Egypt, Algeria stroll

Egypt had the opportunity to take a nice little vacation to sunny Djibouti; the only catch was that they had some sporting business to attend to first. After a slow first forty minutes, the Egyptians found the back of the net and had a 1-0 lead at the half. The next fifteen minutes showcased furious Egyptian soccer and after three quick goals the Egyptians turned off the engines to coast to a 4-0 win.

Algeria were looking to get back on track after a close loss at Sénégal. The home stadium gave them plenty of confidence against Liberia, and it showed. A two-goal halftime lead turned into a 3-0 score with an early penalty conversion. The three points are the first that Algeria have taken in qualifying.

Goal scorers:
Egypt: Zaki 40; Abd Rabo 47 PK; Hassan 54; Abdelmalk 65

Algeria: Djebbour 14; Ziani 18, 46 PK

Honduras 4 - Puerto Rico 0

In the first match of the second round in North America, highly-favored Honduras come through in the rain at home to easily handle the Puerto Ricans. A 1-0 lead at the half only increased in the second half, and the much more experienced Hondurans put together a 4-0 thrashing of their opponents. The second and final leg between the sqauds will take place on June 14 in Puerto Rico, although Puerto Rico will be without the services of Marco Veléz, who picked up two yellows in the match and will be serving his suspension.

Goal scorers:

Honduras: de León 25; Palacios 51; D. Suazo 52, 90+2

Japan get back on track; China, Iran, and North Korea held to scoreless draws

With the opportunity of passing rivals South Korea for the group lead, the North Korea were unable to gather any sort of offense and had to settle for one point, the result of a scoreless draw against a determined Turkmenistan defense. North Korea and South Korea are still tied for first in the group after the third round of matches.

Thailand were in desperate need of a win against Bahrain in Bangkok, especially with two losses to open Round Three of Asian qualifying. After going down a goal in the twenty-second minute, the Thais answered the challenge within three minutes. Again, Bahrain pushed ahead but the Thais notched the score at two apiece heading into the locker room. A goal in the second half broke the deadlock, and the visiting Bahrainis won the match and have the maximum of nine points heading into their home match against the same Thais later this week. The Thais have no points and are all but dead with only three matches left to play.

“We were under pressure, we made mistakes, and it nearly cost us the game,” explained Bahrain’s coach Milan Macala. “I’m happy with three points; that’s all I wanted. I don’t care how we got them.”

"I felt a sense of crisis after we lost to Bahrain, so we must pile up the points as soon as possible." – Shunsuke Nakamura, Japanese striker

Japan grabbed an 1-0 halftime lead at home in the rain of Yokohama against the Omanis, and the play of Nakamura made it stand up at the finish. He set up the next goal with a hockey assist and then finished off the scoring with a bullet shot. The physical 3-0 win (five yellows cards were flashed, including three to Oman) has Japan back on track after their upset loss to Bahrain in their previous qualifier. The importance of the early goal was not lost on Japanese coach Takeshi Okada. "We got pretty good rhythm from the beginning. The early first goal made it a bit easier for us, but the early goal in the second half made us comfortable." Nakamura also spoke about the match. “We put Oman under pressure well as a team and opened them up with individual skill. That will be the key to winning tight games.” Japan have six points and trail Bahrain by three heading into their fourth game later this week.

Singapore were playing in the biggest game in their history and their nerves showed. A bunch of poor mistakes gave the Uzbeks one-goal leads, but back Singapore gamely tied the game each time. The 2-2 tie turned into a blowout, however, as visiting Uzbekistan scored four straight goals, including the first three for a 5-2 before the halftime whistle. A late for Singapore made the score a more respectable 6-3, but Uzbekistan added one more for the 7-3 and took full points. Uzbekistan now top group D with nine points, three clear of Saudi Arabia.

Radojko Avarmovic spoke about his team’s loss. “If anybody had told me before the game we would score three goals against Uzbekistan, I would be very happy, but today the defense looked like it didn’t exist.”

"We achieved what we came here for and we will keep moving." - Bruno Metso, coach of United Arab Emirates

What they wanted was a draw in Iran, and they achieved this despite making no serious rushes on the Iranian goal. Iran could not mount a strong enough attack to muster more than one decent scoring chance, which was denied by the Emirates’ goalie. Five yellow cards were passed around and the visitor grabbed three of them. The scoreless draw means that the United Arab Emirates have the joint group lead with five points, along with Syria. Iran are underperforming with three points, and Kuwait have only one. Sadly, although Iran have yet to lose, they are going to be on their way out of qualifying if they do not engineer a turnaround in the next three matches.

China did not seem to be too concerned about offense when they visited Doha to take on Qatar near the searing heat of the Persian Gulf. This was shown by their decision to start six defenders and by their willingness to take four yellow cards; still, Qatar had the best chance to score when a header knocked a crossbar on the Chinese goal near the end of the first half. All China was able to garner were three yellow cards from the referee. Still, China will be happy with the scoreless draw if they take advantage of home-field advantage and defeat Qatar in the return game later this week. Australia is in front of Group A with seven points. Qatar are second with four and China are in third position with three points from three draws. Iraq round out the group with one.

With the draw between the top two teams in their group having been confirmed, the Syrians would have known in their locker room at halftime that a win against Kuwait would shoot them into a surprising first-place tie after the first three matches of Round Three. The scoreless draw was broken by the Syrians as they carved out a 1-0 victory which was unremarkable other than the fact that it placed Syria ahead of Iran in the group tables and left Syria in the driver’s seat to advance to Round Four. This matched featured, you guessed it, five yellow cards, with three going to Syria.

The Lebanese scored the first goal in the match with less than five minutes to go in the first half. Unfortunately for Lebanon, this seemed to light the fire under the Saudis, who had tied the game by halftime. A flurry of three second-half goals gave Saudi Arabia a large 4-1 victory and keep them in second place behind Uzbekistan in the table for Group D.

Goal scorers:
Bahrain: Isa 22; Latif 35; Mohamed Adnan 55

Thailand: Chaikamdee 26; Winothai 45

Japan: Nakazawa 10; Ozubo 22; S. Nakamura 49

Uzbekistan: Kapadze 10; Karpenko 21; Djeparov 34, 44; Denisov 42; Ibragimov 62; Shatskikh 88

Singapore: Duric 12; Fahrudin 31 PK; Wilkinson 73

Syria: Alhoussain 52

Saudi Arabia: Al Qahtani 44, 90; Hawsawi 62; Tukar 82

Lebanon: El Ali 42

Burkina Faso 2 - Tunisia 1; Côte d'Ivoire, Egypt, Ghana win

Didier Drogba couldn’t come. It’s too bad for Mozambique that Sekou Cisse did. The replacement for Drogba, Cisse scored the games only goal and gave the Ivoirians their first three points toward South Africa against the highest-ranked of its three group opponents. Mozambique went card-crazy in this battle, drawing five yellows, including two for Dario, who was sent off in minute eighty-nine.

The Ghanaians had hosted the Cup of Nations, but no tournament is like the World Cup, which is why Ghana was hosting Libya in Kumasi. One large 3-0 win later, Ghana are three points closer to the second and final phase of African qualifying.

Somedays, things just won’t go your way. Guinea had seen that Namibia had scored a last-ditch goal to gain three points and take the group lead the day before. Guinea looked up at the scoreboard and noticed the scoreless draw was still there late in the game. They ended the match with five forwards, but alas, still no goals and they now sit two points back of group-leaders Namibia. Zimbabwe stole an all-important road point and are in position to advance after another five solid matches.

Tunisia were cruising at home with the lead and only ten minutes to play. Surely the experienced, World Cup veterans would be able to shut down an upstart squad. The last ten fateful minutes proved otherwise as substitute Yssouf Koné come on after eighty minutes and became a national hero with his two late goals as Burkina Faso pulled off the biggest upset in Round One of African qualifying so far. The game had five yellow cards, including three for the visiting victors.

Mali took care of Congo in a match that featured six goals. Luckily for Mali, four of those goals were theirs, along with three points from the 4-2 victory. Mali struck in the first minute but had no breathing room when Congo replied four minutes later. Mali took a 3-1 lead into the half, however, and added their fourth before the Congolese finished off the scoring.

Sure, the Egyptians have won two straight Cup of Nations titles. They are perhaps the power team in Africa, yet the world has not heard of them. Why? They have failed to reach a World Cup in recent memory, and a 1-0 deficit at the half at home to second-seeded Democratic Republic of the Congo did not have the supporters of the first-seed feeling very secure. Two unanswered goals in the subsequent half gave the Egyptians a 2-1 win and full points, however, and no damage was done to their campaign.

Goal scorers:
Côte d'Ivoire: Cisse 74

Ghana: Tagoe 17; Agogo 54; Kingston 64

Burkina Faso: Y. Koné 85, 87

Tunisia: Belaid 38

Mali: 1, 61; A. Coulibaly 32; S. Coulibaly 42

Congo: Mouithys 5, 74

Egypt: Zaki 68; Abdelmalk 80

Democratic Republic of the Congo: Ilunga 44

Australia 1 - Iraq 0; Nigeria 2 - South Africa 0; tragedy in Liberia

Iraq weren’t sure if they would get to play in Australia until Thursday, when they were reinstated. The trip to Australia would not prove to be a good one for the Iraqis, however, as the Australians recorded their third straight clean sheet in three qualifying matches. The first half saw the Iraqis hit the crossbar, the goalie’s leg, and the air just outside of a post. With the game tied at the half, the Australians decided to score quickly with a Kewell header off of a cross from Emerton to excite the crowd. They held on for the victory.

Australia’s Harry Kewell spoke about the win. "I think we rode our luck. Iraq created quite a few chances today and a couple of balls went their way but again we had a great keeper who stopped them." More fitting words would be hard to find since Mark Schwarzer was able to make two clutch saves in the final ten minutes.

Iraq coach Adnan Hamad spoke about how the short ban affected his team. "Of course, it affected our players a lot, but we always play under pressure and we are the only football team in the world that plays outside of its country."

It looks like Iraq won’t be playing any of its games in South Africa after the FIFA Confederations Cup in 2009, with only one point with three games left. Australia have garnered seven and are on the cusp of the second round. The two squads play in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, next week.

Equatorial Guinea won at home 2-0 against Sierra Leone, a team that had to survive the preliminary round just for the right to be in Malabo playing in the first round. Equatorial Guinea show little sympathy, coldly willing their way to three points.

Angola arrived fashionably late to its own party in its capital city, Luanda. With no goals in the first hour, the Angolans pushed across three goals in the final thirty minutes to score a stylish victory over Benin. The Angolans are looking to qualify for a second successive World Cup.

Burundi clawed out a 1-0 home victory against Seychelles. No goals were found in the first eighty minutes and the islanders were on the verge of gaining their first ever point in World Cup qualifying, but Burundi finally broke the tie.

“We are back again and we've sent out a message that whoever is going to play Nigeria is going to find it tough." – forward Nwankwo Kanu

South Africa were looking to prove that they deserve the free pass into the upcoming World Cup. They did nothing to justify their position, however (unless you count three yellows), and fell in their opener to Nigeria. Instead, it was the Nigerians who proved that their poor Cup of Nations performance was a fluke. Two first-half headers had the Nigerian home crowd joyous, and the defense did not even let one goal back to secure the shutout victory. In fact, Nigeria’s goalkeeper did not even touch the ball until minute thirty-nine.

A match took place between Liberia and Gambia on June 1, 2008. The game ended in a 1-1 tie, but sometimes other events overshadow the match itself. Eight spectators were killed by suffocation because the cramped gates leading into the stadium were not wide enough to allow the cramped mass of fans to breathe.

Liberia’s football president stated that “people preferred the angle that the gate provided and so they were all just crammed in one area and that led to suffocation.”

Goal scorers:
Australia: Kewell 47

Equatorial Guinea: Ronan 47; Epitié 56

Angola: Flavio 62; Ricardo 81; Mendonça 86

Burundi: Ndikumana 81

Nigeria: Uche 10; Nwaneri 44

Gambia: Jarjue 17

Liberia: Makor 82

Togo 1 - Zambia 0; Sénégal, Uganda win

No top teams faced more pressure when the African qualifiers began than Togo and Zambia. With the withdrawal of Ethiopia, the possibility of being one of the eight-best second-place sides is all but impossible, so the two sides know that their two matches will be extremely crucial. Togo was the home team in match one, but due to a four-game home ban due to riots against Mali during Cup of Nations qualifying, the Togolese were hosting the Zambians in Accra, Ghana. Still, a goal at the quarter-hour mark held up for Togo, who looked poised to advance out of Group K if they can beat Swaziland twice and draw away to Zambia. To make matter worse for the Zambians, Isaac Chansa got a second yellow in the ninetieth minute and will miss their next match.

Namibia’s opening goal was answered by the Kenyans with minutes to spare in the first period. The game remained scoreless for the entire second half until the last minute of the match. Namibia came up with the most clutch goal of the day in African qualifying and a 2-1 victory courtesy of Khaiseb.

Uganda got to work on their campaign to qualify for South Africa. An opening win 1-0 in Kampala did nothing but boost Uganda’s confidence heading into the next five qualifiers. Still, the 0-0 score going into the half could not have been too pleasing for the Ugandan coaching staff. Nevertheless, their three points is more than Niger have to show for this game.

Morocco spent little time putting this qualifier out of reaching, scoring twice in the opening thirteen minutes to give themselves a 2-0 lead at the half. A red card for Ethiopia's Fikru Tefera did not help their comeback bid. Morocco pushed across an extra goal in the second half that resulted in a three-goal shutout for the Moroccans.

Sénégal are looking to back to the World Cup after making the quarterfinals in 2002 but missing the German edition in 2006. They took the first step today with a close home victory over Algeria. No goals were scored until less than fifteen minutes remained, when the home side broke the scoring seal in Dakar. Algeria were in a defensive mood, taking three yellows before finally letting the Sénégalese score. Sénégal held defensively for the shutout.

“We're a team rebuilding. We don't have to be ashamed of this loss. We will carry on working and I believe if we work hard, we will be on the right way," said Algerian coach Rabbah Saadane.

Goal scorers:
Togo: Olufade 16

Namibia: Risser 14; Kaiseb 89

Kenya: Makacha 40

Uganda: Sekajja 53

Morocco: Benjelloun 4; Aboucharouane 12; Kharja 87

Sénégal: Faye 80

South Korea draw Jordan; Cameroon win

With a rabid home crowd and a two-goal lead, one would figure that the South Koreans would hold on for the win. Well, one would be wrong. Despite a 1-0 lead at the half and an insurance goal in the second, a two-goals-in-seven-minutes flurry from Jordanian substitute Abdel Fattah leveled the match and meant that the two sides would split the points. South Korea currently has five and Jordan possesses four in Group C. Jordan added four yellow cards to its two-goal haul. The two sides face off again in Jordan on June 7.

"We gave up goals too easily," said South Korean coach Huh Jung-Moo. "We should have scored more. We grew complacent after building the lead and some guys just tired toward the end." Jordan coach Nelo Vingada also spoke after the draw. "As I've said earlier, South Korea are a better team and I didn't expect we'd score two goals against them, but we wanted to show Korean fans that Jordan are an improving team. We never gave up after going down 2-0 and our efforts paid off."

Malawi hosted Djibouti in their opening match, and the game was close at the half; the two sides were tied at one goal apiece. Then, Malawi awoke in the second half and destroyed their opponents at home in Blantyre. A seven-goal half gave Malawi an 8-1 victory. Sadly, Djibouti took the yellow card tally 4-3, so it'll be interesting to see if Malawi get more physical next time.

Botswana may not feel too great about not taking advantage of a team that had to qualify for the first round by beating Comoros. Playing at home in Gaborone to Madagascar, Botswana twice believed that they had grabbed a lead off of Pontsho Moloi goals, only to see the offsides flag crush their home. The game ended in an unsatisfying scoreless draw.

The stars were shining at home in Yaounde for the Cameroon national side. Eto’o and Rigobert Song scored the two goals that sent their fans home happy and a message to the rest of their group. With three points, Cameroon have a two-point lead over Tanzania and Mauritius.

Rwanda held serve at home in Kigali with a 3-0 win over Mauritania. The one-goal halftime lead was padded by another pair, including a penalty kick conversion. The Rwandans will savor their three points while looking toward their next opponents.

Lowly-ranked Mauritius came in to Tanzania with low expectations but managed to pull out a goal and a lead at the half. Wesley Marquette had been the hero of the game up until minute fifty-nine due to his goal, but his red card put his team down a man. Tanzania struggled with the man-advantage and only managed to pull even. The 1-1 draw will cripple Tanzania’s hopes of making it to the final phase of African qualifying, and they have some points to make up in their upcoming matches.

The following two matches were postponed: Lesotho at Gabon and Chad at Sudan. Chad and Sudan have an ongoing border security issue. Lesotho could not fly to Gabon for the match because of an air traffic controllers' strike.

Goal scorers:
South Korea: Park J.S. 39; Park C.Y. 48

Jordan: Mahmoud 73, 81

Malawi: Kafoteka 3; Kanyeda 19, 46, 48; Kamwendo 66; Chavula 73; Ngambi 78; Mkandawire 83

Djibouti: Daher 23

Cameroon: R. Song 8; Eto'o 57 PK

Rwanda: Karekezi 15; Said 67 PK; Kamana Bokota 72

Mauritius: Marquette 39

Tanzania: Mrwanda 69

Iraq suspended from FIFA for one year

Iraq have been suspended by FIFA from all competitions for one year because the Iraqi government dissolved its national sports federations.

Iraq have until 11:59 on May 29 according to Sydney, Australia time to reverse its ruling. Otherwise, it will be eliminated from the upcoming qualifying matches. Iraq's opponents will be awarded full points for the remaining four matches on the Iraqi Round Three schedule.

The Iraqi players were training and were about to leave for Australia when the news was broken. "The decision is a big shock for the players," said Iraq's coach Adnan Hamad.

Sorting through the mess (May-June)

FIFA just confirmed a portion of the dates of fixtures in Africa, South America, North America, Oceania, and Asia. Here is my attempt to sort through them. This post will be updated when more match dates are finalized.

It is also important to note that the federations of Madagascar (19 March) and Chad (25 March) have been suspended. There is no word yet on whether or not they will be elgible in time for the qualifying cycle.

Here are the confirmed matches. All match times are local times.

May 31, 2008
Jordan at South Korea 10 PM Seoul
Djibouti at Malawi 2:30 PM Blantyre
Madagascar at Botswana 3 PM Gaborone
Cape Verde at Cameroon 3:30 PM Yaounde
Lesotho at Gabon 3:30 PM Libreville
Mauritania at Rwanda 3:30 PM Kigali
Mauritius at Tanzania 4 PM Dar es Salaam
Zambia at Togo 3:30 PM Accra, Ghana
Kenya at Namibia 4 PM Windhoek
Niger at Uganda 4 PM Kampala
Ethiopia at Morocco 7 PM Casablanca
Algeria at Sénégal 7:30 PM Dakar
Chad at Sudan 8 PM Omdurman

June 1, 2008
Iraq at Australia 5 PM Brisbane
Sierra Leone at Equatorial Guinea 3:30 PM Malabo
Benin at Angola 3:30 PM Luanda
Seychelles at Burundi 3:30 PM Bujumbura
South Africa at Nigeria 4 PM Abuja
Gambia at Liberia 4 PM Monrovia
Mozambique at Côte d'Ivoire 4 PM Abidjan
Libya at Ghana 5 PM Kumasi
Zimbabwe at Guinea 5 PM Conakry
Burkina Faso at Tunisia 6 PM Rades
Congo at Mali 6 PM Bamako
Democratic Republic of the Congo at Egypt 9 PM Cairo

June 2, 2008
North Korea at Turkmenistan 5 PM Ashgabat
Bahrain at Thailand 7 PM Bangkok
Oman at Japan 7:20 PM Yokohama
Uzbekistan at Singapore 7:30 PM Singapore
United Arab Emirates at Iran 5 PM Tehrān
China at Qatar 7 PM Doha
Kuwait at Syria 8 PM Damascus
Lebanon at Saudi Arabia 9 PM Riyadh

June 4, 2008
Puerto Rico at Honduras 7:30 PM San Pedro Sula

June 6, 2008
Egypt at Djibouti 3 PM Djibouti
Liberia at Algeria 7:15 PM Blida

June 7, 2008
Turkmenistan at North Korea 5 PM Pyongyang
Qatar at China 8 PM Tianjin
Singapore at Uzbekistan 6 PM Tashkent
South Korea at Jordan 5 PM Ammān
Saudi Arabia at Lebanon 6 PM Beirut
Japan at Oman 6:30 PM Muscat
Thailand at Bahrain 7:30 PM Al Manāmah
Australia at Iraq 8 PM Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Equatorial Guinea at South Africa 3 PM Pretoria
Tunisia at Seychelles 4:30 PM Victoria
Iran at United Arab Emirates 8 PM Al Ain City
Guinea at Kenya 4 PM Nairobi
Mali at Chad 4 PM N'Djamena
Tanzania at Cape Verde 4 PM Praia
Nigeria at Sierra Leone 4:30 PM Freetown
Morocco at Mauritania 5 PM Nouakchott
Burundi at Burkina Faso 6 PM Ouagadougou
Gabon at Libya 8 PM Tripoli

June 8, 2008
Syria at Kuwait 8:45 Kuwait City
Côte d'Ivoire at Madagascar 2:30 PM Antananarivo
Cameroon at Mauritius 3 PM Curepipe
Botswana at Mozambique 3 PM Maputo
Ghana at Lesotho 3 PM Maseru
Namibia at Zimbabwe 3 PM Harare
Togo at Swaziland 3 PM Mbabane
Malawi at Democratic Republic of the Congo 3:30 PM Kinshasa
Sudan at Congo 3:30 PM Brazzaville
Rwanda at Ethiopia 4 PM Addis Ababa
Angola at Niger 4 PM Niamey
Uganda at Benin 4 PM Cotonou
Sénégal at Gambia 5 PM Banjul

June 13, 2008
Democratic Republic of the Congo at Djibouti 3 PM Djibouti
Ethiopia at Mauritania 5 PM Nouakchott

June 14, 2008
New Caledonia at Vanuatu 2 PM Port Vila
South Korea at Turkmenistan 5 PM Ashgabat
Jordan at North Korea 5 PM Pyongyang
Japan at Thailand 5:20 PM Bangkok
Lebanon at Uzbekistan 6 PM Tashkent
Saudi Arabia at Singapore 7:30 PM Singapore
Iraq at China 8 PM Tianjin
Egypt at Malawi 2:30 PM Blantyre
Côte d'Ivoire at Botswana 3 PM Gaborone
Guinea at Namibia 3 PM Windhoek
Ghana at Gabon 3:30 PM Libreville
Morocco at Rwanda 3:30 PM Kigali
Burkina Faso at Seychelles 4:30 PM Victoria
Angola at Uganda 4 PM Kampala
Cameroon at Tanzania 4 PM Dar es Salaam
Benin at Niger 4 PM Niamey
Zimbabwe at Kenya 4 PM Nairobi
Congo at Chad 4 PM N'Djamena
Australia at Qatar 7 PM Doha
Oman at Bahrain 7:30 PM Al Manāmah
South Africa at Sierra Leone 4:30 PM Freetown
Algeria at Gambia 5 PM Banjul
Iran at Syria 8 PM Damascus
United Arab Emirates at Kuwait 8:45 PM Kuwait City
Mali at Sudan 8 PM Omdurman
Venezuela at Uruguay 4 PM Montevideo
Costa Rica at Grenada 4 PM St. George's
Guyana at Suriname 4 PM Paramaribo
Honduras at Puerto Rico 8 PM Bayamón
St. Lucia at Guatemala 8 PM Guatemala City
Colombia at Perú 8 PM Lima

June 15, 2008
Mozambique at Madagascar 2:30 PM Antananarivo
Cape Verde at Mauritius 3 PM Curepipe
Libya at Lesotho 3 PM Maseru
Zambia at Swaziland 3 PM Mbabane
Tunisia at Burundi 3 PM Bujumbura
Nigeria at Equatorial Guinea 3:30 PM Malabo
Sénégal at Liberia 4 PM Monrovia
Barbados at United States of America 2 PM Carson
Canada at St. Vincent and the Grenadines 3 PM Kingstown
Netherlands Antilles at Haiti 3 PM Port-au-Prince
Brazil at Paraguay 3 PM Asunción
México at Belize 3:30 PM Houston, United States of America
Bermuda at Trinidad and Tobago 4 PM Macoya
El Salvador at Panamá 4 PM Panamá City
Bahamas at Jamaica 6 PM Kingston
Ecuador at Argentina 6:10 PM Buenos Aires
Chile at Bolivia 7:30 PM La Paz

June 17, 2008
Perú at Uruguay 7 PM Montevideo
Cuba at Antigua and Barbuda 6 PM St. John's

June 18, 2008
Paraguay at Bolivia 4:10 PM La Paz
Colombia at Ecuador 5 PM Quito
Jamaica at Bahamas 7 PM Greenfield-Trelawny
Argentina at Brazil 9:50 PM Belo Horizonte

June 19, 2008
Chile at Venezuela 8 PM Puerto la Cruz

June 20, 2008
Gambia at Algeria 7:30 PM Blida
Lesotho at Libya 8 PM Tripoli
St. Vincent and the Grenadines at Canada 7:30 PM Montréal

June 21, 2008
Vanuatu at New Caledonia 3 PM Noumea
Swaziland at Zambia 2 PM Chilabombwe
Sierra Leone at South Africa 3 PM Kimberley
Tanzania at Cameroon 3:30 PM Yaounde
Equatorial Guinea at Nigeria 4 PM Abuja
Seychelles at Burkina Faso 6 PM Ouagadougou
Rwanda at Morocco 7 PM Casablanca
Liberia at Sénégal 7:30 PM Dakar
Burundi at Tunisia 8:30 PM Rades
Guatemala at St. Lucia 4 PM Vieux Fort
Grenada at Costa Rica 8 PM San José
Belize at México 9 PM Monterrey

June 22, 2008
China at Australia 6 PM Sydney
Bahrain at Japan 7:20 PM Saitama
North Korea at South Korea 8 PM Seoul
Kuwait at Iran 5 PM Tehrān
Turkmenistan at Jordan 6 PM Ammān
Singapore at Lebanon 6 PM Beirut
Thailand at Oman 6:30 PM Muscat
Qatar at Iraq 8 PM Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Madagascar at Mozambique 3 PM Maputo
Kenya at Zimbabwe 3 PM Harare
Uganda at Angola 3:30 PM Luanda
Djibouti at Democratic Republic of the Congo 3:30 PM Kinshasa
Chad at Congo 3:30 PM Brazzaville
Mauritania at Ethiopia 4 PM Addis Ababa
Bostwana at Côte d'Ivoire 4 PM Abidjan
Niger at Benin 4 PM Cotonou
Mauritius at Cape Verde 4 PM Praia
Gabon at Ghana 5 PM Accra
Namibia at Guinea 5 PM Conakry
Syria at United Arab Emirates 8 PM Al Ain City
Sudan at Mali 6 PM Bamako
Uzbekistan at Saudi Arabia 9 PM Riyadh
Malawi at Egypt 9 PM Cairo
Panamá at El Salvador 12 PM San Salvador
United States of America at Barbados 3 PM Bridgetown
Suriname at Guyana 3:30 PM Georgetown
Antigua and Barbuda at Cuba 5 PM Havana
Haiti at Netherlands Antilles 6 PM Willemstad
Trinidad and Tobago at Bermuda 7:30 PM Prospect

June 28, 2008
Lesotho at Gabon 3:30 PM Libreville

Postponed
Chad at Sudan

Bermuda win; Bahamas advance on technicality

In the first of two matches today, the Bahamas faced the British Virgin Islands at home in Nassua for the second time in five days. Coming into the second leg with the aggregate tied at 1-1, the favored Bahamanians felt pressure to deliver a first round victory over their opponents. The Bahamas looked to be in great position to meet Jamaica in June after nabbing a two-goal lead before the hour. Even after British Virgin Islands' captain Anadale Williams knocked home a goal late in the second half, it appeared to be too little, too late. Suddenly, in the nintieth minute, Williams struck again and the final whistle came with the scored tied at 2-2.

The aggregate was now tied at 3-3 apiece. With both legs having been played in Nassau, surely extra time was to be played. Unfortunately, a terrible decision was handed down. Because the British Virgin Islands had forfeited the right to a home game to the Bahamas, the second game had actually counted as a "road" game for Bahamas. Bahamas scored twice in their "road" match compared to the British Virgin Islands' one in the first match and advanced on the road-goals tiebreaker 2-1. This ruling was an absolute travesty. If anything, British Virgin Islands should have advanced 3-0 on the road-goals tiebreaker. In all honesty, though, this tie should have gone to an extra period followed by a penalty-kick shootout should the scored have remained tied at the end of an additional half hour.

"We missed all our chances, but we should have scored four or five. We will make things right in the second leg." -Keith Tucker, coach of Bermuda

In a tie that also began the day knotted at one goal apiece, Bermuda visited the Cayman Islands. Bermuda did not allowed for an upset result this time around and built a 2-0 lead going into the half. Another goal stretched the lead to three before the hour mark. The Caymans had already garnered four yellow cards before Bermuda's Kevin Richards earned their only yellow for taking down a Cayman player inside of the penalty area. The ensuing Cayman penalty-kick goal rounded out the scoring 3-1. The 4-2 aggregate victory sends Bermuda to face Trinidad and Tobago in round two of CONCACAF qualifying in June.

Goal scorers:
Bahamas: Bethel 40; Mitchell 52

British Virgin Islands: Williams 78, 90

Bermuda: DeGraff 18, 25; Steede 52

Cayman Islands: Forbes 63 PK

Puerto Rico win 1-0 in extra time; Antigua and Barbuda, El Salvador, Netherlands Antilles, Belize advance

Antigua and Barbuda went home to face Aruba with a comfortable 3-0 lead in the aggregate. The Antiguans did not do themselves any favors, however, by having two players ejected before the hour mark, including their captain George Dublin right before halftime. Schyan Jeffers also picked up a red card. If Aruba had any hope of scoring three goals, it increased exponentially with the two-man advantage. Unfortunately, the Arubans were unable to do anything to score and in fact gave up a goal with the huge advantage. They were lucky to surrender only one because Antiguan player Troy Simon missed a penalty kick during the match. Damien Farrell picked up two yellows after the eighty-fifth minute, including one in stoppage, and was also sent off. Antigua and Barbuda finished the game with only eight players yet came out with a 1-0 win as well. It is too bad that the Antiguans decided to be on their absolute worst behavior, because now three starting players are suspended for the first match against Cuba.

Neighbors Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic had a one-off battle in Bayamón. It was expected to be intense, but it was not expected to be close as Puerto Rico were heavy favorites. Well, the match ended up being one for the ages. In fact, ninety mintues were not enough to determine a victor. A scoreless regular time gave way to a dramatic extra period. Both coaches had been stingy with their substitutions in regular time; Dominican Republic had one left and Puerto Rico still had two. Puerto Rico converted a penalty six minutes in and promptly focused on retaining the slim margin. When the final whistle blew, the Puerto Ricans could breath a sigh of relief, knowing that the one-goal shutout was good enough to give them a shot at Honduras.

El Salvador had their victory parade in the form of a second match against hapless Anguilla. Going home with a 12-0 aggregate lead, the Salvadorians had little to play for but boosting their goal totals. Anguilla were playing to salvage their pride. With a date to play Panamá all but assured, El Salvador grabbed a four-goal lead in the first half and then coasted into the second round with a 16-0 aggregate romp.

Netherlands Antilles came home to Willemstad with a surprising 1-0 aggregate lead over Nicaragua. The return leg was also remarkably successful for Netherlands Antilles. After taking a one-goal lead into the half, the crowd in Willemstad was witness to a mental implosion by Nicaragua's Eustace Martin, who pulled drew two yellow cards in a two-minute span and was expelled from the game at the hour mark. Down a man, the Nicaraguans needed a miracle, but none came and the final score in Willemstad was 2-0. The two cards for Martin were part of a collection of five yellows in total for Nicaragua. Netherlands Antilles will face Haiti in the next round.

Belize were looking to book a second round date with México. The only thing standing in their way was the team from St. Kitts and Nevis, a dangerous outfit despite a 3-1 aggregate deficit. The crowd at Basseterre was hoping for their home side to make a comeback in the tie, but a late goal in the first half by Belize meant that St. Kitts and Nevis had to score three goals in order to send the tie into extra time. They managed to pull one goal back, but it was too little too late and now Belize can look forward to facing their powerful neighbor in June.

Goal scorers:
Antigua and Barbuda: Challenger 86

Puerto Rico: Villegas 96 PK

El Salvador: Cerritos 8; Corrales 15; Monteagudo 23; Torres 35

Netherlands Antilles: Loran 42; Zimmerman 81

Belize: E. Smith 41

St. Kitts and Nevis: Mitchum 82

Barbados 1 - Dominica 0; Grenada, St. Lucia, Suriname advance; Bahamas tie

"There's no reason we can't get right at them in that second leg and get their fans on their backs." -Richard Pacquette of Dominica

Barbados were not pleased with their situation heading into the second leg. They felt that they were the favorites heading into the tie against Dominica and were looking to improve upon the 1-1 aggregate scoreline. No goals were scored in a tense first half. In the sixty-second minute, an odd situation broke out. Rashida Williams of Barbados was given a red card, but the captain of Dominica Colin Bernard was also shown red. The game proceeded with ten-on-ten action and Barbadoes wound up victorious on a lone goal scored within ten minutes of full time. The United States of America wait for Barbados now that they have won their first round tie 2-1 on aggregate goals.

"We have made enough improvements in the past few years to give them a game. We are optimistic about our chances and it will not be an easy walkover for Grenada."- Dwight Ferguson of the United States Virgin Islands

Grenada took all of the drama out of their one-leg tie with the United States Virgin Islands and in the process made Ferguson sound foolish. They showed absolutely no mercy to their overmatched opponents, taking a 5-0 lead into half time and then coasting to a 10-0 win in St. George's. Costa Rica should prove to be more of a challenge for Grenada in the second round.

St. Lucia were down 2-1 in the aggregate to surprising Turks and Caicos Islands. With a ticket to play Guatemala at stake, the Lucians did not want to disappoint their faithful in Vieux Fort. A goal in the first half tied the aggregate score at 2-2, but it put the pressure on Turks and Caicos Islands because they were down in the road-goals tiebreaker. The visitors were unable to respond and in fact surrendered a second goal to lose the match 2-0 and the tie 3-2.

Suriname played Montserrat in a one-leg playoff held in Trinidad and Tobago. The South American nation made easy meat out of the British tiny island, although the game was much closer in the first half. Suriname broke the scoring seal in the thirty-sixth minute and had a 2-0 lead at halftime. Montserrat came out of the gates quickly in the second half and knocked home a goal within five minutes of the restart to make it 2-1. That is when the avalanche of Suriname goals began. Eventually, the score wound up 7-1 and Suriname will now meet neighbors Guyana, the only other South American team playing in CONCACAF.

Bahamas were playing host to British Virgin Islands for the first time on Wednesday. After a scoreless first half, the Bahamas bagged their first goal quickly after the second half began. The visiting underdogs were not about to go away, though, and fought back to come out with a 1-1 tie. In what could be considered questionable coaching, there were no substitutes made by the Bahamanians in the entire match. The Bahamas will host the British Virgin Islands again on Sunday with a berth in the second round against Jamaica at stake.

Goal scorers:
Barbados: Stanford 84

Grenada: J. Roberts 3, 8; Charles 9, 43, 87; Rennie 22; Langiagne 56; Bubb 82, 83; Ferguson 89 OG (United States Virgin Islands)

St. Lucia: McPhee 28; Elva 85

Suriname: Cristoph 36, 55; Wondel 44; Valies 64; Huur 80; Schurman 86, 88

Montserrat: Farrell 48

Bahamas: St. Fleur 47

British Virgin Islands: Lennon 76

Bahrain 1 - Japan 0; Jordan, Qatar win; two exhilarating draws

Turkmenistan and Jordan were looking to avoid last place in Group C. With a two-goal shutout, Jordan took all of the points on the road in Ashgabat to send Turkmenistan into the cellar. Jordan are now positioned in third place in the group with three points, one behind each of the Koreas.

Syria hosted group leaders United Arab Emirates and got off to a quick start. The hosts pushed home a goal two minutes after the whistle. Still, the United Arab Emirates were not going down without a fight and they ended up scoring an equalizer due to the scoring prowess of Ismail Matar in the second half. The road draw puts the Emiratis on top of Group E with four points.

Bahrain pulled off the shock of the day while playing host to Japan. The two group leaders heading into the day, Bahrain and Japan were looking toward this game as the stepping stone into first place. The ball was having trouble finding its way into the back of the net until Bahrain struck gold with a header off of a cross in minute seventy-seven to send Japan reeling and the crowd in Manāmah into a frenzy. The scoreline held and Bahrain took first place in Gorup B with the 1-0 win.

Qatar, off of a big loss to Australia, tried to salvage a better result at home in Doha against the defending Asian Cup champions Iraq. Qatar did that and more with a wonderful, flowing attacking game and a stifling defense. Iraq never looked to be in the game and perhaps the 2-0 victory for Qatar does not illustrate how the Qataris so completely controlled the game. Qatar's coach Jorge Fossati spoke about the performance. "On this occasion we stuck with our game plan and managed to break up Iraq's fluid passing game. That will give us confidence for the games ahead."

Kuwait welcomed perennial power Iran to town. The crowd in Kuwait City could not have been pleased with the start of the match as Iran knocked home two goals in the first five minutes. It appeared that the Iranians would rout the Kuwaitis and make up for their opening draw with Syria. The Kuwaitis had other ideas. They stormed back into the match with a goal to make the score 2-1 at the half. A goal with under ten minutes remaining meant that Kuwait would at least come out with a point at home against mighty Iran. The final score read 2-2. Mesaed Al Enezi was sent off for Kuwait with a red card just before the final whistle to cap a tough battle which featured three yellows for each side.

Goal scorers:
Jordan: Albzoor 33; Bawab 86

Syria: Chaabo 2

United Arab Emirates: Matar 54

Bahrain: Hubail 77

Qatar: Quintana 1; Montesin 67

Iran: Vahedi 2; Hosseini 4

Kuwait: Al Azemi 38; Alrashidi 81

Uzbekistan 3 - Saudi Arabia 0; Singapore, Oman win; two scoreless draws

China played host to undermanned Australia in the elevated city of Kunming. Five of Australia's English-based players were unable to come play due to injury. TO make matters worse, Archie Thompson succumbed to an injury in the tenth minute and had to be substituted out of the game. With their only true attack of the day failing to connect when Marco Bresciano's volley was saved by Zong Lei, the Australians had little chance of winning. Luckily for the Australians, goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer did manage to show up healthy and complete the game. He made clutch save after clutch save to keep the game scoreless until the eighty-seventh minute when he made a crucial error, taking down Qu Bo inside the box for a penalty kick. Schwarzer made up for his mistake on the very next play, however, stuffing Shao Jiayi's penalty kick and preserving the road tie for Australia. "I must apologise to the team and the fans for that penalty kick," said Shao Jiayi after the game. "Because of me we did not win the game. We should have won the game but we didn't because I missed the penalty kick. I really feel bad about this." Schwarzer had a different take. "To lose that match to a late penalty would have been a disaster for us because I thought we deserved to get something out of the game."

The second slate of games began with North Korea facing off against neighboring South Korea in Shanghai, China. Both teams were coming off of wins in February and were looking to consolidate their positions on top of Group C. Although South Korea dominated most of the goal-scoring chances, this game ended in a scoreless draw. "We should have won this match," said South Korea's Park Ji-Sung. "We couldn't finish around the net."

Uzbekistan played host to group favorites Saudi Arabia in Tashkent. In what amounted to one of the bigger surprises so far in Asian qualifying, the Uzbeks pushed across the first goal during stoppage time in the first half. A two-goals-in-three-minutes run did in the Saudis for good as Uzbekistan won by a resounding 3-0 score and now sit atop Group D with six points.

Singapore and Lebanon did battle in Singapore. Singapore are the surprise qualifiers out of both rounds one and two, but they had suffered a loss to Saudi Arabia in February's qualifier. That memory was erased on this night. Two goals in the first thirty minutes gave Singapore a nice cushion which they held on to for the rest of the night. Singapore won 2-0. Lebanese coach Emile Rustom was not very complimentary of Singapore after the game, citing the fact that some of his starters were unavailable due to injury. "It was expected. We were missing four key players; you can imagine Singapore without four players."

Thailand hosted Oman. Oman scored the fastest goal of the day in Asian qualifying, delivering the opening blow just twenty seconds into the match. There were no more goals scored for the rest of the day, however, and the visiting Omanis stole three points. Oman's coach Julio César Ribas spoke after the match. "To win three points away from home is hugely important. We can now continue fighting for qualification."

Goal scorers:
Uzbekistan: Kapadze 45+1; Shatskikh 65; Djeparov 67 PK

Singapore: Duric 8; Shahul 24

Oman: Al Ajmi 1

Eritrea withdraw

Eritrea have withdrawn from World Cup qualifying. Their spot in Group K will be left empty.

Togo, Zambia, and Swaziland will contest their games as previously scheduled. The top finisher in the group will go to the third round of African qualifying. There has been no word yet on how this change will affect how the top eight second-place finishers will be selected. Will only the results against the first-place and third-place finishers count in determining the top eight or will the second-place team from Group K be automatically eliminated?

Expect the unexpected: Turks and Caicos, Netherlands Antilles, Belize, and Dominica

The Netherlands Antilles took on favored yet perpetually-underachieving Nicaragua on the road in Diriamba. In what would end up being the theme in four of the six CONCACAF qualifiers, the unexpected wound up happening. After a long training trip to Brasil, Nicaragua figured to have a good chance to win. The Netherlands Antilles had other plans, though, and took an early goal to a 1-0 road win. They have a chance to knock out the mainlanders in the return match in Willemstad.

"I'm not writing off Belize, but I am confident we should beat them." -forward Atiba Harris of St. Kitts and Nevis

Belize refused to be disrespected in such a way, and pulled off an upset of the higher-ranked islanders. WIth a 3-1 lead at the half, Belize clamped down on defense and won by the same score. With a game in Basseterre to come, Belize have a good chance to win the two-legged tie and a date with México.

Barbados boss Eyre Sealy is already looking past his first opponents and on to the next test: a date with the mighty USA. "We should really beat Dominica, and then why shouldn't we be able to get a result against the States."

Dominica pulled off a surprise tie against favored and overconfident Barbados. Dominica had an early one-goal lead only to see the game tied at 1 at the half and at its conclusion. Barbados now have some work to do in Bridgeport before facing the mighty United States of America.

In the first game to go to form, Antigua and Barbuda poured in three first-half goals against Aruba in Oranjestad, including an own goal from the home side. The Antiguans take a 3-0 aggregate lead back home to St. John's.

Turks and Caicos Islands were playing their first ever match on home soil. To say that they were not expected to win would be an understatement. Their opponent was St. Lucia. What an opening match it was for the home side. They garnered a 2-0 lead with goals in both halves and looked like incredibly good bets to make the second round until St. Lucia pulled back a goal late in second half stoppage time. "Overall I feel we were much better than they were, but they took the two chances they had and we were wasteful, and you can't afford to do that in football at any level," said Terrence Caroo, coach of St. Lucia. With the aggregate score now standing at 2-1, the return match in St. Lucia will be full of intrigue.

In the final match of the day, El Salvador did what it was supposed to do, a rather strange occurence on this day. In fact, the Salvadorians pummeled poor Anguilla with a 12-0 demolition and are all but assured a berth in the second round against Panamá, an interesting matchup to say the least.

All six of these ties will resume and finish on March 26.

Goal scorers:
Netherlands Antilles: Jongsma 15

Belize: McCauley 6, 41; Roches 21

St. Kitts and Nevis: G. Williams 13

Dominica: Pacquette 20

Barbados: R. Williams 42

Antigua and Barbuda: Dublin 22; Gregory 27; Sierra 40 OG (Aruba)

Turks and Caicos Islands: Lowery 33; Clinton 72

St. Lucia: Nyhime 90+2

El Salvador: Hasani Martín 5, 17; Corrales Rivera 30, 32, 55, 65, 68; Cerritos 46, 77, 85; E. Quintanilla 70; Umaña 80

North Korea, Bahrain, Uzbekistan win 1-0; United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia win 2-0

Jordan hosted the North Koreans today but were unable to secure even one point as the North Koreans moved into a tie atop the group standings with rivals South Korea. On a pitch devoid of grass, the North Koreans had trouble making headway toward the Jordanian goal, but neither side could net a goal in the opening half until it was almost over. A strike in the forty-fourth minute was all the visitors needed to gain three points and a one-goal shutout.

Oman played host to Bahrain in Muscat. Unfortunately, they played their role too graciously and watch as 2006's fifth-place Asian squad took all of the points on the road. The match started off with a Bahraini goal in the fourteenth minute but was thereafter devoid of scoring. It did, however, feature six yellow cards, including four to the victors.

In Beirut today, the home fans went away from the stadium dissatisfied. Their Lebanon squad failed to produce a goal or a shutout, and paid the consequences with a 1-0 loss. “Lebanon are a well organised and strong team as they proved by progressing to the third round of the qualifying campaign. However, we will win the game as long as we perform properly." These words spoken by the Uzbeki coach, Rauf Ilileyev, were backed up by a goal to end the first half. The defense held in the second period, and Uzbekistan exacted revenge for the replayed match of the 2006 cycle.

The United Arab Emirates wanted to show that their demolition of Vietnam in Round One proved that they are a strong team. Kuwait would have to agree after the 2-0 win by the home side in Abu Dhabi. The scoring was balanced for the United Arab Emirates, with one coming early in the first half, the other early in the second half. They now sit alone atop their group with three points.

Saudi Arabia began its campaign against the surprise team of qualifying so far, Singapore. Reigning Asian player of the year Al Qahtani began the scoring for the Saudis with a first half goal. The match was put out of reach with ten minutes to go with a second mark and Saudi Arabia completed a two-goal shutout. The match was not the cleanest one on record, with seven yellows in total handed out, including a whopping five to Singapore.

Goal scorers:
North Korea: Hong Y.J. 44

Bahrain: Hubail 14

Uzbekistan: Ahmedov 44

United Arab Emirates: Al Shehhi 14; Khalel 53

Saudi Arabia: Al Qahtani 38; Al Hawsawi 81

Australia, Japan, South Korea dominate; China and Iran struggle

In the first match of phase three in Asian qualifying, top seed Australia took on Qatar at home. The Australians immediately put their 2007 Asian Cup dissapointment behind them and proceeded to maul the Qataris. With three first-half goals and a few more close calls, the Austalians were able to coast through the second half and complete the three-goal shutout victory. "We played a fantastic first half. We created chances, we scored great goals, we never gave them one chance," said Australian coach Pim Verbeek.

Japan hosted Thailand and Asia's leading scorer Chaikamdee in their opening match. Snow also welcomed the visiting Thais to Saitama. A free kick within the first half hour gave Japan their first lead, but Thailand struck back to produce a halftime tie and a chorus of boos for the home side. Japan secured a 2-1 before Thailand's Narongchai Vachiraban was sent off for his second yellow. With the man advantage, the Japanese pushed in two more goals (including on in stoppage time) and won by a score of 4-1. Japanese coach Takeshi Okada spoke after the match. "These games are never easy but we may have underestimated them a bit. Scoring three goals from set pieces is nice but it's worrying we only scored one from open play."

Turkmenistan coach Rakhim Kurbanmamedov: "In terms of expertise and experience, I think South Korea are the strongest in Asia."

South Korea and Turkmenistan were next on the docket. On a chilly night, the South Koreans made seemingly little headway toward achieving a good result until a ball struck the Turkmeni net just before the half. Rattled, Turkmenistan fell apart in the second half and hope for better results in their future after suffering a 4-0 defeat. Korea Republic coach Huh Jong-Moo enjoyed the effort, saying, "I'm happy with the performance tonight. Turkmenistan didn't play that badly. It's just that our team was better."

In the most surprising of the early qualifiers, Iran hosted underdogs Syria. As expected, Iran shutout the Syrians. The only problem was that they were unable to score themselves. A scoreless draw was the final result, and the Iranians have many questions to answer before a March trip to Kuwait. Neither side had a coach heading into the match, which may help to explain the poor offensive perfomances.

"Obviously, we wanted to open with a win and we were gutted afterwards. But we have to pick ourselves up and look to the future. We want a place at the finals, and every member of the team will give his all for the cause," explained Iranian captain Ali Karimi.

Asian Cup 2007 champions Iraq welcomed China to their home away from home, Dubai. Iraq did a wonderful job early in the second half after a scoreless first half. The Iraqis put away a penalty kick for a 1-0 lead, but it did not take long for disaster to strike. Nashat Akram was sent off in the seventy-first minute for his second yellow, allowing China a chance to steal the points. With the best player of the Asian Cup Younis Mahmoud out early with an injury, Iraq surely did not need to be going a man down. China was able to knock home an equalizer, but Iraq did manage to salvage its first point. Both sides drew a massive number of yellow cards, with five apiece.

Goal scorers:
Australia: Kennedy 10; Cahill 17; Bresciano 33

Japan: Endo 20; Okubo 53; Nakazawa 66; Maki 90+1

Thailand: Winothai 21

South Korea: Kwak 43; Seol K.H. 57, 83; Park J.S. 70

China: Zheng Z. 75

Iraq: Hawar 50 PK

February/March qualification fixtures

Before the first day of madness kicks of for FIFA World Cup qualifying in 2008, I would like to condense the schedule of the next two months into one list. All times are local.

February 6, 2008
Qatar at Australia 7:30 PM Melbourne
Thailand at Japan 7:20 PM Saitama
Turkmenistan at South Korea 8 PM Seoul
Syria at Iran 3 PM Tehrān
China at Iraq 4: 30 PM Dubai, United Arab Emirates
North Korea at Jordan 5 PM Ammān
Bahrain at Oman 6:30 PM Muscat
Uzbekistan at Lebanon 6 PM Beirut
Kuwait at United Arab Emirates 7:15 PM Abu Dhabi
Singapore at Saudi Arabia 8:15 PM Riyadh
St. Kitts and Nevis at Belize 3 PM Guatemala City, Guatemala
Netherlands Antilles at Nicaragua 3 PM Diriamba
Barbados at Dominica 7 PM Roseau
Antigua and Barbuda at Aruba 8 PM Oranjestad
St. Lucia at Turks and Caicos Islands 7:45 PM Provedenciales
Anguilla at El Salvador 7:30 PM San Salvador

March 26, 2008
Australia at China 2 PM Kunming
South Korea at North Korea 3 PM Shanghai, China
Saudi Arabia at Uzbekistan 4 PM Tashkent
United Arab Emirates at Syria 2:30 PM Damascus
Lebanon at Singapore 7:30 PM Singapore
Jordan at Turkmenistan 5 PM Ashgabat
Oman at Thailand 7 PM Bangkok
Japan at Bahrain 5:20 PM Al Manāmah
Iraq at Qatar 6:30 PM Doha
Iran at Kuwait 7:45 PM Kuwait City
U.S. Virgin Islands at Grenada 3 PM St. George's
Turks and Caicos Islands at St. Lucia 3 PM Vieux Fort
Aruba at Antigua and Barbuda 4:15 PM St. John's
Dominica at Barbados 4 PM Bridgetown
Suriname vs. Montserrat 6 PM Tunapuna, Trinidad and Tobago
Belize at St. Kitts and Nevis 7 PM Basseterre
British Virgin Islands at Bahamas 7 PM Nassau
Dominican Republic at Puerto Rico 8 PM Bayamón
Nicaragua at Netherlands Antilles 8 PM Willemstad
El Salvador at Anguilla 8 PM Washington D.C., United States of America

March 30, 2008
British Virgin Islands at Bahamas 3 PM Nassau
Bermuda at Cayman Islands 7 PM Georgetown

Let's hope these two months are full of excellent soccer.

Cayman Islands 1 - Bermuda 1

"It would be a mistake for Bermuda to underestimate us. Our aim is to come back with all the points and build excitement ahead of the second leg and get people talking.” –Carl Brown, coach of the Cayman Islands

In the opening match of CONCACAF qualifying and the first 2010 qualifier of the year, favorites Bermuda hosted underdogs Cayman Islands in Hamilton. Bermuda certainly missed the services of its best striker, Khano Smith, who had yet to recover from his groin injury. Still, Bermuda was able to dominate the entire pitch for the first eighty-five minutes of the match. Scoring chances were plenty, but only one goal was netted. With a tie series going into their home leg still a possibility, the Caymans found a way to net an equalizer and turn the March 30 affair into an exciting prospect.

The aggregate score is tied at 1-1. The winner of the two-legged tie will face Trinidad and Tobago.

Goal scorers:
Bermuda: Burgess 18

Cayman Islands: Grant Velásquez 86