Trinidad and Tobago visited Group A underdogs Cuba with the hopes of grabbing the early group lead. Cuba had barely scraped by Antigua and Barbuda, so they had plenty of doubters to prove wrong. The Trinidadians opened the scoring in the first half, and took the 1-0 lead into the break. Trinidad and Tobago scored twice more before their substitute Kaleem Hyland was sent off for a red card five minutes after the third goal. Cuba only had time to pull one goal back, and they dropped their home opener 3-1.United States of America opened their Group A third-round campaign against Guatemala in Guatemala City. The hosts were most unkind to their visitors, and the rain cast a gloomy feeling over the encounter from the get-go. Guatemala controlled the pace of the game for the scoreless first-half, and they also controlled the Americans' emotions, wreaking havoc with their rough play. At the hour mark, Steve Cherundolo was sent off for his second yellow, and the Americans went a man down. Just three minutes later, Gustavo Cabrera committed the most egregious foul in the history of soccer, and was ejected for a planned head-butt attack on Eddie Lewis. The attack left Lewis with a bloodied head, and he had to be replaced in the match. Cabrera was ejected and the two teams were both down to ten men. The United States of America exacted sweet revenge with a goal twenty minutes from time, and the superb goalkeeping of Tim Howard gave the Americans a well-earned 1-0 road win. The final card tally had the United States of America with six yellows and Guatemala with two yellows and a red.
Jamaica visited Canada and their surprisingly strong team in Toronto. Canada and Jamaica both were looking for a quick start in Group B, the toughest group in CONCACAF's third round. A scoreless first half only added to the tension in Toronto, a city that houses a district named "Little Jamaica." Julian de Guzmán, a Canadian with Jamaican descent, scored the go-ahead goal to put Canada up one. Big Jamaica, however, did not go away quickly, and they struck back within five minutes off of an own goal by Canada's keeper. The game ended in a 1-1 draw, and they both left the field with their first point of Round Three, a point which surely suited the needs of Jamaica more than the hopes of Canada.
Honduras paid Group B favorites México a visit. The home crowd in México City was silenced by a superb Honduran free kick toward the end of the first half. The crowd was still antsy for their Mexican side were still down 1-0 with under twenty minutes to go. Two quick strikes from Pavel Pardo, however, saved the day for México, and Honduras lost Maynor Figueroa to his second yellow in the seventy-seventh minute to make a response more difficult. México held on for the 2-1 win and the Group B lead.
México's coach Sven-Goran Eriksson had this to say after the match. "It was a hard-fought triumph, but we were clearly the superior team." Honduras' coach Reinaldo Rueda thought differently. "We knew that México would try to make use of their home advantage. We started to lose the match when we had good counter-attacks to kill the game off but couldn't score. We were in control of the match even at 1-1 but after their second goal we lacked the mental awareness to overcome the deficit."
In Group C, El Salvador visited Costa Rica. Both defenses held up well during a scoreless first half. In the second half, Costa Rica quickly pushed ahead to a 1-0 lead over their Central American counterparts. The game was physical throughout, and both team drew four yellows each. Costa Rica's goal-scorer Álvaro Saborio was removed due to a second yellow with ten minutes to go in the game, but the Costa Ricans prevailed nonetheless with a difficult 1-0 win.
Suriname went to Port-au-Prince to take on Haiti in the least heralded of the day's six CONCACAF qualifiers, but this match arguably provided the most drama of all. Suriname, the tournament's surprise third-round participant, grabbed a two-goal lead after notching two scores in the first half after the half-hour mark, including a stoppage time goal. As the game entered the ninetieth minute, that scoreline had held, but the Haitians had not given up. A goal in the final minute of regulation led to more pressure on Suriname, and Haiti broke through with a goal in the fifth minute of stoppage time to escape with a 2-2 draw. Both teams sit at one point, two behind Group C leaders Costa Rica.
Goal scorers:
Trinidad and Tobago: Daniel 27, 61; C. Glen 66
Cuba: Márquez 85
United States of America: Bocanegra 69
Canada: de Guzmán 47
Jamaica: Onstad 52 OG (Canada)
México: Pavel 73, 75
Honduras: César de León 35
Costa Rica: Saborio 48
Suriname: Christoph 31, 45+1
Haiti: Gilles 90; Brunel 90+5
While their European counterparts were playing a myriad of friendlies, the Kazakhs welcomed Andorra to Almaty for the opener of the European 2010 World Cup qualifiers. The home crowd witnessed a show in the first half as the Kazakhs knocked home three goals. The Andorrans were on their worst behavior, drawing six yellows but thankfully no ejections. Kazakhstan won in shutout style 3-0 and took the lead in Group F. If the qualifiers ended today, they would be in the World Cup; they aim to keep it that way.
