As you all know, the draw for the World Cup qualifiers was this morning. Here is the part of the draw most relevant to this region:
Group 1
Dominica/Barbados vs. USA
Turks and Caicos/St. Lucia vs. Guatemala
Bermuda/Cayman Islands vs. Trinidad & Tobago
Aruba/Antigua and Barbuda vs. Cuba
Group 2
Belize/St. Kitts and Nevis vs. Mexico
Bahamas/British Virgin Islands vs. Jamaica
Dominican Republic/Puerto Rico vs. Honduras
St. Vincent and Grenadines vs. Canada
Group 3
US Virgin Islands/Grenada vs. Costa Rica
Suriname/Montserrat vs. Guyana
El Salvador/Anguilla vs. Panama
Nicaragua/Netherlands Antilles vs. Haiti
As they've done in previous draws, the first round matches and their second round opponents were paired and then placed in one of the three semifinal groups. And seeds 1-3, 4-6, 7-9, and 10-12 were placed in separate pots, as I expected.
With regard to the top three seeds, the USA and Costa Rica have easier draws in the semifinal round, but Costa Rica might have the bigger hurdle in the second round if Grenada advance. Shalrie Joseph and Jason Roberts are the two most widely known Grenadian players, and their leadership will be important in the qualifiers. Mexico will not have the "Caribbean Vacation" that they had in the previous qualifying cycle, with potential trips to Jamaica, Honduras, and Canada in the semifinal round. Jamaica are rebuilding their team after going from one disaster to another in the last four years, Canada are rapidly improving, and Honduras will be looking to finally fulfill their potential. Mexico should be able to advance to the Hexagonal, but not without a fight.
In addition to Grenada, the only other country in the first round that (to me) might make some noise in the qualifiers is Bermuda. This is all a really big stretch; it really is amazing how many weak teams there are in this region -- almost 2/3 of CONCACAF's national teams are currently ranked below the FIFA 100!
UPDATE: Just what I get for not watching the draw on TV -- I had a conversation with a friend of mine and found out that CONCACAF did not do the draw the way I had assumed. Instead seeds 1-3 and 4-6 were placed in separate pots, and seeds 7-12 were together in a third pot. It was just sheer luck that seeds 7-9 and 10-12 were separated from each other. No wonder the rest of the world was confused -- sheesh.
UPDATE #2: I should also mention Bobby McMahon's post before the draw, wondering why CONCACAF based their seedings on FIFA rankings taken before the Gold Cup. Putting aside one's incredulity about the rankings, CONCACAF's decision certainly helped a couple of Caribbean countries, including the one with three words. Coincidence?
WELCOME BigSoccer.com readers! Thanks for the link, and take a look at some of my other musings on David Beckham's future with the English national team, and what the CONCACAF Champions League might look like, among other topics.
Ahh, what a waste of time. Can't we just Conmebol so that we could have some interesting qualifying matches and get some useful practice on the way?
Posted by: DingDong | November 25, 2007 at 10:52 PM