HexagonalBlog

2014 World Cup qualifying draw as it happens

Today is the day of the World Cup qualifying draw.  I am actually writing two articles at the same time, so here we go.

1422: The draw for the inter-confederation playoffs has been made.  Here it is:

• AFC vs. CONMEBOL
•  CONCACAF vs. OFC

So the fourth placed team in the CONCACAF Hexagonal will play the survivor of the Oceania qualifying series.

(CORRECTION: I originally wrote that CONCACAF would play AFC, but I was following the English language interpreter of the live broadcast and he got the matches wrong. I've corrected the text above.)

1424: I will focus on the confederation draw for the CONCACAF region.  They're doing Africa right now.

1438: Now drawing the third round of the African qualifiers.

1443: African zone complete, now moving on to the Asian draw.  Zico and Lucas to assist with the draw.

1455: CONCACAF draw is next, but they're going to make us wait with a musical interlude.

1500: And now it's time for the CONCACAF qualifying draw.  Bebeto and Lucas Piazon will assist with the draw.  Bebeto's a politician now, and he definitely looks the part.

I'll publish the tables after they're complete.

Second round (group stage):

Group A	Group B	Group C
El Salvador	Trinidad & Tobago	Panama
Suriname	Guyana	Dominica
Cayman Islands	Barbados	Nicaragua
Dominican Republic	Bermuda	Bahamas

Group D	Group E	Group F
Canada	Grenada	Haiti
St Kitts & Nevis	Guatemala	Antigua & Barbuda
Puerto Rico	St Vincent & Grenadines	Curaçao
St Lucia	Belize	US Virgin Islands

Third round (group stage):

Group A	Group B	Group C
USA	Mexico	Honduras
Jamaica	Costa Rica	Cuba
1st Group E	1st Group A	1st Group D
1st Group F	1st Group B	1st Group C

And that's it for the CONCACAF World Cup qualifying draw.

I would say that Jürgen Klinsmann will have a very gentle introduction to CONCACAF football with this draw.  It is possible that the USA won't have to visit Central America until the Hexagonal. Group B of the semifinal round will be the Group of Death, and Mexico could face three opponents who have beaten them in the last two qualifying cycles.  Group C looks interesting as well, but Group E of the second round is the one most likely to create a mild upset.

That's the end of my liveblog of the qualifying draw.  Thanks for following!

Bradley out

US men's national team coach Bob Bradley has been relieved of his position by the US Soccer Federation.

A replacement has not been named at this time, but the Federation says that it will have a "further announcement" tomorrow, whatever that might mean.

The US do have a big friendly match against Mexico in two weeks' time, but the selection of the national team coach should not -- must not -- be dictated by that event.

I'll have more to write later.

Season four of the Champions League kicks off with the same theme

The fourth edition of the CONCACAF Champions League kicks off this week with the first leg of the preliminary round ties. There are new teams in the competition from national associations that have not been represented before. After last season's final between Real Salt Lake and Monterrey, there is increased awareness of the competition in the USA and a desire to do well in the competition.  But this season as in past seasons of the Champions League and the old Champions' Cup, the question is the same: can anyone defeat the Mexican clubs in CONCACAF competition?

I would say no. While Mexican clubs have experienced losses in the Champions League group stages, not a single Mexican league representative has been eliminated in the knockout rounds by a non-Mexican side. Three of the five Major League Soccer representatives are in the top three in the overall table, but with the exception of the LA Galaxy and Toronto FC, all of them have experienced long-term injuries to key creative or attacking players. Those losses could hurt these teams in the group stage and in the latter rounds of the competition. 

FC Dallas had a potentially tricky draw against Alianza, but now that star striker Rodolfo Zelaya has gone on to Russia, the chance for an upset isn't as great as I once thought it was. Toronto FC is a club in disarray, and if Real Estelí play well they have a good chance of knocking off the Canadians.  In the end I think TFC would scrape through to the group stage. Seattle should be able to shake off their friendly match thrashing and defeat San Francisco over two legs, but it's likely that they will have to overcome a first-leg deficit to do so.

Both of the Mexican teams in the preliminary round should progress fairly comfortably, Morelia more so than Santos. The Central American matchups are always more compelling and closely fought, and Motagua vs Municipal should be no exception.  Just as compelling are the matchups between Central American and Caribbean sides, and there are two this season in Metapán vs Puerto Rico and Herediano vs Alpha United. I'm not sure what to expect from the latter series, but I think the former tie will be very even. The Islanders have been the best of the rest in the NASL, but Metapán have made several signings in the offseason and want a return visit to the CCL group stage.

2011-12 CONCACAF Champions League: The Preliminary Round

** This post will be bumped to the top of the site until the end of the Preliminary Round. **

Below are collated results for the Preliminary Round of the 2011-12 CONCACAF Champions League.  Ties are a two-match, home-and-away series, higher aggregate score wins, and the away goals rule is in effect.  If aggregate and away goals are level, a 30-minute extra time period (away goals rule not in effect) is played with penalties if necessary. First leg home team score is listed first for both legs.

PR1: Motagua 4-2 Municipal (4:0, 0:2)
PR2: Morelia 7-0 Tempête FC (5:0, 2:0)
PR3: Isidro Metapán 3-3 Puerto Rico Islanders (2:0, 1:3)
PR4: Santos Laguna 4-3 Olimpia (3:1, 1:2)
PR5: Alianza 0-2 FC Dallas (0:1, 0:1)
PR6: Toronto FC 4-2 Real Estelí (2:1, 2:1)
PR7: San Francisco 1-2 Seattle Sounders (1:0, 0:2 aet)
PR8: Herediano 10-2 Alpha United (8:0, 2:2)

Two CFU officials receive FIFA bans

The big news from yesterday's announcement by the FIFA Ethics Committee was the life ban to FIFA Executive Committee member Mohammed Bin Hammam, but there were other decisions that affected officials in CONCACAF.

CFU members Debbie Minguell and Jason Sylvester, both of Trinidad & Tobago, were banned from participating in all soccer-related activities for one year. They were implicated in the cash-for-votes scandal by allegedly delivering envelopes of cash to a number of CFU officials. Jack Warner, former CONCACAF president, was also charged, but his charges were dropped when he resigned from all football activities.

The Ethics Committee also issued a warning to CONCACAF General Secretary Chuck Blazer for stating that other members of the CFU were under investigation.  Those officials were not at that time, but the Committee has since opened a broader investigation of CONCACAF and FIFA ExCo officials.

FIFA to send high-ranking delegation to Belize

Tomorrow a high-ranking delegation of FIFA, CONCACAF, and UNCAF officials will arrive in Belize to mediate the ongoing conflict between the national government and the Football Federation of Belize.  The delegation is composed on officials from Central America but wearing different hats.  Rafael Salguero of Guatemala is on the FIFA Executive Committee, Ariel Alvarado of Guatemala represents the CONCACAF ExCo, and Rafael Tinoco is the UNCAF president. 

At the start of the preliminary round series between Belize and Montserrat, the Belizean government refused to recognize the FFB as the sport's governing body in the country, which resulted in the country being suspended by FIFA and then having its home leg match moved to Honduras.  In the interim, a rival federation to the FFB has been founded -- the National Football Association of Belize (NFAB) -- but last week the National Sports Council refused to recognize either association due to incomplete and unsatisfactory bylaws.  At this present time, there is no football association that represents Belize, at least in the eyes of the Belizean government.

It is not clear whether these high-ranking officials representing the chain of command in international soccer will mediate between the factions in Belizean soccer, or remind the national government that it is FIFA, not the national government, who will decide which federation is fit to represent that country.  There has been a lot of talk in the Belizean press that views the FIFA intervention as a positive and long-sought event, which strikes me as very naive. FIFA administrations have a track record of defending their allies in the national federations against inquiries by local governments, and FIFA has a major bargaining chip to use in any such discussion.  I don't see how this Belizean situation is so different.

Japan win a classic WWC final, USA rue opportunities lost

Japan are the newest World Champions of women's football after defeating the USA 3-1 on penalties after a 2-2 extra time draw in the Women's World Cup final.  It was the best World Cup final that I have ever seen in either gender, and a fantastic advertisement for the women's version of the game.  It was a just reward for a team devoted to an attractive style of play, and a morale boost for a country that experienced a horrific natural disaster four months before.

I knew that Japan would try to win by playing an attractive style, but I was not expecting the US women to play their best and most attractive match of the tournament.  They should have scored a goal within 30 seconds had Lauren Cheney cut the ball back for Abby Wambach charging down the center of the penalty area.  That opening segment set the tone for a dominant first half by the Americans in which they hit the woodwork twice, skimmed over the crossbar at least three times, and went narrowly wide on several more occasions.  Their defensive wing-backs cut off Japanese channels on the flanks and their midfielders (especially O'Reilly) did a great job of not allowing Japan to buildup in the center of the field.  Despite all this, Japan were the more pleased with the 0-0 halftime score.  

The addition of Alex Morgan at the start of the second half, a forced substitution because of the injury to Cheney, was almost a match-winning decision.  (ESPN's Jeff Carlisle gave her a 9 rating, and if the USA had won the match she would have been named best on field.)  Morgan was more dynamic up top and a constant threat to Japan's defensive line, and it was not a surprise that she would open the scoring when a long ball from Wambach found her in a one-on-one situation with the Japanese centerback.  She overpowered her challenger and slotted the ball past the Japan 'keeper Kaihori.  That goal should have been enough to give the USA the title, but a botched defensive clearance after a Sawa cross allowed Miyama to pounce and equalize with ten minutes remaining.  Extra time loomed.

Extra time failed to break the deadlock, but not for lack of trying.  The USA retook the lead with a minute to go in the first extra time period, and this time it was Morgan who supplied the cross for -- who else? -- Abby Wambach to score from -- what else? -- a powerful header.  Japan pored on the pressure in the closing minutes, and after a dangerous chance from Kinga was cleared away for a corner, they grabbed an equalizer when Sawa redirected the corner kick (with some deflection by Wambach) into the net.  Once again Japan showed that it is possible to overcome a lack of height in set-piece opportunities with superior positioning and movement.  Penalties loomed.

Much will be said and written about the Americans' performance in the penalty kick shootout.  Maybe the first five shouldn't have been selected.  Maybe the pressure didn't make them after all.  For a second time in the tournament, the team that equalized in the extra time period went on to win the penalty kick tiebreaker.  The momentum was with the USA in the quarterfinal; yesterday that momentum was with Japan.

It has been said in the past that possession-oriented football -- the "Tiki-Taka" style -- is pleasing to the neutral supporter but falls short when it comes time to win championships.  So it is worth noting that the current world champions at the national team level in both genders and the current UEFA Champions League holders are devotees of this style.  Not only can possession football win the hearts of neutrals, it can also raise silver and gold.  Here's hoping that trend continues at Brazil in 2014 and in Canada in 2015.

Take a bow, Belize

Before the start of the preliminary round of the World Cup qualifiers I wrote letters to the media officers of all ten of the national associations involved, inquiring about the national teams and their preparations for the two-leg series.  I thought that it would give the smaller federations a chance to publicize their activities and make them known to a wider audience.  Unfortunately, I received no replies from anyone, save one federation: Football Federation of Belize.  I can't say that I'm suprised by the lack of response, but I am surprised that Belize would be the lone respondent.  And not just one response, mind you, but multiple messages on training progress and who was in camp.

So take a bow, Belize.  Good result today, too.

WWC final post coming tomorrow

So I had spent a large amount of time preparing a writeup of the Women's World Cup final and I was on my final paragraph, when I clicked on one of the Nike banner ads at the ESPN site and froze up my browser.  So I ended up losing 90 minutes of work.  Just great.

I'll try again tomorrow.  My irritation might subside by then.

Tempête home CCL match moved to Mexico

CONCACAF announced that Haiti's representative in the Champions League, Tempête FC, will play its preliminary round home leg versus Morelia in Mexico.  In fact, both legs of the tie will be played at Morelia's Estadio Morelos stadium.  Under normal circumstances, CONCACAF would exclude the national representative if there was no stadium in the country that met international requirements, but the confederation gave a special dispensation to Haiti because of continued recovery efforts from the massive and catastrophic earthquake last year.  Stade Sylvio Cator has been under renovation for some time and work is expected to be complete by late summer, which would allow Tempête to host Champions League group stage matches if they qualify.

While both of CONCACAF's decisions are understandable, it is extremely unfair to force Tempête to play both matches of the preliminary round at the site of their opponent.  If Tempête had to play in Mexico, why not play the match in Cancún, which is at sea level on the Caribbean and would give the Haitian side more of an advantage?  To be sure, Tempête would never be favored in a two-leg match against any Mexican side, but with two "home" matches, you might as well pencil the Monarcas in the group stage right now.