USMNT v El Salvador

Should be a slam dunk, but the boys better show up and take care of business. Will say 2-0, goals for Jozy and LD kissing himself before a pk.
GD could be key, so if they can put the foot to the floor, by all means do it.

Honduras should have no problem w/T&T, which would give them 13 points as well.

The match of the day is Costa Rica hosting Mexico. Which Tico team will show up? The one that demolished the US or the one that rolled over and quit at Honduras in their last fixture. An El Tri victory on the road and the top 4 will likely be seperated by a point.

 

The US is about 6 or 7 points away from qualification. I think that Mexico will take care of business in Costa Rica which means everybody will be divided by a point. This is probably going to be the tightest qualification round in the history of CONCACAF.Everybody wanted this region to improve and this is what we got. Exciting stuff.


As far as this game goes, it's a must win. A few goals wouldn't hurt either. A 1-0 win is just like a draw given the current situation, a win by 3 or 4 goals is needed.

 

Don, looking and guessing er predicting the outcomes I would say the US needs at least 8 pts to stay away from GD. Looking at the fixtures if Mexico draws at Costa Rica (which what I think will happen) they'll win their last 3 games to finish w/19 pts. The Ticos I think will only get 5 points (2 draws in a row will get them sweating) to finish w/17. Honduras is the wildcard, I think they'll finish w/17 pts. as well.

Bottom line, we're in a dog fight, and if we don't go down to the Port of Spain a week from Wed. and win, we are in a world of hurt.

 

Here's my predictions for the standings before the final game on 14-Oct.

Costa Rica 19 pts
USA 17 pts
Mexico 15 pts
Honduras 14 pts

Final games are:
USA-Costa Rica (battle for 1st place)
T&T - Mexico ; El Salvador - Honduras (Mexico plays horribly in the Carribbean, so there's everything to play for)

I don't see us losing to CR in RFK, so we're guaranteed at least 3rd with a good chance to win it all with 20 points.

 

We need to come out on top and give us the best chance of avoiding another group of death.

Come on you Yanks - it is starting to get serious and we need you to tear these teams up.

 

We need to hammer ES. I think we should come out attacking like the Egypt match in the CC, especially after that game at Azteca.

Did anyone see that M Bradley's manager at BM sat him Friday due to his attitude? I hope he comes out on fire with something to prove.

 

Hey Don,
Check this out:
What They're Saying
"Michael Bradley is a young player, who for his age brings a lot, and for me has always been a starter. But in the last weeks he has played unfortunately and has made mistakes. It's not so much about the mistakes as it is how he reacted to his mistakes. A young player must realize his mistakes to move ahead."

-- Borussia Moenchengladbach coach Michael Frontzeck explains why he benched 22-year-old American midfielder Michael Bradley last weekend, when Gladbach beat Mainz, 2-0.

 

T&T has called in Zamora for their next qualifiers, including against the US! :shock: What, does he vacation there in the off season or something???

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/s ... index.html

 

I hope Sam's Army are distributing shields. Not even remotely concerned about Bobby's addition to their side.

 

Some pre-match reading...
http://www.yanks-abroad.com/get.php?mod ... nt&id=5131

Attack, attack, attack this Saturday, as someone smarter than I once said: "Invincibility lies in the defense; the possibility of victory in the attack."

 

Word is DeMerit is day to day with a groin strain. If he's out, we're suddenly a little thin in the back 4. So if we do go with the attacking strategy appealed for in the Y-A.com article, we better stick a few in the net.


Howard

Cherundolo Boca DeMerit (Marshall) Spector

Dempsey Bradley Feilhaber Donovan

Altidore Davies

 

Don, this one will be live on (strangely) ESPN Classic.

 

I'm sure Bobby falls under the new rule allowing for the switch. Sadly for him he's showing up to bail water after the ship has already hit the iceberg. If he wants to play in the WC he's going to have to commit for at least 5 more years.

 

Wonder what Zamora's motive for this is.
He was not born in T&T...and from what I've read, there's no money in it for the T&T players, since any funds collected by their FA has a way of ending up in Jack Warner's Swiss bank account.

Fulham needs him now more than ever, what with injuries and Europa League matches. Sure seems like his best move would be to stay put in London for the break.

 

Sounds like DeMerit has missed time due to a groin injury and might not play Saturday. One of the guys on ESPN hinted at this lineup in his blog:

Howard
Dolo-Marshall-Boca-(Bornsetin OR Spector)
Holden-Bradley-Feilhaber-Donovan
Dempsey-Davies

He made some comment that Altidore is still not fit to go the full 90 and would be best used as a sub than a starter at this point.