Hexagonal preview & serious thoughts (r)

[gohb]

The preview for the Hexagonal is up at

http://www.planetworldcup.com/CUPS/2006/concacaf_p04.html

Although it didn't go up until Tuesday, I sent it in last Thursday, so a few updates are necessary. (The BigSoccer threads on the individual games seem to be covering these nicely, though.) The most important:

For Costa Rica, Stephen Bryce is injured and out of the opener. Carlos Hernandez is doubtful. Erick Scott was left off for lack of fitness/form, and Ronald Gomez, who I thought wasn't fit (and wasn't getting along with Pinto anyway), was called into camp.

For Mexico, Gerrardo Torrado was not called in (Israel Lopez might take his place in the lineup), and neither was Jesus Arellano.

For T&T, Keyeno Thomas, who had been injured, is back and could play in defense.

[beachesl]

Great work again Peter!

http://www.thecomicshop.com.au/books2u/comics/pages004/dc-hex-013-nm_small.jpg

(...crying...)

[Autogolazo]

Great job.

I noticed your CR preview didn't include Oscar Rojas, who plays the right midfield and is one of the few bright spots for Dorados in the Mexican League this season. Look for him to get some time in the match, if not start.

[gohb]

Great job.

I noticed your CR preview didn't include Oscar Rojas, who plays the right midfield and is one of the few bright spots for Dorados in the Mexican League this season. Look for him to get some time in the match, if not start.

Yes, Rojas has moved up the ladder quite a bit lately, and in retrospect I should have included him. With Bryce out, I wouldn't be at all surprised to see him get some time.

[scaryice]

Great article.

[MoRado]

Great job.

I noticed your CR preview didn't include Oscar Rojas, who plays the right midfield and is one of the few bright spots for Dorados in the Mexican League this season. Look for him to get some time in the match, if not start.

Yes Oscar rojas was called, its really good cause he and bryce play the same positions, adding also the MFL experience that Rojas has.

[MoRado]

Good job Gohb, green points for ya!

[truetrini]

The preview for the Hexagonal is up at

http://www.planetworldcup.com/CUPS/2006/concacaf_p04.html

Although it didn't go up until Tuesday, I sent it in last Thursday, so a few updates are necessary. (The BigSoccer threads on the individual games seem to be covering these nicely, though.) The most important:

For Costa Rica, Stephen Bryce is injured and out of the opener. Carlos Hernandez is doubtful. Erick Scott was left off for lack of fitness/form, and Ronald Gomez, who I thought wasn't fit (and wasn't getting along with Pinto anyway), was called into camp.

For Mexico, Gerrardo Torrado was not called in (Israel Lopez might take his place in the lineup), and neither was Jesus Arellano.

For T&T, Keyeno Thomas, who had been injured, is back and could play in defense.


Hey Peter, nice job as usual.

By the way did we meet at the Press tour of Foxboro in 2001?

When they were showing members of the press the new soccer pitch for the Revolution?

By the way, we trini football supporters appreciate your analysis and we welcome you to visit out socawarrios website.

Peace!

[glennaldo_sf]

"Asia is a notably weaker region than CONCACAF. We'll take a detailed look at the stats when the playoffs come in November, but trust me: by every available measure, CONCACAF is stronger. "

Hee hee... I wonder what our friends at the the Asian forum would have to say about that. I can see Trinidad & Tobago smashing WC semifinalists Korea anyday or Panama just walking over Japan :rolleyes:

[El Buki]

Or how about Uzbekistan smashing the US...or maybe China going into the Azteca and making communists out of all 110,000 people in there...

[truetrini]

"Asia is a notably weaker region than CONCACAF. We'll take a detailed look at the stats when the playoffs come in November, but trust me: by every available measure, CONCACAF is stronger. "

Hee hee... I wonder what our friends at the the Asian forum would have to say about that. I can see Trinidad & Tobago smashing WC semifinalists Korea anyday or Panama just walking over Japan :rolleyes:


To tell you the truth, Trinidad tied South Korea 1-1 just last year in Korea to boot! :cool:

[gohb]

By the way did we meet at the Press tour of Foxboro in 2001?

When they were showing members of the press the new soccer pitch for the Revolution?

By the way, we trini football supporters appreciate your analysis and we welcome you to visit out socawarrios website.

Peace!

Hey, thanks for the kind words. I wish I had been there in 2001--sadly, I live pretty far from most of the main USA soccer sites (RFK is the closest, about 4 hours).

Your www.socawarriors.net is one of the very best fan sites in the region. I read it every day to see what you guys are saying. It has a tremendous amount of background information, too. Fantastic!

[truetrini]

Hey, thanks for the kind words. I wish I had been there in 2001--sadly, I live pretty far from most of the main USA soccer sites (RFK is the closest, about 4 hours).

Your www.socawarriors.net is one of the very best fan sites in the region. I read it every day to see what you guys are saying. It has a tremendous amount of background information, too. Fantastic!


Hry thanks man, we are a passionate bunch. We thank you for the kind words, even triniman does :)

I live In Tidewater region of Virginia,,maybe I can buy you a beer one day.

[T-man]

Great article, it gave me an insight on some of the other teams that I do not follow as closely. Thanks.

[Eliezar]

Just some interesting notes from looking at the schedule.

Week 7 will reveal who is going where for the most part, but the key matches for me:

Gameday 1: Panama hosts Guatemala. Panama needs a win if they want to compete for a top 4 slot, Guatemala needs a result if they want to make it into the top 3.

Gameday 5: Costa Rica hosts Guatemala. Costa Rica needs a win here if they want to finish in the top 3. A point here for Guatemala is a must if they want direct qualification.

Gameday 6: Guatemala hosts Panama. Panama will need a road result if they want to qualify, and Guatemala is going to need a win here.


Gameday 7 will be the first week where a side qualifies for the World Cup.

US hosts Mexico, if the US wins they will be qualified at this point and if Mexico wins they probably will be qualified. Mexico has the toughest first 7 games so they may still need a win in gameday 8 against Panama to mathematically assure qualification.

Panama hosts Costa Rica, if Panama is in the running for 3rd/4th they will have to win here. Costa Rica might need a result here to get 3rd instead of 4th.

T&T hosts Guatemala, Guatemala will probably need a road win here or at least a draw if they want to finish top 3. After this they have the US, at Mexico, and then Costa Rica at home. That's the toughest final 3 games of any team.

Gameday 10, Guatemala hosts Costa Rica. If there is anything left to decide at this point it will be determined in Guatemala.

Neither the US nor Mexico will be able to finish 5th if they try. Costa Rica could win the hex or they could end up at 5th place. Guatemala is the most dangerous team on the schedule because that is the game you need to win if you want to be top 3, but Guatemala also could fall to Panama and not even reach the playoff.

[mclip_66]

Very interesting openning to Hex.
CR 1 MEX 2
T&T 1 US 2
PAN 0 Guat 0

Both the USA and Mexico openned strong with wins on the road. Mexico probably even stronger given the opponent. But in both cases they are on track for Germany '06.

The importance T&T and CR's losses won't really be known till the Panama and Guat host the big two. It could though signal to Guat and Panama that ties against the big two at home are all you need from those games if you want to make the top 4.

Panama might have done the most damage to its chances of making the top four by only getting 1 point from one of the teams pushing for the final 1.5 slots(assuming the US and Mex play up to form as did in game one) available.

Guat probably did a lot to help themselves into the top four by getting a point on the road.

Game Day 2 should be interesting as Guat and CR get a chance to prove themselves at home and the seperation between the top 4 and bottom two could become apparent or things could just get muddled up.

The key for GUAT, T&T, PAN, and CR if they want to make the top 4 and especially the top 3 will be to hold form against the others in this group of form at home and steal some points either on the road from these teams or at home from MEX or USA.

[seanT]

Matchday 1 gave me no reason to rethink my belief that the interesting battle in the group will be for 4th place.

Mexico gets a win in one of its two toughest games, very impressive.

USA takes full points on the road.

CR looked pretty good for 80 minutes of the match.

There may be some occasional stumbles, but I still think those 3 will go through.

Guat gets off to a promising start in the battle for 4th spot. Panama digs a hole. T and T disappointed but not that suprised.

[socluis90]

ya your both right but you have to remember that this thing just started ...

guat has to win the next game and tie the u.s after atleast...

CR and panama have to get 4 points in there next to games

and well we know that the u.s and mexico are in anyways

[Davids26]

I think we could see an interesting battle brewing here for 3rd and 4th place. Guatemala are a pretty decent road team, we know Costa Rica are going to recover, and we know Panama are going to have their say as well. T&T consistently had their chances against the US, and if not for Keller easiliy could have come away from their game with a tie.

In the end I agree, the US and Mexico did a lot for their chances. And the big one on matchday 2 at Mexico DF is going to be even more intriguing with both these teams coming off of road wins. The US will probably play for a tie, but I wouldn't be surprised if Bruce had something up his sleeve for this game to get the win like we did in Korea. As a US fan I'd take a point from Azteca.

My predictions for matchday 2 are:

Mexico 1 - USA 1
Guatemala 2 - T&T 0
Costa Rica 1 - Panama 0

This could definitely be where we see a bit of a split in the group. If the results go that way, T&T and Panama start to fall back a bit from the pack, and Matchday 3 could take T&T out of the running alltogether, if they lose to Costa Rica.