Here we are, the final matchday of the Semifinal Round. We now know all of the participants in next year's Hexagonal.
Final results:
[Group 1] USA 2-0 Guatemala F
[Group 1] Trinidad & Tobago 2-0 Cuba F
[Group 2] Honduras 1-0 Mexico F
[Group 2] Jamaica 3-0 Canada F
[Group 3] Suriname 1-1 Haiti F
[Group 3] El Salvador 1-3 Costa Rica F
2041: And now the Hexagonal is complete. USA, Costa Rica, Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador and Trinidad & Tobago will play next year for a trip to South Africa. It's been a climatic final day in the semifinal round, and on Saturday we'll find out the match schedule. Until next time!
2039: So Costa Rica finish as the only team in the semifinal round with a 100% record.
2033: FULL TIME El Salvador 1-3 Costa Rica
2031: GOAL El Salvador 1-3 Costa Rica (90'+3)
Roy Myrie gets his second and Costa Rica's third.
2014: Costa Rica and El Salvador are still playing. El Salvador just hit the post through Miguel Hernández a few minutes ago.
2005: TRINIDAD & TOBAGO QUALIFIES FOR HEXAGONAL
2004: FULL TIME USA 2-0 Guatemala
FULL TIME Trinidad & Tobago 2-0 Cuba
2003: FULL TIME Honduras 1-0 Mexico
2003: MEXICO AND HONDURAS QUALIFY FOR HEXAGONAL
2002: FULL TIME Jamaica 3-0 Canada
2002: Free kick by Guardado is deflected onto goal, and Valladares has to dive low to his left to deflect the ball away for a corner.
2000: Three minutes of stoppage time in San Pedro Sula. It's not going to happen, Jamaica.
1959: RED CARD Mexico
Carlos Vela pulls down Carlos Costly and strikes him...Batres immediately reaches for red, and Mexico are down to nine. You know, it was at least a yellow and after seeing the replay I don't think it merited a red.
1957: RED CARD Mexico
Gerardo Torrado receives a straight red card. He was already on a yellow, so any way you look at it, Mexico are down to ten men.
1955: GOAL Jamaica 3-0 Canada (84')
1953: Okay, Trinidad & Tobago are through. Mexico are practically there, too. Honduras just need to play keep-away for seven more minutes.
1952: GOAL USA 2-0 Guatemala (69')
Freddy Adu scores his first international goal and puts the outcome of Group 1 beyond any doubt.
1951: Suazo had an excellent chance for 2-0, but his shot wasn't strong enough and Sánchez easily collects.
1951: Ten minutes to go. The chances of Jamaica grabbing five more goals are remote; the Reggae Boyz now need two Mexican goals.
1948: Honduras are still in the lead, but you get the feeling that they need a second goal to really calm their nerves. All Mexico need is one goal and the final minutes will be unbearable.
1947: David Suazo is playing an inspired match for his country. I'll go out on a limb and say that this is the best match I've seen him play for Honduras.
1946: Great corner by Suazo, absolutely fantastic corner that finds Costly, but his header flies over the bar.
1946: The match is sloppy in San Pedro Sula, but the result combined with that in Kingston serves Honduras and Mexico fine.
1944: GOAL Trinidad & Tobago 2-0 Cuba (69')
Dwight Yorke gets the second and wraps up a Hexagonal place for Trinidad & Tobago.
1939: GOAL Trinidad & Tobago 1-0 Cuba (67')
It's definitely curtains for Guatemala now as Kenwyne Jones grabs the opening goal for the Soca Warriors.
1939: GOAL USA 1-0 Guatemala (54')
Kenny Cooper puts the USA in front, and effectively snuffs out Guatemala's Hexagonal hopes.
1934: Vela is on the field now, roaming on the right. He sent in a great cross to Vuoso that was tackled away for a corner.
1932: Can Jamaica score five more? Less than 30 minutes to go. To be honest, I didn't see how Ledgerwood committed that penalty at first glance; I need to look at the replay again.
1931: GOAL Jamaica 2-0 Canada
1931: PENALTY TO JAMAICA
1929: This really hasn't been Carlos Batres' best night. He's missed several fouls, and called others that didn't exist. And he should have sent off Arce.
1926: HALFTIME El Salvador 1-2 Costa Rica
It's been halftime for a few minutes, but I just wanted to give a confirmation.
1925: Both matches in Group 2 did indeed restart at about the same time.
1923: That goal will take the pressure off the Hondurans, but they can't drop their guard. Both teams are still through unless Jamaica scores six more goals.
1922: GOAL Honduras 1-0 Mexico (52')
Another corner by Honduras, it's deflected low to the ground by Costly, and Ricardo Osorio deflects the ball into the net for an own goal. And Estadio Olimpico Metropolitano -- and all of Honduras -- erupt!
1920: Honduras respond almost immediately and get a free kick just outside the area to the left. Guevara's kick is blocked, but he collects the rebound, crosses low to Costly, and his near-post shot is blocked away by Sánchez for a corner.
1918: Almost disaster for Honduras as Vuoso meets Guardado's corner kick and strikes the crossbar with a powerful header.
1917: It's raining very hard in San Pedro Sula, and that's going to make the match more unpredictable. Honduras really need to score at least once.
1916: From what I just heard, Jamaica and Canada haven't started the second half yet.
1915: Mexico's about to start, but Valladares wasn't in goal. Ok, there he is. And we're off! Finally!
1914: The matches in Group 1 have restarted.
1912: And now the Mexican team are coming off the field and hanging around the tunnel! Honduras shows up a couple of minutes later! To say the least, halftime and the synchronization of the matches have not been well organized.
1908: Mexico are back on the field but not Honduras. Gamesmanship, perhaps? At any rate, I think they'll wait a few minutes before they kick off for the second half.
1907: Poor Telemundo sideline reporter is doing his job without an umbrella. Does Telemundo not have enough money to pay for two?
1907: GOAL El Salvador 1-2 Costa Rica
José Fernández puts Costa Rica in the lead!
1905: As of this moment, Honduras, Mexico and Trinidad & Tobago are in the Hexagonal. Will it stay that way by the end of tonight's matches?
1904: HALFTIME Jamaica 1-0 Canada
HALFTIME Trinidad & Tobago 0-0 Cuba
1858: GOAL El Salvador 1-1 Costa Rica (26')
Roy Myrie pounces on a rebound off a corner kick to head home and pull the Ticos level.
1857: HALFTIME USA 0-0 Guatemala
1856: Into stoppage time in Colorado, and Guatemala have won a couple of corner kicks. Nothing comes of them, and it's time to go to the dressing room.
1853: GOAL El Salvador 1-0 Costa Rica (17')
Rudis Corrales opens the scoring for the home side, on a header.
1851: Now watching USA-Guatemala. Small crowd at DSG Park. They've said that the USA have had a good first half, and that's bad news for Guatemala.
1851: HALFTIME Honduras 0-0 Mexico
1849: Henry Thomas had to be stretchered off, and it looks like he will be Honduras' first substitution at the start of the second half. Into stoppage time now...
1847: So here's the situation in Group 2. Mexico and Honduras are still through on these results. But if Mexico takes the lead, then Jamaica move into second position.
1844: GOAL Jamaica 1-0 Canada (28')
Luton Shelton converts the opening goal for the Reggae Boyz on a terrific counterattack.
1843: I've said that Mexico's defenders are having trouble dealing with Suazo, well Honduras' are having just as much trouble handling Guardado.
1841: Raining much harder now as Honduras prepare a corner. Whoever executes on their setpieces will win this game.
1839: Jamaica just hit the crossbar off a corner kick. And FIFA confirmed that the match did indeed kickoff seven minutes late. I ask again: how was that allowed to happen? I thought the match officials had cellular hookups between both sites.
1837: Great play by Guardado on the left, his cross is perfect into the box, a Mexican and Honduran player collide going for the ball, and Matías Vuoso picks up the ball, spins and fires hard and high over the bar.
1835: Looking at the replay of Honduras' free kick, and Fernando Arce is very fortunate to be on the field. This hasn't been Carlos Batres' best night.
1834: Half an hour in, and Honduras are putting pressure on Mexico but not getting much for it aside from that half-chance by Thomas.
1833: El Salvador and Costa Rica have kicked off. And Telemundo is saying that Jamaica-Canada kicked off seven minutes late?! What happened?? If true, how was that allowed to happen??
1832: Wow, it's tight everywhere! Not a single goal scored in tonight's matches.
1828: Apologies for not having match updates of the Jamaica-Canada match, but I don't have access to text or video. As far as I know, the match is still goalless.
1826: It's still raining in San Pedro Sula, and that will have a serious effect on the pitch. It will deteriorate as the match wears on.
1825: But Mexico is going to have a hard time handling the team speed of the Hondurans. David Suazo is playing inspired.
1824: Honduras' midfielders are not doing a good job passing the ball, and it's frustrating every foray upfield.
1822: Almost twenty minutes in, and the match is starting to settle down a bit. Mexico have to feel that they've weathered the first Honduran wave.
1819: Mexico put together their first sustained possession of the match, and Salcido launches a topspin lob from 40 meters out. It looked like it could have threatened goal but it settled well over the bar.
1818: It's days like this that make you wish to get into the 21st century and get a TV with Picture-in-Picture. Or buy TiVo.
1817: Beautiful move by Suazo on the right, evades two Mexican defenders and draws a corner.
1814: Group 1's matches have kicked off.
1813: Woww!!! Honduras just missed a perfect opportunity for the opening score! It was a free kick by Guevara on the left, I think it was Henry Thomas on the other end who was free about five meters in front of goal and his right foot scooped the ball over the bar.
1810: Mexico are having trouble controlling the ball in the early going. And so are Honduras to a lesser extent. Lots of high balls over the top.
1808: One other thing...it has rained for part of the day in San Pedro Sula and the field is still quite slick.
1807: The corner is blocked away for a quick counter, and Torrado is very very lucky not to be carded for pulling Suazo by his shirt. But Suazo is strong enough to pull away and make a powerful run to the edge of the box.
1806: Matías Vuoso's pressure on Valladares and Suazo leads to a corner kick for Mexico. Can Pável Pardo take early advantage?
1805: Honduras and Mexico kick off! And so do Jamaica and Canada!
1802: By the way, if anyone can provide me with an audio/video link to the Jamaica-Canada game, could you please do so in the comments or email? My address is on the top of the site.
1801: It's a minute past the scheduled kickoff, so they will almost certainly push back the kickoff in Kingston so that both matches start at the same time.
1758: Honduras and Mexico have entered the field to a cacophony of noise. Anthems are being played now. Bad form on the Honduran crowd for whistling and blowing horns throughout the Mexican anthem. And now the home crowd are singing the Honduran anthem a capella with the singer on the field.
1757: And before I forget, Suriname and Haiti drew 1-1 this afternoon in Paramaribo, so both teams exit the semifinal round without recording a win.
1755: Big news from the Mexican camp: Carlos Vela picked up an injury during pre-match training, and he will not start tonight. He may not be able to come in as a substitute, which is a big blow for Mexico.
1754: I caught a glimpse of Estadio Olimpico Metropolitano in Honduras. It's completely full.
1751: Most of the drama appears to be in Group 2, so I will focus on those games. I will post updates on Group 1 occasionally, as Guatemala will try to win in the USA for the first time and hope for a Cuba victory in Trinidad & Tobago.
1750: Telemundo's theme for their pregame show is "Now or never". About right.
1748: Welcome to the sixth and final Matchday of the Semifinal Round of the CONCACAF World Cup qualifiers. It has the makings of a dramatic night as five teams fight for the remaining three slots on offer.
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