What once seemed far off is now little more than a year away: the next Soccer World Cup will kick off at the Arena Corinthians June 12, 2014 in Brazil.
Last March several matches were played to define the national teams that will occupy the 31 vacant posts in the 2014 World Cup, the second to be held after 1950 in Brazil, a country where soccer is practically a religion.
Two hundred and three teams started the qualifying process. So far only the host, Brazil, is classified, but prospective participants are better defined. An account of the matches concerning the American continent follows:
Central America, North America, and Caribbean
In the final round of CONCACAF Panama beat Honduras 2-0 and became leader of the group with five points, followed by Honduras with four. The Panamanian team scored in the first minute of the game with a goal by Toluca’s player, Luis Tejada. While the Honduran team was getting closer to a tie, the Panamanian player Blas Pérez scored a second goal and settled the match.
Mexico drew 0-0 with Team USA at the Azteca Stadium and has not won a match yet in the hexagonal. Giovani dos Santos lead the Mexican team and was very well supported by Andrés Guardado. Both constructed the best plays, but Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez could not exploit any of them. Mexico has not been able to score goals at home so far (drew 0-0 with Jamaica) and begins to realize that it will not be easy to get the ticket to Brazil.
On the other hand, Team USA took a valuable point from the Azteca. Historically, it is the second time that the team ties in Mexico, though the tie was a victory for the team coached by Jurgen Klinsmann, who already dreams of traveling to Brazil.
Costa Rica beat Jamaica 2-0 in the island and took an important step to continue in the struggle for classification.
South America
With the results that occurred in games played in South America there is much to discuss: Some national teams are already doing their numbers, some others have an uphill road to get their passport to Brazil, as in the case of Paraguay, which lost again and by several goals against Ecuador in Quito. Nor has Uruguay had a good performance, with another defeat this time around to Chile in Santiago.
One surprise was the victory of Venezuela over Colombia. There were high expectations for a good game as both teams are fighting to go to Brazil 2014.
Venezuela arrived having been beaten by the Argentina, four days earlier. While Colombia, in high spirits, had scored several goals against Bolivia. The victory went to Venezuela 1-0. Despite Colombia’s defeat, Jose Pekerman’s team is at a good level and is one of the teams most likely to go to in Brazil.
Argentina drew 1-1 with Bolivia in the South American qualifiers. Beyond playing at altitude in La Paz, Argentina left a good image, even in the second half the team could have won with a remarkable performance of De Maria. Alejandro Sabella’s team is still at the top of the standings and closer to Brazil 2014.
—Translation Chris Alias
