Almost is nothing in sport. Costa Rica played much better over 90 minutes in Montevideo than they ever did in San José, and they had Uruguay reeling toward the end, suffering as they always do, but at the final whistle it was the South Americans progressing on to South Africa and the Central Americans returning home without an official match for another 16 months. Click to continue reading...

World Cup qualifiers for South Africa 2010 started on 25 August 2007. Now, 847 days later, we're at the final day. By kickoff time in Montevideo, 31 national teams would have secured their places in the finals next summer. There is still room for one more, and it will be decided between Costa Rica and Uruguay. Click to continue reading...

With less than 20 hours before kickoff in Montevideo, Costa Rica and Uruguay are just about out of time to make modifications ahead of the decisive second leg. René Simões will be back on the touchline after his suspension in the first leg on Saturday and is looking for "fresh legs" for tomorrow's match. Click to continue reading...

Uruguay's national team is now in Costa Rica, and they've had their one (and only) training session on the artificial surface at Saprissa. (I had thought that FIFA regulations required at least two training sessions on artificial turf, but I could be wrong.) Óscar Washington Tabárez, Uruguay's coach, almost certainly has his starting XI ready, with the only doubt being Walter Gargano. Click to continue reading...

And another thing -- why did Costa Rica's staff feel the need to bring in a motivational speaker for the players? Getting over the US-CR game is of course very important, but that was over a month ago. And while I do think that "Color Esperanza" is a great song (it was impossible not to hear it throughout Argentina during 2002), if you need an outside speaker to get motivated three days before a winner-take-all two-match series for the World Cup, you really need to turn in your national team shirt. Click to continue reading...

The head coaches of Costa Rica and Uruguay are very close to deciding on a starting lineup for Saturday's first leg of the CONCACAF/CONMEBOL playoff. Simões and Tabárez are going to play things close to their vests, with closed training sessions. But barring suspension or injury, both teams are going to go with the same XI that were on the field in the previous two or three qualifiers. Click to continue reading...

The final preparations for the start of the CONCACAF/CONMEBOL playoff have begun in earnest. Uruguay's technical staff and their South American-based players left for Guatemala this morning and should have arrived there by now. They will be joined by the European-based players on Wednesday and travel to Costa Rica the next day or Friday. Click to continue reading...

This morning FIFA confirmed the match referees who will be in charge of the CONCACAF/CONMEBOL playoff. Alberto Undiano Mallenco, who is from Spain, will direct the first leg. He was the match referee for the 2007 U-20 World Cup final, the most recent Real Madrid-Barcelona match, and a number of UEFA Champions League matches. Click to continue reading...

Both Costa Rica and Uruguay are making their arrangements for the World Cup playoff next month and scrambling to find out as much about the opponent as possible. René Simões is in Brazil right now, but he made a side trip to Montevideo with his head trainer to reserve training and living accommodations and do some additional scouting. Click to continue reading...