I don't think we'll have to worry about this (at least I hope not), but it turns out, New Zealand might not be the sure representative in Oceania. They still have to play the third round, but they lost to New Caledonia 2-0 in the OFC nations cup and subsequently and failed to qualify for the 2013 Confederations Cup.
And Canada are off to flying start. You'd have to think Cuba, despite the bye, is the easiest team to beat in this group. Really, with Panama's recent form, they and Honduras have to be favorites, and both will be smiling if there is a draw here.
Today's matches to keep an eye on ... Jamaica v Guatemala Mexico v Guyana Costa Rica v El Salvador Cuba v Canada Honduras v Panama Right now Cuba v Canada is 0-0 @ HT; the other matches are this evening (including ours, of course). Updates welcome ...
Canada red card on Hirschfield the keeper, on comes the backup Milan Borjan. Cuba had a free kick as a result of the red card but didn't capitalize. 1-0 somewhere around the 70'.
It's a good story to keep things in perspective: soccer is so huge, that nothing is static. Even the supposedly "weakest" rival is working behind the scenes, hard, to improve. And some day it can give you a painful surprise. Caledonia and Fiji have been working at it for a long time. Fiji had a hiccup this time around, but you can bet they'll be back stronger for 2016. Even the tiniest island nation is training, saving to hire a decent coach, scouting for talent, building a better stadium. Can't fall asleep in the world of football.
I was amazed to see that Guyana scored at the Azteca, then looked more closely and saw it was an own goal... Anyway, we weren't the only country tonight that had to settle for a 3-1 after hoping to completely blow out a Caribbean minnow.
I watched the last 25 minutes and Guyana was every bit as dangerous as Mexico. Their counterattack caused problems and they hit the crossbar and flashed a shot just wide in the last 15 minutes. Update: Costa Rica 1 - 0 El Salvador (Saborio goal - 10')
Costa Rica takes the 1 - 0 lead over El Salvador in the 10' from Saborio, can't say that I have started to watch yet though. -Plenty of good seats available in Jamaica as it's still 0-0; in Honduras, not so much, the stadium is packed. Also 0-0.
Mexico played like crap it was disappointing not seeing them get out of first gear today. They were booed off the field. At least the players recognized they sucked today.
Phillips scores in the 40th minute to put Jamaica up 1 - 0 over Guatemala. Campbell scores in the 15th minute to put Costa Rica up 2 - 0 over El Salvador.
Costa Rica 2 - 0 El Salvador 15' - Campbell goal Honduras 0 - 0 Panama HT Jamaica 1 - 0 Guatemala ~43'
I take it back actually there are a lot of people at the Jamaica game, 1 - 0 HT. There are definitely plenty of empties in Costa Rica's new stadium, though.