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...

Otra vez...SUERTE! - The HexagonalBlog 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 have a foot and four toes into South Africa; Costa Rica are hanging by merely a thread. So go the verdicts from the press in both countries. Uruguay asserted themselves on a substandard pitch, used their physicality and their defensive discipline to pin the Costa Ricans in their own area and disconnect the Tico midfield from their strikers, and were opportunistic at the right time. Click to continue reading...

The moment is here, and we're under five minutes from kickoff. So let's go: Costa Rica 0-0 Uruguay KO Commentary after the jump. 1901: Just about to kickoff. Let me give you the starting lineups for both teams: Costa Rica: Keylor Navas -- Luis Marín, Gilberto Martínez, Roy Miller -- Cristian Bolaños, Esteban Sirias -- Randall Azofeifa, Walter Centeno, Celso Borges -- Álvaro Saborío, Bryan Ruíz. 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...

Tickets finally went on sale today throughout the country for the second leg of the CONCACAF/CONMEBOL playoff between Uruguay and Costa Rica in Montevideo. In about seven hours, the Uruguayan soccer federation has sold more than 20,000 tickets. At this rate the match should be a complete sellout before the weekend. 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...

To the surprise of no one, the first leg of the CONCACAF/CONMEBOL playoff in Saprissa has officially sold out. Tickets were sold in approximately two days at spots all over the country. I would have been shocked if there hadn't been a sellout. Click to continue reading...

As I expected, René Simões has promoted some players from Costa Rica's U-20 side to the senior team for the big playoff against Uruguay. The inclusion of Bryan Oviedo was not a surprise, as he was one of the Ticos' best players in Egypt. The selections of Mena and Gamboa indicate that Simões wants to bolster his defensive unit, especially in the central positions. 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...

Just a day after the Hexagonal concluded, René Simões released his list of players for the playoff against Uruguay next month. He didn't have any players from the Costa Rican U20 squad, but maybe he'll add to this list at a later time. Click to continue reading...

After a long qualifying phase in North and South America, Uruguay and Costa Rica will have to deal with replacing suspended players for the first leg of the CONMEBOL/CONCACAF playoff. Uruguay will have to go without Andrés Scotti, Diego Pérez, Maximiliano Pereyra, Martín Cáceres, and Cristian Rodríguez. Click to continue reading...

An incredibly dramatic night in the South American matches this weekend trims the field of contenders but ratchets up the tension heading into Wednesday's final set of matches. Chile defeated Colombia 4-2 in Medellín to confirm their qualification to the finals and eliminate Colombia in the process. Click to continue reading...

Barely a week after saying that Rodrigo Kenton wasn't going anywhere, the Costa Rican football federation announced this afternoon that Kenton has been fired. No replacement has been named yet, but they're looking at some heavyweights, such as Beenhakker, Westerhof, La Volpe, and Meza, among others. I'll have more to say about this a bit later. Click to continue reading...

Last Wednesday's day of World Cup qualifiers secured finals appearances for three national teams, but the biggest news has to be Argentina's continued downward spiral through the CONMEBOL standings. After their 1-0 loss to Paraguay, and Ecuador's 3-1 away win to Bolivia, Ecuador now lie in fourth place on 23 points while Argentina remain on 22. Click to continue reading...

Three matches to play in South America, and the situation at the middle of the table is getting just as tight as the Hexagonal here. You all have heard about Argentina's 3-1 home defeat to Brazil, but Argentina were helped out by Colombia's victory over Ecuador and Peru's victory over Uruguay earlier in the day. Click to continue reading...

The never-ending World Cup qualifying tournament in CONMEBOL is nearing the finish line. Brazil could be the first side from the region to clinch a spot in the finals if they defeat Argentina in September, while Peru are the first team mathematically eliminated from World Cup contention. What really matters to CONCACAF viewers is battle for fifth place, because that side will play the fourth placed team from the Hexagonal in a home/away playoff for the final berth in South Africa. Click to continue reading...

FIFA announced that the first leg of the CONCACAF/CONMEBOL playoff for the World Cup finals will be played in North America on 14 November, and the second leg in South America on 18 November. The aggregate winner will be the 32nd and final team confirmed for South Africa in 2010. The order of matches will give the CONMEBOL representative a huge advantage. Click to continue reading...

FIFA have announced that the playoff between the 4th placed team in the CONCACAF Hexagonal and the 5th placed team in CONMEBOL's qualifying tournament will be on 14 and 18 November. The European playoffs are on the same dates, so either survivor will have their foreign-based players with several days to spare. Click to continue reading...

I was going to write this post immediately after the previous round, but I got overtaken by events. At any rate, the South American qualifiers have passed the 2/3rd mark, and there is a clear separation between the top and bottom halves. Paraguay, Brazil and Chile occupy the top three places, and Argentina lie in fourth. Click to continue reading...

The South American qualifying competition for South Africa 2010 is a quarter complete, and there some teams are in a better position than others. Of interest to CONCACAF supporters is the fifth-place team, who will eventually play the fourth-placed Hexagonal... Click to continue reading...