World Cup qualification: CONCACAF

[Kevin S]

World Cup qualification: CONCACAF

Geoffrey de Ste. Croix wrote: The Kluivert bandwagon keeps on rolling. The away goal scored by ADO's Papito Merencia sees Curaçao through.

The match itself took nearly 4 hours due to torrential, monsoon like conditions over Havana with the game being called off and restarted. Kluivert must be the most popular man in Curaçao at the moment.

Saw the first half (see page 5); Curaçao did well to level after the early setback. The equaliser was a little fortuitous but then there was a full Schumacher from the Cuban keeper, getting himself sent off.

[Geoffrey de Ste. Croix]

World Cup qualification: CONCACAF

You'll be glad you didn't stay up for the four hour extended Rain mix.

[Kevin S]

World Cup qualification: CONCACAF

Yeah, I'm pretty sure I saw the best of it.

Here are the two goals, but not the red card.

[Kevin S]

World Cup qualification: CONCACAF

And here's Belize's triumph.

[Kevin S]

World Cup qualification: CONCACAF

Smallcaps wrote: According to my scores app, St. Lucia were 4-2 up on aggregate with nine minutes to go, but contrived to concede three more. That must have been an epic meltdown. Does anyone know what happened?

The remarkable St. Lucia 1-4 Antigua & Barbuda game

[Kevin S]

World Cup qualification: CONCACAF

Barbados 1-0 Aruba

[Kevin S]

World Cup qualification: CONCACAF

No sign yet from "Netbuster!" or "Krokomime" of the 4-4 game though.

[Kevin S]

World Cup qualification: CONCACAF

Kevchenko wrote:
[126] Bermuda (0) - (0) Guatemala [93]
I think this one is actually at half midnight tonight here, isn't it? That is, it's Monday evening local time? Hard to tell with these 'just around midnight' games which day they actually mean...

According to live score now, this game is on at 2330 tonight, so it has come forward an hour. Weather?

[ursus arctos]

World Cup qualification: CONCACAF

CONCACAF has it at 19h30 Hamilton, which I think is 23h30 London

No unusual weather in Bermuda today.

[Kevin S]

World Cup qualification: CONCACAF

Cheers ursus. Perhaps live score had it wrong to start with.

Come on *checks wikipedia* you Gombey Warriors!

[TheFourMarys]

World Cup qualification: CONCACAF

Many thanks for that bizarrely beautiful highlights package for the St. Lucia - Antigua game, Kev. Remarkable is surely not a big enough word for this game.

If Tim Nice-But-Dim-About-Football as lead commentator wasn't glorious enough ("St. Lucia Penalty to be taken by... the player in the orange boots") they then pulled off what must be the greatest sports announcing coup of all time by inviting DEATH himself to be colour guy.

Great performance of go-for-broke football from Antigua and the kind of heartbreaking collapse for St. Lucia that can unfortunately end up killing careers.

How could anyone who loves football not appreciate the glorious, joyful insanity of these CONCACAF qualifiers. The sheer lack of cynical "professionalism" and abundance of national pride shown by all parties is wonderful.

Annoyed by the fact that we'll have to wait until the25th of JULY to get the draw for the 3rd round when, as you mentioned upthread, Jamaica and Haiti join the party.

At least they draw the fourth round (first pool round) at the same time, so Belize and everybody else still standing knows what will await them (including the big boys) should they progress.

Why can't all football be this free and fun?

[TheFourMarys]

World Cup qualification: CONCACAF

Unfortunately Guatemala pulled out the 1-0 win in Hamilton, thus knocking out Bermuda and staying alive.

It would be 'interesting' for Belize to be drawn against our Irredentist neighbours who are trying to bully us out of existence, to say the least. But if we are to play those bums I'd prefer to leave it until the pool play, should we make it.

Fuck Off Guatemala. No ICJ! Belize Will Never die.

[Kevin S]

World Cup qualification: CONCACAF

TheFourMarys wrote: Many thanks for that bizarrely beautiful highlights package for the St. Lucia - Antigua game, Kev. Remarkable is surely not a big enough word for this game.

If Tim Nice-But-Dim-About-Football as lead commentator wasn't glorious enough ("St. Lucia Penalty to be taken by... the player in the orange boots") they then pulled off what must be the greatest sports announcing coup of all time by inviting DEATH himself to be colour guy.

Great performance of go-for-broke football from Antigua and the kind of heartbreaking collapse for St. Lucia that can unfortunately end up killing careers.

How could anyone who loves football not appreciate the glorious, joyful insanity of these CONCACAF qualifiers. The sheer lack of cynical "professionalism" and abundance of national pride shown by all parties is wonderful.

Annoyed by the fact that we'll have to wait until the25th of JULY to get the draw for the 3rd round when, as you mentioned upthread, Jamaica and Haiti join the party.

At least they draw the fourth round (first pool round) at the same time, so Belize and everybody else still standing knows what will await them (including the big boys) should they progress.

Why can't all football be this free and fun?

I haven't played that with the commentary on yet - awesome!

And with you all the way on this - it's high stakes, knockout football without any of the crap that comes with high profile pro club games. Players giving it everything they've got (the way the St. Lucians just collapsed on the pitch after the Antiguan fightback tells it all), fantastic supporters, grounds in various states of disrepair, or not. It really has got everything.

Two nicely poised matches first up today, with fairly equally ranked teams and the home sides having to turn round a 0-1 deficit in each case - so a goal for the away teams means the hosts have to score three.

[matt j]

World Cup qualification: CONCACAF

TheFourMarys wrote: Many thanks for that bizarrely beautiful highlights package for the St. Lucia - Antigua game, Kev. Remarkable is surely not a big enough word for this game.

If Tim Nice-But-Dim-About-Football as lead commentator wasn't glorious enough ("St. Lucia Penalty to be taken by... the player in the orange boots") they then pulled off what must be the greatest sports announcing coup of all time by inviting DEATH himself to be colour guy.

Ditto. Brilliant.

[Bermuda Iron]

World Cup qualification: CONCACAF

I went to the Bermuda-Guatemala game last night (1930 local kick off, 2330 UK). Not a bad game, the best team (just!) won sadly, but the Gombey Warriors were without the talismanic Nakhi Wells for both games who is nursing an ankle injury. Guatemala dominated the first half, scoring midway through. Second half, Bermuda went for it and were much improved, but without their star striker struggled to break down a resolute and well-organized defence. On the upside, Bermuda has a young group of players who, if given the opportunity to play together more as a national side (there is an issue with getting games, especially friendlies due to travel, cost etc) could well improve their ranking. Another positive for the local game was the excellent crowd and support, the best I have seen in 4 years on island, and that includes games against Trinidad & Tobago and Jamaica.

[Kevin S]

World Cup qualification: CONCACAF

Wow. A Bermuda match-going OTFer as well! Fantastic stuff Shorts and good to hear positive vibes. Looks like the highlights are up now too.

And to be fair to the imperialistic land-grabbers [(c) T.F.M.], it is a very nice finish.

[Bermuda Iron]

World Cup qualification: CONCACAF

It was indeed a good finish. Overall, those 'land grabbers' were more professional, and by professional I of course mean cynical and canny. The Bermuda coach is a well known local ex-footballer who, in my opinion, is tactically astute and always gets the best out of a relatively inexperienced bunch of young-ish footballers (Wells aside, the squad is mainly local footballers with a couple of players who have played/are playing in UK non-league, plus the young keeper Dale Eve who is on Stoke City's books).

[Kevin S]

World Cup qualification: CONCACAF

Sounds promising but, as you say, travel is always going to be a bit of an issue.

Trying desperately to find pictures for either of the games happening now. Apparently Suriname have an early goal through Roxey Fer. No relation to Leroy by the looks of the latter's wiki page (though Leroy would have been eligible for Curaçao; maybe his younger brother will go that way?).

[TheFourMarys]

World Cup qualification: CONCACAF

Thanks for the update, Shorts.

It's a shame one of the more monied residents of Bermuda can't or won't help to fund a re-start of the mostly successful Bermuda Hogges experiment. True, they didn't shake up the world performance wise in the USL but playing regularly as a team in the US lower leagues must have helped squad development and seems to be just the thing the Islanders need now from what you were saying.

I can only assume that coach Balcome has grown his dreads out a lot since his playing days ended. Can't see that much hair being an on-field advantage.

Are Kyle Lightbourne and The Goat still big voices in the local football scene?

I feel like my days as most exotic contributor to this thread are done. It was fun while it lasted, but surely isolated Atlantic outcrop beats tropical Spanish Main every time

[TheFourMarys]

World Cup qualification: CONCACAF

Nicaragua holding the second half advantage in Paramaribo. Second leg is tied 1-1 after the Nics 1-0 home victory last week.

Suriname is an extremely oppressed, racially-riven country ruled by a scumbag Murderer. As far as I am aware,it is his decision and his alone to pick a purely home-based (and purely "native" team - contoversial in itself given that much like in Fiji and Trinidad, the population is almost 50-50 "Native" vs. (East) "Indian"), thus ignoring a potentially Gold Cup threatening team of Dutch Born players.

Grenada have the tie squared up in the other match. Leading 1-0 in half-time according to CONCACAF.com.

[Kevin S]

World Cup qualification: CONCACAF

TheFourMarys wrote: I feel like my days as most exotic contributor to this thread are done. It was fun while it lasted, but surely isolated Atlantic outcrop beats tropical Spanish Main every time

Hey, your guys are still in! Shorts needs to get on the Belize bandwagon.

[TheFourMarys]

World Cup qualification: CONCACAF

Grenada 2-0 Puerto Rico (2-1 Agg)

Grenada show an 'Urgent Fury' to score twice at home and send at least part of the US back home in defeat.

Maurice Bishop, that one's for you, brother.

They'll be dancing in the streets of .... wait for wiki... ST. GEORGE'S tonight! Go Nutmeg Doves!!!!!

Nicaragua pulled away in the second half of the tie away to Suriname, winning 3-1 on the day and 4-1 overall, thus ending World Cup interest from the Guyanas and South America.

Salvador/St. Kitts and Canada/Dominica round out the group tonight, with CANDOM starting in about 30 minutes.

[TheFourMarys]

World Cup qualification: CONCACAF

Canada live up to their well-earned reputation as the bullies of the World by sticking four past the (plucky, I'm assuming) Parrots of Dominica for a 6-0 agg win.

Boo, Canada. I ask you, sirs: At long last, have you left no sense of decency?

[Kevin S]

World Cup qualification: CONCACAF

El Salvador 4-1 St Kitts & Nevis (6-3 agg)

So that gives us these dozen teams who will play one more knockout round which, as TFM says, is drawn in Russia on 25 July. (I presume it is randomly drawn now?) The matches will be from 31 August – 8 September.

65 Jamaica
76 Haiti
89 El Salvador
93 Guatemala
104 Antigua and Barbuda
109 Canada
112 St Vincent and the Grenadines
132 Barbados
144 Curaçao
151 Nicaragua
155 Belize
160 Grenada

The draw will also place each tie into one of the three four-team groups for the fourth round, so the winners know which teams they will be grouped with.

The six group matches will be spread out:
Matches 1 and 2 on 9–17 November 2015
Matches 3 and 4 on 21–29 March 2016
Matches 5 and 6 on 29 August – 6 September 2016

The final round, "The Hex," a single six team group of the three winners and second placed teams, then runs from 7-15 Nov 2016 through to 2-10 October 2017. And there's an intercontinental playoff after that.

[Kevin S]

World Cup qualification: CONCACAF

Of the dozen teams in the third round:
• Jamaica and Haiti were given byes in R1-2
• El Salvador, Guatemala, A&B, Canada, St V & the G, and Grenada came in at R2
• Curaçao, Nicaragua, Belize, and Barbados have won through from R1