Event Feature: World Cup Qualifiers
by Bodog Sportsbook | Aug 5 2009
They stunned Spain. They nearly overthrew Brazil. And then everything went to pieces.
The United States men's
soccer team has some 'splainin' to do. After their amazing performances at the
Confederations Cup against the top two teams in the world, the Americans were absolutely embarrassed 5-0 by Mexico at the finals of the Gold Cup. And this was at Giants Stadium. How will Team USA handle the Mexicans next Wednesday (4:00 p.m. Eastern time) on their home turf at Estadio Azteca?
It's been a tough get for the Americans in Mexico City:
Mar. 27, 2005 Mexico 2, USA 1
Jul. 1, 2001 Mexico 1, USA 0
Aug. 1, 1999 Mexico 1, USA 0
Nov. 2, 1997 Mexico 0, USA 0
July 25, 1993 Mexico 4, USA 0
It gets worse beyond that. Stadio Azteca is about as hostile as hostile territory can be; at a capacity of 105,000, this is the fifth-largest stadium in the world, and the fans are very passionate indeed. Mexico's players want this win badly, too. They're one point behind Honduras for third place in the CONCACAF region's fourth-round qualifiers. Here are the standings (win-draw-loss) after five games:
Costa Rica 12 points (4-0-1)
United States 10 points (3-1-1)
Honduras 7 points (2-1-2)
Mexico 6 points (2-0-3)
El Salvador 5 points (1-2-2)
Trinidad & Tobago 2 points (0-2-3)
The top three teams at the end of this round qualify for the
World Cup. The fourth-place team will face the fifth-place team from CONMEBOL (the very tough South America zone) in a home-and-away playoff to decide who goes to South Africa. Each team has four games remaining after this week, and each point in the standings is precious. El Salvador has a very good chance at picking up three points next Wednesday at Trinidad & Tobago (7:30 p.m. ET), and Honduras won't be a pushover at home versus Costa Rica (9:30 p.m. ET).
The UEFA region remains the top force in
international soccer, and the Europeans will also be busy next Wednesday with five matches. The most important takes place at 2:15 p.m. ET between Croatia and the hosts from Belarus, who can leapfrog the Croats for second place in UEFA's Group 6 and the potential playoff spot that goes with it. The remaining four UEFA matches are as follows:
Germany at Azerbaijan 12:00 p.m. ET
France at Faroe Islands 12:00 p.m. ET
Scotland at Norway 1:00 p.m. ET
San Marino at Slovenia 3:45 p.m. ET
Thirteen teams from Europe will eventually qualify for the 32-team World Cup. We already know that Holland (12-1) will be there after they clinched UEFA’s Group 9 in June. And we already know that San Marino (seven losses in seven Group 3 matches) will not advance. Norway, Azerbaijan and the Faroe Islands are also winless and almost certain to be eliminated. Expect Germany (5-1-0) and France (3-1-1) to pick up the full three points on the road and cement their Cup status with just two months left in this round of UEFA qualifying.
We leave you with a look at the Top 10 of the current FIFA World Rankings. Brazil have taken over Spain for top spot, but Europe is otherwise very well represented.
World Cup odds at press time are included.
1. Brazil 5-1
2. Spain 9-2
3. Netherlands 12-1
4. Italy 11-1
5. Germany 11-1
6. Russia 28-1
7. England 15-2
8. Argentina 6-1
9. France 18-1
10. Croatia 66-1
