[This is the fourth in a multi-part series on the 2010 World Cup qualifiers.] The CONCACAF World
Cup qualifiers started out with a preliminary round of 22, then another round of 24, followed by a
group stage for 12. We now reach the final group of six - USA, Costa Rica, Mexico, Honduras, El
Salvador, and Trinidad & Tobago.
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That thrilling Honduras-USA qualifier is now available online from the closed-circuit provider that
showed it earlier this month. You'll have to pay for it (big surprise there), but it's only five
dollars. Hat-tip to Steven Goff at Soccer Insider.
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Trinidad & Tobago 2-2 Mexico Not too many cared about the match. T&T go out of the World Cup in a
blaze of glory and maintain their unbeaten home streak over Mexico. It's incredible that Mexico
have never won a World Cup qualifier in Trinidad & Tobago. Dennis Lawrence played well in his
international farewell, and Carlos Edwards established himself as a reference point for future T&T
teams.
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I have updated the worm chart for the Hexagonal teams. It illustrates really well just how tight
this edition of the Hexagonal was. Back with some more posts tomorrow.
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It's taken a while to get access to the sports websites in Honduras, but I finally found a working
link, and you can see for yourselves the celebrations all across the country as Honduras return to
the World Cup finals.
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My review of the last matchday of the Hexagonal will be late because of a take-home midterm that I
have tomorrow and Friday. I need to finish preparing for it tonight, so I won't be able to write it
tonight. Unless I finish this exam earlier, don't expect anything to be posted before Friday night.
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This is it -- the final matchday of the 2009 Hexagonal. It's also the final matchday of the
CONMEBOL World Cup qualifiers, and I'm going to do something different tonight. I'm going to
liveblog the matches involving the three South American teams in contention for the playoff place
-- Argentina, Uruguay, and Ecuador.
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This is one of the most distressing posts that I've had to write on this site. I'm sure you all
know the news by now that US national team striker Charlie Davies was a passenger in a SUV that was
in a horrific one-car accident this morning on the George Washington Memorial Parkway just outside
of Washington DC.
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With the understandable joy and relief among the US players, administrators, and supporters to
seeing the US men clinch a sixth consecutive qualification to the World Cup finals, it's a good
time to take a step back and look at what has been accomplished. I have had my critiques of the US
national team, some of which illustrate the challenges involved with taking a team from second-tier
to truly world elite.
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Now that the Hexagonal is drawing to a close, perhaps it would be interesting to show how the
teams' performance has progressed during the final round. Below is a graph charting the point
history of the six teams (horizontal axis is matchday number). Costa Rica's early run of good form
has kept them in contention for the top three.
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Credit:Mexsport Mexico 4-1 El Salvador ESTO's front page said "Gracias", to Javier Aguirre, to
Cuauhtémoc Blanco, to all the Mexican national team, and I think all of Mexico feels the same way.
Javier Aguirre is Mexico's Mr. Fix-It. He turned around the looming disaster in the Mexican
national team after the Sánchez and Eriksson eras left the side on the verge of the playoffs,
incorporated young players like Vela and dos Santos into the lineup, and brought back the old
soldier Blanco.
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I'm writing my summaries of tonight's matches, but in the meantime I wanted to hear from people who
were able to watch the Honduras-USA match live. If you ended up watching it in one of the bars
offering the match, what were your impressions of the match? The bar atmosphere? Please share your
comments below.
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There are a few ways to follow the Honduras-USA match tonight. Unfortunately, none of them (as far
as I know) are in English. Honduras' sports daily Diez will provide a pre-match show and match
commentary "live" from the stadium. I believe that they can't actually do it live due to
contractual issues, but it's good enough.
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It's the penultimate round of the 2009 Hexagonal. There should be at least one confirmed finalist
from the region after tonight's matches, and if results go a certain way everything could be
settled. Mexico-El Salvador start early, and then the last two matches kick off at the same time.
Here we go..
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It all depends on your point of view, either as a partisan or a neutral observer, but there are a
couple of scenarios that would settle everything in the Hexagonal or leave everything in doubt
until Wednesday night. We are practically down to four teams that will finish within any of the top
four positions.
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As I'm sure everyone knows, the Honduras-USA can only be viewed via closed-circuit TV in the USA.
(It can also be listened to on the web through the various radio networks in Honduras -- here's
one.) I have my own thoughts about this situation, but what's done is done. What I find incredible
is that of the bar/restaurant outlets reported to be showing the game, there is only ONE in the
state of Arizona.
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So says Rafa Márquez. Gee, you think? It doesn't require a rocket scientist like me to know that.
Why couldn't the FMF figure it out?
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HexagonalBlog 18 September @ 04:53 AM EDT
I had alluded in a tweet to my assessment of the Rodrigo Kenton denouement, but I'll state it again
here: Rodrigo Kenton was the first casualty of the Costa Rican national team's overinflated
expectations. Nothing has changed all that much with the team in the 14 months he was at the helm,
but the results obtained in the first half of his tenure set up fans and media in Costa Rica for a
crushing disappointment in the second half.
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HexagonalBlog 17 September @ 03:53 AM EDT
Well, I wasn't expecting that, but it does satisfy the "big name" requirement that Eduardo Li had
in place. And yes, I can't sleep, in case you noticed the timestamp. I'll have more to say about
this and Kenton's departure tomorrow evening. I've been busy with a class that I'm taking.
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HexagonalBlog 14 September @ 11:48 PM EDT
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.
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HexagonalBlog 11 September @ 02:49 AM EDT
Trinidad & Tobago 0-1 USA I must say that the USA continue to improve. They're able to consistently
win matches without playing well. Or maybe they win these games by boring the opponents to sleep
and then striking an opportunistic goal. Whatever way you choose to look at it, it's another result
that can be applauded because it brings the USA within touching distance of South Africa.
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HexagonalBlog 09 September @ 03:01 PM EDT
Two hundred seventy minutes remain in the CONCACAF World Cup qualifiers. Just a point separates
first place from fourth place in the Hexagonal. We'll find out how much separation -- if any --
there will be by the end of this evening. Kickoff times in Arizona (GMT -7) time. Trinidad & Tobago
- USA 1600 El Salvador - Costa Rica 1800 Mexico - Honduras 1800 Commentaries after the jump.
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HexagonalBlog 08 September @ 01:30 AM EDT
The Hexagonal is now effectively a four-horse race, and it's all about who out of USA, Honduras,
Mexico, or Costa Rica will avoid the "drop" into the CONCACAF/CONMEBOL playoff. Mexico's win at
Costa Rica has changed the complexion of the Hexagonal, and now they have the clearest path to an
automatic place.
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HexagonalBlog 07 September @ 04:54 PM EDT
USA 2-1 El Salvador In a tight and tense qualifier the USA were almost brought down and then
resurrected by their young talent. With Onyewu suspended and Carlos Bocanegra forced to deputize at
center back due to injuries to other players, the defensive backline was more fragile and the match
was going to be more difficult as a result.
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HexagonalBlog 05 September @ 03:01 PM EDT
The World Cup qualifiers take center stage, and we'll start to see some clarity in the standings
after tonight. Or will we? I'll be online from 1600 local time. Kickoffs in Arizona time (GMT -7).
USA - El Salvador 1700 Honduras - Trinidad & Tobago 1800 Costa Rica - Mexico 1900 Commentaries
after the jump.
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HexagonalBlog 04 September @ 09:15 PM EDT
Trinidad & Tobago striker Dwight Yorke has retired from professional football with immediate
effect. The end had been coming for a while, and to be honest, Yorke's career had been on fumes
since 2006, but now that this moment has arrived it's time to acknowledge the end of a historic era
in Caribbean football.
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HexagonalBlog 04 September @ 03:34 AM EDT
It's past time that I come back here to make some proper posts. It's no use saying where I've been,
so let's get started with the Hexagonal matches this weekend. At this stage of the final round,
each of the coaches should have already settled on their best XI, but suspensions and injuries are
taking their toll on the six teams.
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I finally got around to watching the Mexico-USA match on DVR. The nice thing about doing that is
that I can go forward and reverse to review key plays and pinpoint breakdowns. Here are my
impressions of the first half: The USA were the stronger team in the opening ten minutes. They held
possession deep into the Mexican half, they pressed deep, and their defenders even played a high
line upfield.
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Mexico 2-1 USA There's so much more to be said about this match in a later post; I'm watching the
game on my DVR right now, but I want to get this post completed now. I'll just say this: the USA
lost a very drawable -- or even winnable -- game yesterday. Maybe if the USA had played better
tactics they might have been able to win at least a point.
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It's time for the second half of the Hexagonal to begin. Matches will be going on all throughout
the day, starting with the big one between USA and Mexico from Azteca. There's no way I'll be able
to watch that match live, but you can give your thoughts (and perhaps live commentary) in the
comments. I'm not sure if I will be home in time for T&T-El Salvador, but I will be able to see
Honduras-Costa Rica.
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Mexico - USA: I really want to believe, but I'm going to pick a narrow Mexico win. Honduras - Costa
Rica: Did you know there are six Liberia Mía players in the Costa Rican squad? I'm sure the crowd
in San Pedro Sula will remind them of last week. Honduras win. Trinidad & Tobago - El Salvador: I
see this ending in a goalless draw.
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If I were to summarize the Hexagonal so far, I would use the word "fragility." Halfway through the
2009 Hexagonal, we find a little bit of separation between top two and the middle of the pack, and
the middle of the pack and the bottom side. The USA and Costa Rica will stay in the top two after
Round 6, regardless of tomorrow's results.
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One thing for sure: 48 hours isn't even close to enough. I didn't make it to the bars before or
after the game, and I hung around with my friends from Florida who flew in for the game, but I had
a good time. Saw the Fire play at Toyota Park, watched the Section 8 pyrotechnics with my mouth
hanging wide open, had some great deep-dish, sat in the club seats at Soldier Field, and the USA
won.
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Credit: Mexsport (mediotiempo.com) Mexico 2-1 Trinidad & Tobago Mexico suffered, their players,
their coach, and their supporters alike. After Tinto's goal, did the thought go through anyone's
heads, "Oh my God, could Trinidad & Tobago actually win points from this game?" But a few minutes
after the restart, Kevin scored a golazo, and Azteca could exhale once more.
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After tonight, we'll be halfway through the Hexagonal. Time to play the rest of Round 5. Scores and
commentary after the jump. Kickoffs in Arizona time (GMT -7). Honduras - El Salvador 1830 Mexico -
Trinidad & Tobago 1930
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Mexico vs. Trinidad & Tobago Estadio Azteca, Mexico City Referee: José Pineda (Honduras) As
everyone knows, Mexico are reeling. They need a win in the worst way, and fortunately for them they
are facing just the team to provide them that win in the form of Trinidad & Tobago. The Soca
Warriors' chances for the World Cup finals are just about gone, and Russell Latapy will have to
contend with the loss of four of his players due to suspension or injuries.
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Javier Aguirre doesn't think so, and there's certainly reason to believe that. Mexico were going to
have a rough start to the Hexagonal, with three away matches in their first four qualifiers, and
two of those matches against Honduras and the USA. The match against El Salvador was the surprise.
The conventional wisdom pointed toward either a draw or a Mexico victory over a side that, while
not the doormat some expected at the start of the Hexagonal, was not as talented as the Mexican XI.
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[No photos for this round. Sorry!] Trinidad & Tobago 2-3 Costa Rica Costa Rica continue to impress,
and they can add an away win in Trinidad & Tobago to their strange and fantastic trip through the
qualifiers. Now they sit atop the Hexagonal, on 12 points halfway through the final round. Alvaro
Saborío has been the best striker in the final round, consistent threat to backline.
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I'm going to go to the Fire-Dynamo game at Toyota Park tonight. Now I need to figure out how. All
of the bars in downtown Chicago that operate buses to the game are sold out. The Coaches Bar and
Grill is near Midway Airport, which is much further away from the center of Chicago than I thought,
so that's out.
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Greetings from Chicago! I wasn't able to post anything last night due to the combination of a long
workday and my early morning flight from Phoenix, so here are my thoughts on Wednesday night's
match: - The plastic pitch at Saprissa is as big a home advantage for Costa Rica as playing at
Azteca is for Mexico.
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