New World fixtures firmed

[Karl]

New World fixtures firmed

(FIFA.com) Friday 11 January 2008


It was announced today that three of the originally scheduled first-round qualifiers for South Africa 2010 will be played in a single-elimination format rather than the originally agreed-upon home-away series.

Puerto Rico-Dominican Republic, Grenada-US Virgin Islands and Montserrat-Surinam will be played over one leg in late March due to several Member Associations failing to meet the new FIFA Stadium standards and being unable to secure a home venue.

The contest between Montserrat and Surinam will be played in Trinidad & Tobago because neither side are able to provide a suitable venue according to FIFA's guidelines.

The remaining eight first-round series will be played over two legs in an aggregate format. The first match takes place on 3 February 2008 with Bermuda hosting the Cayman Islands at the National Sports Centre in Hamilton. (Aside: CB's team in action)

Six more matches will then be played on 6 February with Dominica taking on Barbados at the Windsor Park Stadium in Roseau, while Aruba face Antigua & Barbuda at the Centro Deportivo Guillermo Trinidad in Oranjestad.

The Turks & Caicos Islands will host their first ever FIFA World Cup Qualifying contest at the Providenciales' National Stadium when they meet St. Lucia, while tiny Belize will host St. Kitts & Nevis at the Estadio Mateo Flores in Guatemala City.

Also on 6 February, El Salvador and Nicaragua will be hosting Anguilla and Netherlands Antilles at San Salvador's Estadio Cuscatlan and Estadio Cacique Diriangen in Diriamba, respectively.

One late leg
Rounding out the first-leg encounters will be the British Virgin Islands who visit the Bahamas at the BFA National Centre in Nassau on 26 March.
The exact dates and locations of the second legs of the home-away first-round contests will be announced in due course, but will fall between 26 and 30 March.

The winners of the first-round of North, Central American and Caribbean qualifying will join the remaining 13 teams (including powers the USA, Mexico and Costa Rica) in June, with two group stages following that.
The top three teams from the CONCACAF Final Round in 2009 will automatically qualify for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. The fourth finisher will play off with South America's fifth-place team in a home-and-away series for one of the last berths to the world finals.

[Gamma]

after BVI nuh have nuh football field. there is nowhere to host this return leg and i don't see the complex being done by March.....

[Karl]

Dated...but & no JA word? - Bradley (USA): A very hard test

Bradley (USA): A very hard test

(FIFA.com) Sunday 25 November 2007


Bob Bradley, USA (Coach): "It's fair to say that teams in CONCACAF are improving across the board. If we end up meeting Guatemala, Trinidad & Tobago and Cuba we could be in for a very hard test. They are teams that we know well, and we know they are very talented opponents. 2007 has been a lot about bringing in new players to the US national team and I think that we are doing a good job of encouraging the newer guys to step up and try to fill the gaps left by the retirement of Brian McBride, Eddie Pope and Claudio Reyna."

Hugo Sanchez, Mexico (Coach):
"Teams have improved a lot in the CONCACAF region. With our history, Mexico look the strongest team but in practice you've got to out and play these games and the sides we're facing have got much better. We're going to prepare properly to make sure there are no surprises and get the results we need. Honduras will be dangerous opponents as we played them in the Gold Cup and they beat us. They've got players in Europe and that shows they've come on. We'll make sure our preparations are right so we can win the game and qualify for the final group."

Dale Mitchell, Canada (Coach): "It's tough for everybody now in CONCACAF. You have a lot of good teams and you can't take anyone for granted. If we get through to the first group stage we'll probably meet Mexico, who everybody knows is great, Jamaica who can cause problems and Honduras who are very dangerous. Also, we got hit with the highest of the low-ranked teams in St. Kitts and Nevis in our first game. That's good though, we'll have to be ready to go right from the beginning. We still have six months to go before qualifying and we're just in the beginning of starting to get things ready, so we're not worried."

Hernan Medford, Costa Rica (Coach):
"Costa Rica have been guilty of over-confidence in previous qualification campaigns and because of that we've sometimes struggled before getting through. Things have got to change this time. Although we're not exactly in a "group of death" - that's what Mexico have got - we can't fall into to the trap of thinking we're better than our opponents before the games. We're going to prepare to take each game very seriously. We know Panama well and Haiti too, having played them recently (a 1-1 draw). They have improved a lot and will continue to do so. I don't know anything about Guyana or the Virgin Islands but no doubt we'll be taking a look at them when they play each other."

Wim Rijsbergen, Trinidad and Tobago (Coach): "Cayman Islands or Bermuda! Well of course we will do everything possible to get all the information on these two countries and we will watch them closely before June. Of course will be looking to have the best group of players to face either of these two teams. And if you see in June that's when in Europe it's either preparation or vacation time so and we have players based there so we will have to work around that. The local players will also be in season in the local League so that's an advantage.