North American champion Americans into Round Three of CONCACAF qualifying.
Suriname went to Guyana with a 1-0 aggregate score in their favor. The Surinamese raced out to a 2-0 lead before the half and held this advantage with five minutes to go. Guyana needed four goals at this juncture to advance, but they only found one for a 2-1 loss and a 3-1 aggregate elimination. Suriname surprisingly advance to Round Three after a game in which they took three yellows.
Antigua and Barbuda went to Havana down 4-3 in the aggregate to favored Cuba. Cuba scored once before the half. An own goal by the Antiguans made it 2-0, and the Cubans scored two more on their own to win 4-0 and advance to the third round on an 8-3 aggregate score.
Haiti visited Netherlands Antilles after struggling through a hard fought 0-0 tie in the first leg. No goals were found for the first seventy-eight minutes until a tragedy of epic proportions fell on the home side. An own goal by the Antilleans gave Haiti a 1-0 lead, meaning that Netherlands Antilles needed two quick goals to advance. It was not to be, and the 1-0 lead was enough to see Haiti through to Round Three. The Netherlands Antilles are forced to watch the remaining qualifiers from their couches after the brutal loss.
Bermuda’s John Nusum spoke about the decisive second leg against Trinidad and Tobago before the match. "There's a real buzz. When we got back from Trinidad on Tuesday, there were TV cameras and press and friends and family members waiting for us to offer their support. It's a special time here. We're only halfway there, and we know that Trinidad are going to come out hard in the second leg. They'll be looking for a fight, and we need to stand right up to them. We know that Trinidad will come out hard at us, but we will be even better prepared for the second leg, and we'll be ready to give them a fight."
Trinidad and Tobago visited Bermuda after falling 2-1 at home in their previous qualifier against Bermuda. Excitement was incredibly high in Prospect, and the Bermudan crowd was psyched at the opportunity to eliminate the 2006 World Cup participants. The game was extremely tough, and the home side drew three of the five yellow cards handed out during the fight for the third round. The Trinidadians scored the first goal less than ten minutes into the game, but thanks to the road-goals tiebreaker, Bermuda could have lost 1-0 and still advanced. Trinidad and Tobago scored a goal six minutes halfway through the second period and held on for the 2-0 win and the 3-2 aggregate victory that sent them through to Round Three and Bermuda to the sidelines for good. The second Trinidadian goal, scored by Stern John, was not without controversy.
Bermuda’s coach Kenny Thompson was making a substitution for midfielder Kwame Steede. Before Steede had exited the field for his replacement, Trinidad and Tobago went ahead and took their free kick, which was knocked home by Stern John. Thompson was enraged after the loss. “We were making a substitution which put us at a disadvantage. To our disbelief, the Trinidad player had played the free kick in before our player has even entered the field. Further to our disbelief, the referee has allowed it. It was the difference between winning and not winning (the tie).”
Goal scorers:
El Salvador: Quintanilla 70, 81 PK; Anaya 88
Panamá: Garces 14
United States of America: Lewis 21
Suriname: van Dijk 11; Sandvliet 37
Guyana: Codrington 85
Cuba: Linares 9, 53; Gonsalves 47 OG (Antigua and Barbuda); Márquez 69
Haiti: Martha 78 OG (Netherlands Antilles)
Trinidad and Tobago: D. Roberts 9; S. John 66
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