usa

 Manager: Bob Bradley
Captain: Carlos Bocanegra
FIFA Ranking: 11
World Cup appearances: 8
Best World Cup: Third Place – 1930

USA Team Profile

In most sports, the American just turn up, strut their stuff and walk away with bags of medals. In football, however, that isn’t the case. In fact, the USA will be hard-pressed to make the last-sixteen of the competition in South Africa, although they did go as far as the quarter-finals back in Korea/Japan in 2002; their best performance in the finals of a World Cup for over 70 years, before later bowing at the group stages in Germany, 2006.

Credit were credit is due, the USA is showing huge signs of improvements both with their international displays and in regards to the popularity of the sport back home in general. Soccer is generally not perceived to be part of the popular brand of sports over in a country which consists of several high profile sporting activities, but in recent years better players have emerged from the shadows and their emergence of new talent was evident in their 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup performance which seen them make it as far as the final itself, taking a 2-0 lead in the final before losing 3-2 to eventual champions Brazil.

In North America however, despite ‘Soccer’ not yet reaching the heights in the popularity charts as expected when David Beckham moved over to the MLS several years ago in a bold bid to boost the reputation, the USA are the team to beat in qualifying or their own respective major tournaments. USA are the only North American team to have played in five successive World Cups. They stormed through qualifying, booking their tickets to South Africa with something to spare.

USA Key Players

Landon Donovan

We were tempted to call Landon Donovan a veteran as he does have so much experience but we mustn’t forget that the LA Galaxy forward is still just 27 years-old and still has every chance of reaching the following finals four years later. Donovan isn’t the biggest of players at just 5ft 7inc but his presence in the starting line-up brings about added enthusiasm from the rest of the squad as his work rate and ethic is second to none. He doesn’t allowed the opposing defenders any time on the ball, he chases down nothing balls and he also tracks back to help out in defence whenever necessary. He will be USA’s biggest goal threat in the final as he just seems to have a unique knack of getting in the right places at the right time, as well possessing the ability to create a chance out of nothing with his swift, intricate ball skills.

With 42 goals in 120 appearances for country, Landon Donovan is the most prolific striker the United States has ever had. He is the all-time leader in both goals and assists and will be the most-capped player in the US squad. Like we said above, Donovan brings vital experience to the fort as the squad is still fairly young in stature.

Tim Howard

The Everton number 1 has been his country’s number 1 for some time now but he’s a long way behind catching Landon Donovan in the caps department. Howard has been capped 48 times for his country and he has made that goalkeeping berth his own since Brad Friedel’s retirement from International duty. He has just about everything you want in a goalkeeper. He is clam and collected when in possession, he commands the respect of all those in front of him on the pitch whilst his immense shop-stopping ability makes him one of the best goalies in the game.

Tim Howard’s finest performance to date came against Spain in the 2009 Confederations Cup. Howard pulled off a string of good saves to not only deny Spain several goals but also aid his side into the finals of the tournament, albeit losing against Brazil in the final after a valiant display. He was the first goalkeeper to keep Spain at bay for the full 90 minutes for over two years. He was deservedly awarded The Golden Glove for his performances on the whole throughout The Confederations Cup.

Strengths

The biggest compliment we can pay to the American’s is they work so damn hard during 90 minutes, harassing the opponent throughout. They don’t allow their opponents to have any time nor space when in possession, they aren’t afraid to get involved with a tackle and seemingly have energy in reserve. The US are arguably the most enduring and industrious team on the block, and whatever team they come up against, no matter how classy they are, they’ll have to work doubly hard to squeeze anything out of a game with a USA team which fights tooth and nail for every last blade of grass.

Weakness

While there is no doubting the commitment of the USA team, were one of their key players to suffer an injury setback while in South Africa, manager Bradley would struggle to fill the void left. Their starting eleven isn’t the strongest in the first place, but it’s their determination on the field which enables them to push the big teams hard. Were one of the wheels in the US cog to go missing, you would fear for their chances as the USA rely heavily on team work and the great chemistry they’ve built up over some successful years.

USA Qualification for the World Cup

Sector: North, Central America & Caribbean
Group: 1
Position: 1st
Win-Draw-Lose: 6-2-2
Goals Scored: 19
Goals Conceded: 13

World Cup Potential: 2/5

The USA are a team you would ideally prefer to avoid; great work ethic all round the team,their attitude on the field is great while their overall team work in second to none, both when in possession and not. However, for all their workmanlike qualities, the US still aren’t strong enough, certainly in depth, to handle the gauntlet thrown down by some of the more equipped nations, such as England, a team they’ll face in the group stages.

In fairness though, they were handed a very generous group, one they stand every chance of bypassing after being thrown into the mixer with England, the favourites to win the group, Slovenia and Algeria. The two key games as far as the USA are concerned are the Slovenia and Algeria matches, both of which they have to win in order to keep their chances of making the last-sixteen promising. If they can get something out of their game with the USA then great, and that’s not behold the realms of possibility. However, if the USA do want to go far, they’ll need to somehow finish the group in first place in order to avoid the ever consistent Germans in the round of 16.

On their day the USA can be a handful and are one of a select few that in terms of being rated as an outsider, could spring a shock against one of the elite nations. However, consistency would be an issue and while their ability to shock will be a threat to opponents, their main objective in South Africa will be to make the Round of 16.

USA World Cup Betting Odds

USA to win the World Cup: 80/1 Bet365

Before the World Cup the odds on USA were 80/1 

Official USA World Cup Squad

Goalkeepers

Brad Guzan (Aston Villa)

Marcus Hahnemann (Wolverhampton Wanderers)

Tim Howard (Everton)

Defenders

Carlos Bocanegra (Stade Rennes)

Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA)

Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96)

Jay DeMerit (Watford)

Clarence Goodson (IK Start)

Oguchi Onyewu (AC Milan)

Jonathan Spector (West Ham)

Midfielders

Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy)

DaMarcus Beasley (Glasgow Rangers)

Michael Bradley (Borussia Monchengladbach)

Ricardo Clark (Eintracht Frankfurt)

Clint Dempsey (Fulham)

Maurice Edu (Glasgow Rangers)

Benny Feilhaber (AGF Aarhus)

Stuart Holden (Bolton Wanderers)

Jose Torres (Pachuca)

Strikers

Jozy Altidore (Villarreal)

Edson Buddle (Los Angeles Galaxy)

Robbie Findley (Real Salt Lake)

Herculez Gomez (Puebla)

last update: 18 June 2010

World Cup 2010 USA Fixtures – Group C

26/06 – 19.30 – Round of the last 16: USA – Ghana: 1-2 AET

World Cup Group C - Table

 World Cup Fixtures and Results

World Cup Group of USA

Argentina – 10/1 BlueSquare

Australia – 100/1 totesport

Brazil – 5/1 PaddyPower

Chile – 50/1 Boylesports 

Denmark – 100/1 SportingBet 

England – 7/1 Coral 

Germany – 12/1 Bet365 

Ghana – 80/1 SkyBet 

Honduras – 500/1 SkyBet 

Italy – 14/1 StanJames 

Ivory Coast – 33/1 SkyBet 

Japan – 200/1 Boylesports 

Mexico – 125/1 Coral 

Netherlands – 14/1 Bet365 

North Korea – 1000/1 SportingBet 

Paraguay – 66/1 Coral 

Serbia – 66/1 SportingBet 

Slovakia – 250/1 SkyBet 

South Africa (Hosts) – 150/1 Coral 

South Korea – 300/1 Coral 

Spain – 9/2 Bet365 

Switzerland – 150/1 Boylesports 

United States – 125/1 Coral

Ante-Post Tips:

Backing one of the frontrunners is pretty pointless right now as their respective price won’t alter too much between now and the finals. However, having a cheeky punt on one of the outsiders could prove beneficial.

Our Value Bets:

USA – They are always an awkward opponent and they will cause one of the big teams a problem as they aren’t one of the top seeds, rightly so. They will have every chance of bypassing any group they may get but as far as winning the tournament goes, we can’t see that happening at all. The US are probably a good trading opportunity but we couldn’t feel safe backing them to go all the way.

PRICE: 125/1 Coral

Ivory Coast – I really like the look of this Ivory Coast squad, with Chelsea’s Didier Drogba their most influential and best player. He is the captain, as well, and he will be the driving force in the Ivory Coast’s bid to secure their first ever World Cup success in just their second appearance in a World Cup. However, they aren’t a one man band, with the likes of Didier Zokora, Salmon Kalou, Gervinho, Emmanuel Eboue and the Toure brothers; Yaya and Kolo. They are a team full of pace and strength and we think they’re a stunning price to go far in this summer show-piece, on a continent they will be more than accomplished on.

PRICE: 33/1 SkyBet

After a weekend of intense qualifiers, we have eight new teams joining the 11 that had already qualified for South Africa. Ivory Coast, Germany, Denmark, Serbia, Italy, Chile, Mexico & USA are the nations that booked their spot in next summers show-piece over the weekend, but none have made such an impact as the frontrunners in the market remaining pretty much the same, and the prices haven’t altered too much, either.

From Europe; Denmark, Germany, Italy & Serbia, all make the South African fold, with a qualifier to spare, and the preparations will now begin for all of the above as they seek out the World Cup crown.

Out of the recent European qualifiers, Germany lead in the market but they’re still consider slight outsiders at 11/1 with WilliamHill, while Italy, the defending World champions, are currently 13/1 with PaddyPower to successfully defend their title.

Denmark, despite secure qualification fairly comfortably, are as big as 80/1 with Coral, with their inconsistent nature in major tournaments one of the reasons for such a big price. Serbia, however, have been given slightly more respect by the bookies and are a best priced 66/1 with Ladbrokes to spring a shock in Africa.

The Ivory Coast became just the second African nation to qualify for the finals, although three if you count the hosts, South Africa. They cruised through qualification and their abundance of power, strength and class, makes them a very dangerous opponent indeed. Didier Drogba finished as top scorer for Ivory Coast and they’re 40/1 with Bet365 to go all the way in just their second World Cup.

Chile were the third nation from the South American continent to book their tickets to South Africa after thumping Colombia 4-2 on Saturday night. Chile beat the likes of Argentina, Uruguay & Ecuador to qualification but they still find themselves as un-fancied outsiders at 66/1 with VictorChandler & WilliamHill.

From the CONCACAF zone, both the United States and Mexico surprised no one by qualifying after the pair both recorded victories over the weekend to secure their berth into South Africa. USA have always been a difficult opponent once they have made the competition proper and, at odds of 125/1 with Coral, could be a decent value punt. Mexico, however, struggled on occasions whilst qualifying and, although their price is a tad bit shorter at 100/1 with Coral, they don’t appear to have much chance of being the surprise package this summer with youth and immaturity their burden at this moment in time.

World Cup Outright Odds:

Spain – 5/1 WilliamHill

Brazil – 5/1 PaddyPower

England – 7/1 Coral

Argentina – 11/1 BlueSquare

Germany – 11/1 WilliamHill

Holland – 12/1 SkyBet

Italy – 13/1 PaddyPower

France – 25/1 Coral

Portugal – 33/1 WilliamHill

40/1 Bar The Rest

The United States can cement their place in South Africa 2010 with a victory over Honduras on Saturday. If the US make it again, it will be their sixth consecutive appearance at the finals, and more often than not, they produce some interesting games on the biggest footballing stage of all. The US are almost averaging two goals a game throughout Qualifying, and young striker Jozy Altidore, who has represented his country on most levels, has netted 6 of their fourteen qualifying campaign goals.

The youngster, who is no stranger to fans of the Premier League, where he plays for Hull City (on loan from Spanish team Villarreal), has a total of 8 goals in 19 senior international appearances. He is also the youngest ever player to score a hat trick while representing the United States, a feat he achieved earlier in the year in a qualifier against Trinidad and Tobago. There will a lot a stake on Saturday, for one betting streak to follow, the US have beaten Honduras 2-1 in each of their last three meetings.

The US host some more names that may be recognisable, such as Tim Howard, DeMarcus Beasley, Landon Donovan, Carlos Bocanegra and Fulham’s Clint Dempsey. Midfielder Dempsey picked up an injury in the Premier League which will keep him out of the line up against Honduras. Dempsey has been the other main source of goals alongside Altidore, with five to his credit during qualifying.

The Americans need one victory from their remaining two games to book a plane ticket to South Africa 2010. All of their three defeats during the Qualifying campaign have been away from home, and they narrowly beat Honduras 2-1 on home turf in Chicago in June. Surrounding that game were defeats by Mexico and Costa Rica. The exciting, technically gifted side that Honduras are, will not be a pushover, despite the USA’s dominance over them in recent games. Honduras have been scoring well of late, and have won all of their last eight qualifying games at home. The 1-0 away defeat in their last qualifying game against Mexico, dented their confidence a little.

Honduras currently sit in third place, just three points behind the United States, and it is still feasible that either of them could end up in fourth place in the table, which would mean that they would face a play-off against the fifth placed team from South America. Both will be hoping to avoid that scenario, so everything is up for grabs on Saturday. Honduras will be relying on their Carlos duo, Pavon and Costly, who have each scored 6 goals during qualifying.

Costa Rica, the team currently sat in fourth place in the table, are the visitors to the United States on Wednesday, and they will be a team who are hungry for points themselves. This will be a close finish for the top four. Mexico can also book a place at next year’s World Cup with a win over El Salvador.

Honduras to win: 9/5 at Paddy Power
Draw: 9/4 at Totesport
USA to win: 9/5 at SportingBet

With the spotlight mainly on European qualifying over the next week, there are some interesting matches for World Cup 2010 Qualification occurring across the globe, and not just in Europe. Argentina’s plight for example has been well publicisied, as they struggle to book themselves and automatic qualifying place from South America. There is a seriously close place for those fourth and fifth spots in South American qualifying. Fourth place gaurantees a place at South Africa 2010, fifth place means a play off against the fourth placed team from North and Central America.
Argentina to win: 1/7 at Boylesports
Draw: 8/1 at Expekt
Peru to win: 20/1 at William Hill

What is happening in North and Central America? A close battle for those top four places is what is happening. The USA lead the way, but there are only four points between them and Costa Rica in fourth place. Mexico and Honduras are sandwiched in between. It is likely that those four teams will stay in the qualifying spots, but in what order, is the only question. The top game on Saturday is between the USA and Honduras. A win for Honduras would put them on equal points with the US, which could open the door for Mexico to steal first place. El Salvador, who are in fifth, are four points out of fourth place.
USA to win: 11/8 at Stan James
Draw: 23/10 at Expekt
Honduras to win: 21/10 at Victor Chandler

There is no action in the African Zone until next month, and that just leaves Asia and Oceania where there is the first leg of a play-off to gaurantee participation at the World Cup. The winners of the Oceanic Zone, New Zealand, are involved in the play-off against Bahrain who finished fifth in the Asian Zone. Bahrain beat Saudia Arabia in the Asian play-off in order to reach this stage, so now it is a two-legged, winner takes all scenario for the two teams.
Bahrain to win: 8/15 at SkyBet
Draw: 11/4 at SkyBet
New Zealand to win: 11/2 at Totesport

CONCACAF Qualifying

Costa Rica lead the way with 12 POINTS, USA are shocking no one by filling second spot with 10 POINTS, while Honduras have been the surprise package and currently sit in the third and final automatic qualifying spot with 7 POINTS.

Mexico have massively underachieved and they can be found faltering in fourth position with just 6 POINTS. The Mexicans hold the position which will enable one side in the CONCACAF zone to play a two-legged play-off match with the country that finishes in fifth in the South American zone.

El Salvador could still make South Africa but they would need to pull off a few shocks along the way, but, however, they are within touching distance of third placed Honduras. El Salvador currently have 5 POINTS and are just two points behind Honduras.

Trinidad & Tobago can safely be ruled out of contention after showing no signs of mounting a challenge on the top three positions. They currently have just 2 POINTS and would need a minor miracle to qualify for South Africa.

REMEMBER: The top THREE countries qualify for the World Cup in South Africa, with the nation that finishes in fourth having to contest a two-legged play-off with a South American opponent.

USA V El Salvador

Sunday 6^th September – 01:00 GMT

The USA are firm favourites to bolster their point tally at the expense of an El Salvador team with just one win in qualification thus far. Also, the USA have dominated past meetings between the two, winning thirteen of the previous eighteen clashes between the two nations, scoring 43 goals compared to El Salvador’s 10.

A win for USA would put them firmly in the driving seat as far as finishing in the qualifying spots go. So long as the USA finish third or higher, then they’ll be booking their flight to South Africa and, with just four qualifiers to go, two wins from their remaining four should be enough to start their South African preparations.

El Salvador aren’t out of it yet though but they do find themselves five points behind USA in third. However, they could sneak into fourth place although they would need to win pretty much all of their remaining four qualifiers.

A few familiar names could feature with Fulham’s Clint Dempsey an integral part of the USA set up whilst the young power house that is; Jose Altidore, he should start up front alongside LA’s Landon Donovan whilst Everton’s Tim Howard will start in goal as he aims to keep USA’s fourth successive shut-out on US soil.

Very few of the El Salvador team will ring any bells to the neutrals but both Alfredo Pacheco & Ramon Sanchez have over 120 international caps between them and both ply their trade in the MLS.

It’s hard to envisage anything but a victory for the US. They will be well aware that a victory over El Salvador would set them up nicely ahead of an away trip to Trinidad & Tobago, four days later. A win in both should be enough to secure them a place in the South Africa.

Match Odds:

USA – 2/9 Coral

El Salvador – 14/1 SportingBet

Draw - 5/1 Bet365

Honduras V Trinidad & Tobago

Sunday 6^th September – 02:00 GMT

Honduras are on the verge of appearing in just their second World Cup after a very impressive qualifying campaign, by their low standards. They may have won just two out of six games but all that matters is that they currently sit in the third and final automatic qualification spot for the World Cup in South Africa.

It’s now theirs to lose and Honduras will appreciate a home game with bottom of the group – Trinidad. However, Trinidad did hold Honduras to a 1-1 draw when the pair met in Trinidad earlier in the year and a similar result, on home soil, would be a huge setback as this game does represent their easier chance of wrapping up three points.

Mathematically, Trinidad & Tobago could still qualify for the World Cup but they would need a miracle, or a player like Christiano Ronaldo in their side. They have very little in terms of quality within their mist, and this shows in their group status. Two points from five qualifiers just about says it all and they will do well to take a point from this game as Honduras will be hungry for all three.

Two players to keep an eye out for here will be Wigan’s Maynor Figueroa and Tottenham’s Wilson Palacios. The latter has been an influential figure for Honduras and they will be hoping the pacey winger can put in another big shift as Honduras aim to cement a top three finish.

Match Odds:

Honduras - 2/5 SkyBet

Trinidad & Tobago - 8/1 Bet365

Draw - 15/4 StanJames

Costa Rica V Mexico

Sunday 6^th September – 03:00 GMT

This is the biggest clash of all three and it kicks off last as Mexico aim to get their qualifying ambitions back on track with a victory away at Group leaders Costa Rica. The Mexicans have endured a dreadful start to qualifying, but Sven Goran Eriksson was at the helm then and he’s been long gone, and good riddance as far as the Mexicans are concerned. Costa Rica on the other hand have made the best starts of all the six nations and at the halfway stage, Costa Rica lead the group by two points.

Four wins from five has given Costa Rica twelve points and, you would feel anyway, another two wins should be enough to ensure they’re on the place for South Africa next summer. However, they certainly have a tough task on their hands if they are to tick off one of their required two victories by beating a resurgent Mexico.

Mexico come into this crucial qualifier with two wins behind them, victories over Trinidad & Tobago and USA should do wonders for their somewhat faltering team morale. They got their World Cup bid back on track last month with victory over the USA (2-1), however, Mexico have yet to win an away qualifier, losing all four.

Were Mexico to pull something out of the hat and beat the Costa Rican’s, their hopes of making the finals will rise considerably as two of their following three qualifiers will be in Mexico, where their only two wins have come so far.

Costa Rica will want to wrap up qualification so they’ll be gunning for the win, while Mexico certainly have much easier games to come, on home soil, so a draw would be seen as a positive result for them. These factors make this a hard match to call and it’s one we would probably steer well clear of although you probably couldn’t go far wrong with a lay of Mexico after looking at their dire away results already in qualifying.

Match Odds:

Costa Rica - 8/5 BetFred

Mexico - 15/8 Coral

Draw - 23/10 Coral

Host: United States
Winners: Brazil
Runners-up: Italy
Third Place: Sweden
Fourth Place: Bulgaria
Top Goalscorer: Hristo Stoichkov (Bulgaria) & Oleg Salenko (Russia) – 6 Goals
Participants: 24 (Argentina, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Colombia, Germany, Greece, Italy, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Republic of Ireland, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, USA)

The United States were given their first taste of what it’s like to host a World Cup as they held the 1994 World Cup finals. Although US fans didn’t get to to see their team challenge for honours they did get a glimpse of Brazil winning their fourth World Cup and cement their place as the World’s current best footballing nation.

The final saw two of the world’s most prolific nations go head-to-head as Brazil took on Italy. However, the two couldn’t be separated and for the first time in a World Cup, a final was to be settled on penalties. It was Brazil though who held their nerve winning 3-2 in the penalty shoot-out.

USA had to hold off the bids of Morocco and Brazil as possible hosts for the 1994 World Cup but it came as a shock when FIFA announced it would be the United States who would host the prestigious event. The USA were yet to make any impact at International level in football but FIFA seen this as the perfect opportunity for the sport to grow in the US. 

USA may not have won the competition but they did set the record for the highest attendances for a World Cup host. Over 3.6 million went to the stadiums to watch the games while the average attendance was 69,000. The USA currently hold the record for the highest attendances which has yet to be beaten.

Greece, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia were the newbies in the 1994 World Cup while Russia competed for the first time as an independent nation after they were previously competing under the Soviet Union. On a similar note, West Germany and East Germany came together and formed one competitive nation by the name of ‘Germany’ and have done ever since.

As African nations put in a respectable display in the 1990 World Cup, FIFA granted the continent three qualifying spots. It was also the first and only World Cup which seen no British contingents compete.

Final:

Brazil 0 – 0 Italy (Brazil won on penalties) – Rose Bowl ~ 94,194 Attendances
 

Goalscorers:

Third Place Play-Off:

Sweden 4 – 0 Bulgaria

Goalscorers:

Sweden – Brolin, Mild, Larsson, K. Andersson
Bulgaria –

North, Central America & Caribbean

The top three teams would qualify for the 2010 FIFA World Cup while the fourth placed side would enter a play-off with the fifth placed CONMEBOL nation.

Upcoming Fixtures

12/08/2009 – Mexico V USA
12/08/2009 – Trinidad & Tobago
12/08/2009 – Honduras V Costa Rica

05/09/2009 – USA V El Salvador
05/09/2009 – Honduras V Trinidad & Tobago
05/09/2009 – Costa Rica V Mexico

09/09/2009 – Mexico V Honduras
09/09/2009 – Trinidad & Tobago V USA
09/09/2009 – El Salvador V Costa Rica

10/10/2009 – Honduras V USA
10/10/2009 – Mexico V El Salvador
10/10/2009 – Costa Rica V Trinidad & Tobago

14/10/2009 – El Salvador V Honduras
14/10/2009 – Trinidad & Tobago
14/10/2009 – USA V Costa Rica

Key Games

With the group still very close, every game has so much riding on it. It will come down to who can manage to hold their nerve as any slip ups now could be be costly.

12/08/2009 – Mexico V USA

The USA comfortably beat the Mexicans on home soil, winning 2-0. The pressure will now be on Mexico to not only gain revenge for that defeat but to get the result that would claw them back into contention for qualification. A win for Mexico could see them leapfrog Honduras into third place and drag USA back into uncharted waters. However, a victory would USA would not only see their qualification hopes enhance but it would also be a major setback for Mexico, especially if Honduras get the better of leaders Costa Rica at home, on the same day.

05/09/2009 – Costa Rica V Mexico

Yet another tough game for Mexico but one they simply have to win if they are to have any hopes of attaining a place in South Africa next year. A win for Costa Rica could potentially leave them on the verge of qualification. Defeat for Mexico could see them slip away while a victory would not only boost their chances of qualifying but it would also be a massive morale boost for whole side knowing that they’ve beaten the current league leaders. However, considering that Mexico have yet to pick up a single point on the road thus far, that does look an unlikely outcome. This game could all but seal Mexico’s demise.

09/09/2009 – Mexico V Honduras

This game could prove to be a third place play-off providing the pair do the job in their earlier fixtures. You would fancy Mexico to get the right result at home but they will have the pressure of a nation on their shoulders and with such a young side, we’re not too confident that Mexico can do the business. A victory for Honduras would be a huge step towards qualification but they mustn’t get too carried away.

14/10/2009 – USA V Costa Rica

Both countries will be hoping to have qualification wrapped up by this time and providing they win their remaining games, that will be be so. If that’s the case then this could be a match that decides who finishes first. There’s not a lot of benefits for finishing first except bragging rights but it could be interesting to see if either team fields a strong side in a bid to secure a top place finish.

Group Summary

With fives game left to play, Qualification for the World Cup is still undecided. Costa Rica all hold all the aces though as they lead the group by two points ahead of USA in second. However, the crucial factor is that Costa Rica have put a healthy six point gap between them and fourth place, which is the cut off point in terms of automatic qualification. That means another two victories could be enough to reserve a spot in next years World Cup although three wins from their remaining five games would guarantee them qualification.

The USA have endured a disappointing qualifying campaign thus far and will be looking to make amends in the second part of qualifying. They will have the chance to take on every side one more time and providing they win the majority of their five remaining fixtures, they should secure their spot in the World Cup. However, they’ve been far from impressive in the first half of qualifying with a defeat away in Costa Rica and a 2-2 draw with Honduras setting them back in their bid to qualify for the World Cup.

Honduras fans will be going crazy at the sight of their national side occupying the third and final automatic qualification spot although there is a lot to do before they can start preparations for what would be just their second World Cup appearance. They will have to fend off the challenge of Mexico who have made a shocking start to qualifying and have just six points to their name.

        
With three defeats from their opening five qualifying games, Mexico find themselves in a precarious position. However, they are still in touch with those currently occupying the qualifying spots and a second half revival could see them sneak an automatic qualification position. Their early displays though would indicate that they will make hard work of it and to be brutally honest, they’re closer to last then first.

El Salvador and Trinidad & Tobago‘s positions of fifth and sixth respectively doesn’t look good on paper but they aren’t out of it just yet. Trinidad do appear to have a mountain to climb if they are to make their second successive World Cup after picking up just two points from their five games thus far. El Salvador do have a fighting chance though after registering five points and are currently just two points behind Honduras who occupy that final automatic qualification position.

Qualification Favourites

Costa Rica have been very impressive in the first half of qualifying, especially at home, and it’s hard to look past them for automatic qualification. They have a 100% record at home thus far with three wins from three on home soil and with two home fixtures left to play, they could all but secure qualification with victories in those games.

USA should be a shoe in for qualification also despite their somewhat shaky start. They’ve won all three of their home fixtures but that does leave them with three away fixtures which is a concern. The USA lost 3-1 away at Costa Rica while they could only manage a 2-2 draw against fifth placed Honduras so their away games will be crucial in their bid to qualify.

Costa Rica & USA are our firm favourites to progress into the World Cup. They’ve looked a class above their competitors in the first half of qualifying and it would take a few shocks for them to loose their grip of those automatic qualification spots.

It does appear to be a three way battle for that remaining qualification spot. On reputation alone, you would side with Mexico but they’ve been nothing short of abysmal in qualification and wouldn’t feel safe backing them. Honduras look a good bet as they’ve got three home fixtures compared to Mexico‘s two. The fans back home will be very excited at the prospect of their country playing in the World Cup and you would fancy Honduras to receive a lot of support from their followers and that could steer them towards qualification.