Preview of CONCACAF Semifinal Round: Group C

Concluding the preview of the CONCACAF semifinal round with Group C.  This group contains Costa Rica, El Salvador, Haiti and Suriname.

This group can be summarized in four words:  Costa Rica got lucky.

Considering that this is a national team in transition, that could not win a friendly match for a year, and escaped a major upset against Grenada, Costa Rica have been gifted a very manageable group.  Rodrigo Kenton has quite a CV with club and national teams at home and abroad, but he has to find a (preferably young) successor to Paulo Wanchope and instill in his team a winning mentality on the road.  This group gives Costa Rica an opportunity to figure out how to win on the road; the opponents will get a lot more difficult if they progress to the Hexagonal.

El Salvador achieved a stunning victory over Panama, and they get this group as a reward.  And I'm not being sarcastic -- they have a real chance to advance to the Hexagonal.  Eliseo Quintanilla is their best player, but I'm not sure where their goals are going to come from in open play.  Nevertheless, they are better than Haiti and Suriname and that's good enough.  Talk about being blessed by one's opponents! 

Haiti and Suriname will fight it out for third place.   Haiti was a ball of nerves during their two matches against the Netherlands Antilles and needed an own-goal to advance.  They do have a sizeable foreign legion - Peguero and Noel are most familiar to American fans - that should give them an edge, but the gap between them and the Central American teams is too great.  Suriname sabotaged itself with its policy of barring foreign-based players from the national team.  Forget about the lineage of players who chose to play for the Netherlands, the kind of player they must be closing the door on now is not one that Suriname can do without.  Nevertheless, this team is wholly dependent on Clifton Sandvliet, and that is not enough.

Key games in this group?  I would say Haiti at home to El Salvador.  Anything less than a win ends the dream for the Haitians.  And El Salvador had better get full points against Haiti and Suriname at home.

In the end, here's how I think the group will end up:

1. Costa Rica
2. El Salvador
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3. Haiti
4. Suriname

Nine points -- and maybe even eight -- should be enough to advance from the group.  I foresee a group with a lot of draws, especially by sides not named Costa Rica, but very few away wins -- Suriname vs. Costa Rica is my best bet for an away victory.