U-20 World Cup New Zealand

May 30 – June 20

 

  

Ok --what is on the docket for soccer for this month is the U-20 FIFA World cup in New Zealand. Yes the Kiwi's are the best Rugby nation but they are average in soccer. With that being said we have a little tournament to see our future stars on display.

USA was placed in a great group if you want them to advance. They were placed with the host New Zealand out of the weak Oceania Federation. It is usually a good to be placed with the host since they are from pot 1 with all the top teams. Usually the host is the weakest pot 1 team. There is always the worry for the defensively and tactically sound European teams in any level of the World Cup. Ukraine is the European Representative this year and they beat out England, Scotland, Bulgaria and Montenegro to qualify. With all the unrest in Ukraine maybe their minds will not be on soccer. Myanmar was the host of the Asian (AFC) U-19 Championship and reached the semifinals, so they will be no slouch.  The USA placed 3^rd in the CONCACAF Championship with 5 wins 1 Loss and 1 tie. They relied on Romain Gall (Columbus Crew) and the talented Bradford Jamieson (Galaxy) to score their goals.  They scored 12 in the 2015  CONCACAF Championship, and only game up 2 goals, 1 each in the first 2 games. Then the yanks had 4 clean sheets. My yanks are poised to make some noise by getting out of this group. This looks like the easiest draw on paper.

 

            Panama placed 2^nd  in the CONCACAF Championship U-20 in Jamaica, after losing in a penalty shoot out to perennial power Mexico. Panama only gave up one goal in the regional tournamnet. They have a good goal keeper in Jamie De Gracia, excellent aggressive defenders in both Chin Hormechea and speedy left defender in Kevin Galvan. Luís Pereira  controls the central midfield and connects with FW Ismael Diaz. I think Panama will be challenged every game in this formidable group.                                                
         They will play South American Giants Argentina and Africa Super Power Ghana. Then there is always a technically gifted and defensively sound European team. Their European representative will be Austria. Panama will do well to get out of this formidable group

 

Mexico is good at all levels of soccer. They will be one of the favorites to advance because they tend to do well in these youth tournaments.  Look for Erick Gutiererrez to control the middle. Also watch for the fast Hirving Lozano to make dangerous runs from the right side of the midfield. Their defense is solid with Rodrigo Gonzalez playing Central Defense.

 

Honduras can score with the big boys but their defense is what will be their Achilles heel.  Their scoring will come from Albert Elis, Bryan Rochez, Juan Barahona and Jose Villavicencio. Germany will advance so that leaves only one other spot. FIJJI and Uzbekistan are not know powers but they will also be believing they are the ones to advance. I see Honduras scoring goals but not advancing here.

CONCACAF second Round predictions fpr World Cup qualifying

CONCACAF Second Round  

:2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – CONCACAF Second Round

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines		Guyana	10 Jun	14 Jun
Antigua and Barbuda		Saint Lucia	8 Jun	16 Jun
Puerto Rico		Grenada	12 Jun	16 Jun
Dominica		Canada	11 Jun	16 Jun
Dominican Republic		Belize	8 Jun	16 Jun
Guatemala		Bermuda	8 Jun	16 Jun
Aruba		Barbados	8 Jun	16 Jun
Saint Kitts and Nevis		El Salvador	8 Jun	16 Jun
Curaçao		Cuba	8 Jun	14 Jun
Nicaragua		Suriname	8 Jun	16 Jun

Second round predictions---

------------------------------------Review 2014  qualification  -----------------

1. Guyana from South America should handle Saint Vincent. Neither team is any good but I will give edge to Guyana
2. I am picking Antigua and Barbuda since they went a tad better than Saint Lucia. Antigua and Barbuda also to beat Saint Lucia.in the Caribbean Cup. So I think they will beat them again.
3. Puerto Rico has more professionals in other leagues. Grenada has qualified for 2 Gold Cups but I think it's Puerto Rico's time. 
4. Canada big over Dominica. Dominica was placed in the second round of 2014 WCQ against Panama, Nicaragua and Bahamas. The Bahamas withdrew so i am just looking at the other teams. Dominica lost all four games, They didn't even score a goal. I believe Panama and Canada are about equal talent. Dominica lost 0-5 at home and 0-3 away in Panama-again this was 2014 wcq. Nicaragua even beat Dominica... Canada has been mixing and matching players trying to find the right blend.  Look for Julian de Guzman at 34 and Kyle Bekker (FC Dallas)to control the middle. They will feed Simeon Jackson and Tosaint Ricketts when the going get tough. Canada has recently tie Iceland (Orlando), beat Guatemala (Fort Lauderdale) and beat Panama 3-0 in Panama. Like I said Canada big. 
5. I am picking a Caribbean nation Dominican Republic over a Central American nation. Belize did not impress in the first round playing lowly Cayman Islands. They tied the Islands in both games 0-0 and 1-1 away. They only advanced since they scored an away goal. The Dom Rep has not impressed in the Caribbean Cup either.  They were in a tough group of Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Vincent & Gred, and Anguilla. They only beat Anguilla but they scored 10 goals in that single game. the second round of the Caribbean Cup they were grouped with T&T (host), A&B (again) and Saint Lucia. This is where the Dominican Republic quest ended. I believe the Dominican Republic just has a little more than Belize. The DR just kicked off a professional soccer league in 2015. The sport is at an all time high on the island of Hispanolia. 
6. Bermuda impressed in the first round winning 8-0 aggregate. They have a beautiful island with a beautiful stadium. Bermuda did not participate in the 2014 Caribbean Cup so it is hard to judge them. I think they have a good tactical team. Unfortunately for them they regional power Guatemala. Guatemala fans, players and expectations are just to much for Bermuda to overcome. 
7. Aruba vs Barbados.....who cares...I'll pick Barbados since they had some success in the past. Aruba was edged out by a really good French Guiana team in the 2014 Caribbean Cup. Barbados got by both Suriname and Bonaire in the First round. So i'll pick Barbados. 
8. Saint Kitts also had a dominant first round scoring the most goals of any nation with 12 in 2 games. They did however concede 4. El Salvador is much better both offensively and defensively than Turks and Cacos Islands. We can bid Saint Kitts bid adieu here. El Salvador wins easily.
9. Cuba over Netherlands Antilles....no wait they changed their name to Curacao. Cuba will have the talent and the power to overcome this Dutch Island. Cuba advances.
10. Nicaragua vs. Suriname. This is quite an even match between a up and coming Central American nation and an up and coming South American nation of Suriname. Nicaragua have been toiling at the bottom of Central American stature for ever.They are changing from a baseball playing nation to a soccer nation. They have made some good strides. Last World Cup cycle they grouped with Panama, Dominica and Bahamas. The Bahamas dropped out because of lack of money. Nicaragua would have won 4 games for the first time in World Cup qualification.      Suriname 2 wins, 1 tie and 3 loses. This last Caribbean Cup 2015 Suriname did not do well went getting a loss and 2 ties against the like of Bonair, Barbados and Martinique. They are lacking scoring. I see Nicaragua advancing. 

The 10 winners will play the same home and away and be joined by  Jamaica and Haiti in the Third Round. My shoe ins are Canada, Guatemala and El Salvador.

Third round

Main article: 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – CONCACAF Third Round

The draw for the third round will be held on 25 July 2015, at the Konstantinovsky Palace in Strelna, Saint Petersburg, Russia.^[3]
Teams entering this round:

•  Jamaica
•  Haiti

There will be 12 teams and the 6 winners will advance to join Costa Rica, Mexico, Panama, USA, Honduras and surprise surprise Trinidad and Tobago. 

2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – CONCACAF First Round

Main article: 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – CONCACAF First Round

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Bahamas	0–8	Bermuda	0–5	0–3
British Virgin Islands	2–3	Dominica	2–3	0–0
Barbados	4–1	U.S. Virgin Islands	0–1	4–0
Saint Kitts and Nevis	12–4	Turks and Caicos Islands	6–2	6–2
Nicaragua	8–0	Anguilla	5–0	3–0
Belize	1–1 (a)	Cayman Islands	0–0	1–1
Curaçao	4–3	Montserrat	2–1	2–2

Ok the First round is in the books.  Let see how I did.  Bermuda again playing in the next round. That was easy. 1 for 1. Dominica over the Virgin big.....i was right in the winner but off in the "Big". I think British Virgin improved as much as Dominica regress over the last cycle. 2 for 2.

Barbados over the US Virgin check 3 for 3. However the US Virgin did manage a win here. That was a surprise and good for the Virgin.

Saint Kitts will advance"...I am 4 for 4 here. Kitts scored the most goals with 12,,,that was 6 each game. They will be a good threat in the next round.

Nicaragua over Anguilla. 5 for 5. but everyone predicted that 

The ended in a 1-1 tie and Belize adnances 6 for 6 luckly

Curacao pver Monserrat " I stated same result here refering to a Curacao win. ...Well that is 7 for 7.

Bermuda, Nicaragua and Saint Kitts seem to be the strongest team advancing in the first round.

Congratulations to all the winners ...The losers we will see in 4 years... 

CONCACAF U-17 Championship review

                The CONCACAF Final will be moved to Morazan. The Final will be host Honduras vs CONCACAF Titans Mexico. Morazan was chosen by officials " the interest of facilitating access for the legions of fans, who have flocked to that downtown stadium to this point." IT seems like this stadium will be near capacity will Honduras fans. This stadium holds about 26,000 and it came close to capacity against the USA. 

         The CONCACAF Championship in Honduras is progressing nicely, no one was murdered. The elite at the senior level mirror the success of the underage level. In Group A Honduras emerged to the top on the final on the last group match by beating regional rival Guatemala 2-1 and also have the USA lose to Jamaica 0-1.  This is great news for CONCACAF officials to have a large attendance with the host (Honduras) playing in it. Honduras will automatically qualify for the FIFA U-17 Championship Chile later this year.

   CONCACAF is awarded 4 spots in this competition. All World Cup bring great exposure to the game and promotes the sport in your country. Every nations wants to participate. The CONCACAF tournament will have the 2nd and 3rd place teams to be seeded into a playoff for the last 2 spots. The USA is the top seed and they will play Jamaica for one of the 2 spots. Jamaica is the only team to beat the USA and will be confident they can slay the giant again.