2014 FIFA World Cup qualification – CONCACAF Second Round

New York City, UNITED STATES- The second round will see the teams ranked 7–25 joined by the 5 winners from the first round. These teams will be drawn into six groups of four teams at the main group draw in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on July 30, 2011. The matches are foreseen to be played from September 2 to November 15, 2011.

Teams were seeded into four pots – designated Pots 4 to 7 in the draw. Pot 4 included teams ranked 7–12, Pot 5 teams ranked 13–18, Pot 6 teams ranked 19–24, and Pot 7 the team ranked 25 along with the 5 first round winners.

POT 4:
Panama
Canada
El Salvador
Grenada
Trinidad and Tobago
Haiti

POT 5:
Antigua and Barbuda
Guyana
Suriname
St. Kitts and Nevis
Guatemala
Dominica

POT 6:
Puerto Rico
Barbados
Curacao
St. Vincent and the Grenadines
Cayman Islands
Nicaragua

POT 7:
Bermuda
Bahamas
U.S. Virgin Islands
Dominican Republic
St. Lucia
Belize

Belize elminates Montserrat

Belize.

San Pedro Sula, HONDURAS- Deon McCauley scored his fourth goal in two games and helped Belize to a 3-1 victory over Montserrat on Sunday that completed an 8-3 aggregate win in the first phase of CONCACAF World Cup qualifying.

McCauley, who scored three in a 5-2 win in Montserrat's home leg on June 15 in Couva, Trinidad, put Belize ahead 2-1 in the 59th minute, a minute after Jay-Lee Hodgon had equalized fro Montserrat. Daniel Jimenez had given Belize the lead in the 23rd minute and Luis Mendez added the insurance goal two minutes after McCauley had restored the lead. 

 The match, Belize's home leg, was played in San Pedro Sula due to the ongoing dispute between the Football Federation of Belize and the national government. The dispute, which included the government not recognizing the BFF and its refusal to provide assurances for the safety of Montserrat and game officials, led FIFA to suspend the BFF over governmental interference.

The originally schedule match, set for June 19, was postponed, but later rescheduled outside of the country when FIFA provisionally lifted the suspension.
Belize will join Bermuda, St. Lucia, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Bahamas and the Dominican Republic in the World Cup qualifying draw on July 30 in Rio de Janeiro.
They will be added to 19 other seeded teams for the first group stage of six, four-team groups, from which the winners will advance to a semifinal round. The semifinal round will consist of four, three-team groups to determine six qualifiers for the final six-team group phase - known by some as the "hexagonal".

Bahamas advances past Turks and Caicos

Bahamas' Michael Bethel takes on two defenders.

Nassau, BAHAMAS- With the opening round of FIFA 2014 World Cup Qualifying completed, the Bahamas now shifts its attention to the second round and toward readying themselves for an opponent yet to be determined.
The Bahamas joined the US Virgin Islands and the Dominican Republic in the first group stage of CONCACAF bracket, after each of the countries won to complete aggregate victories in the preliminary round.
The Bahamas got a 10-0 aggregate win over Turks & Caicos Islands after the 6-0 victory at the Roscow Davies soccer field on Saturday (See full story at top of page).
The three teams will advance to the World Cup qualifying draw on July 30 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where they will be drawn into one of six, four-team groups.
The six group winners will join the United States, Mexico, Honduras, Jamaica, Costa Rica and Cuba in the semifinal round of qualifying. There they will be divided into three, four-team groups from which two in each group will qualify for the final round.
National team head coach Kevin Davies said the team will continue its training regimen and prepare accordingly.
"If we didn't have a chance we wouldn't be on the field. As long as we are on the field, we have a chance, we just have to continue to work hard and see where it takes us," he said. "We do not know who we will face yet. All we can do is continue to work hard and try to improve on some of the things that may be lacking still."
Heading into World Cup qualification, the Bahamas was ranked 31st in the region, while Turks and Caicos was ranked 30th.
Teams ranked 26-35, which also includes Belize, Dominican Republic, British Virgin Islands, St Lucia, Aruba, US Virgin Islands and Montserrat, all competed in the first round.
Teams ranked 7-25 received a bye to the second round while the top six teams in CONCACAF - the United States, Mexico, Honduras, Jamaica, Costa Rica and Cuba - all received a bye to round three.
CONCACAF will have three direct qualifiers for the finals tournament.
The preliminary round will feature teams ranked 26-35 and would play-off to reduce the number of entrants to 30.
The first round will featured six groups of four teams. This round would include the five qualifiers from the preliminary round plus teams ranked 7-25. The top team in each group would advance to the next stage.
The semifinal round includes three groups of teams. Teams ranked 1-6 would face off against the six group winners from the previous round.
The top two in each group would advance.
The final round will have the top two teams in each group from the semifinal round compete in one group of six.
The top three teams would advance to the World Cup, while the 4th place team would advance to an intercontinental playoff.

St. Lucia advances past Aruba in penalties

St. Lucia posing before match against Aruba.

Castries, SAINT LUCIA- Jamil Joseph scored three goals and St. Lucia outlasted Aruba on penalties on Tuesday to advance to the first group round of CONCACAF World Cup qualifying.

Joseph's goals gave St. Lucia a 4-2 victory, matching Aruba's home leg win on Friday, forcing extra time and then the tiebreaker, where it prevailed 5-4.

It is the third straight World Cup qualifying campaign that St. Lucia, which first entered the competition for the 1994 championship in the United States, has advanced past the initial phase of qualifying.

Joseph scored twice to put St. Lucia ahead 2-0 by the 29th minute. Frederic Gomez, who scored twice in Aruba's victory on Friday, pulled his side within one a minute before halftime, but Joseph restored St. Lucia's two-goal edge in the 71st and Kurt Frederick hiked the lead to 4-1 three minutes later.

Rensy Barradas scored in the 76th to deadlock the aggregate at 6-6, requiring the extra period and penalties, where Zane Pierre, Nathan Justin, Frederick, Kevin Edward and Pernal Williams all converted their attempts before Jelano Cruden was unable to with Aruba's last try.

St. Lucia will join Bermuda, Bahamas, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Dominican Republic in the World Cup qualifying draw on July 30 in Rio de Janeiro. The sides will be draw with 19 other teams into six, four-team groups, the winners of which will advance to the semifinal round of CONCACAF qualifying.

One preliminary round series is still pending. Belize, which beat Montserrat 5-2 in the first leg of their series in Couva, Trinidad, will host its "home leg" on Sunday in San Pedro Sula, Honduras.

U.S. Virgin Islands defeats rival British Virgin Islands

USVI's Alderman Lesmond celebrates a goal.

Road Town, BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS- The U.S. Virgin Islands men's soccer team was celebrating its 2-1 win over the British Virgin Islands on Sunday night in Tortola when the actual accomplishment finally started to sink in.
"We were just hanging out afterward and then it hit us," USVI goalkeeper Dillon Pieffer said. "Can we actually make it to the World Cup? I know it sounds crazy, but this is what they make movies out of."
Dwayne Virgil Thomas scored in the first minute, and Reid Klopp found the net in extra time to put the finishing touches on the USVI's second win over its British cousins in a week. The USVI topped BVI on a 4-1 aggregate score and advanced to the next stage in World Cup qualifying for the first time in its history.
The USVI was officially recognized by FIFA, the international governing body of soccer, in 1998 and had never won any type of World Cup-qualifying match. Until this past week.
On a soggy pitch, the USVI topped BVI, 2-0, at Lionel Roberts Stadium on July 3. The second leg of the two-game series shifted to Tortola on Sunday, and Klopp scored his second goal in two matches.
"The goal came very late in the match and it really didn't matter because we were ahead on the aggregate goals," said Klopp, a St. Croix resident who played college soccer in Maryland. "Everyone worked hard, and we got the job done, but we can definitely can play better than we did. We still have a lot of work to do."
The team will now be included in the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) preliminary draw, which will be held July 31 in Rio de Janeiro. That's when the USVI will find out the other teams it will be matched up with for the next stage of World Cup qualifying.
USVI Soccer Association President Hillaren Frederick said the team is guaranteed six more matches and three will be played inside the territory.
"This is a big deal and huge step for the program," said Frederick, who was elected president of the USVI Soccer Association in January. "We've been recognized by FIFA for the last 13 years and this is the first time we've won any kind of qualifying matches."
Once again, getting on the scoreboard early set the tone in the match. Thomas beat BVI goalkeeper Dowlyn Daley to put his team up early, which meant the BVI would have had to score four goals to capture the two-game series.
Trevor Peters scored to tie the game in the 37th minute and the score was knotted at the break. It was the first goal given up by the USVI defense in its late four matches.
"The scoreless streak ended and it was frustrating because it didn't come on an amazing shot or anything," said Pieffer, who celebrated his third wedding anniversary with his wife, Melissa, on Sunday. "I'm just glad Reid saved my butt. I know it was all about aggregate score, but we wanted to win."
Three minutes into extra time, Junior Laurencin broke free and sent a through ball to Klopp, who had enough time to collect the cross and bury the game-winner.
"I was wide open and Junior sent a great ball," Klopp said. "It's a great feeling to win these last two games but we're not done yet. We're looking forward to a couple friendly matches coming up so we can stay sharp before the next round."

Dominican Republic eliminates Anguilla

Dominican Republic.

San Cristobal, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC- The Dominican Republic won for the second time in three days, getting a pair of goals from Inoel Navarro and a second goal in as many games from Jonathan Fana to topple Anguilla 4-0 in San Cistobal, Dominican Republic.
Jhoan Sanchez also scored to finish the 6-0 aggregate win for the Dominicans, which played both legs at home.

'Reggae Boyz' top FIFA Coca-Cola CFU Rankings

Jamaica seen here participating in the 2010 CFU Final.

July 2011:

1. Jamaica
2. Haiti
3. Trinidad and Tobago
4. Cuba
5. Antigua and Barbuda
6. Guyana
7. Grenada
8. St. Kitts and Nevis
9. Dominica
10. Puerto Rico
11. Barbados
12. Curacao
13. St. Vincent and the Grenadines
14. Cayman Islands
15. Dominican Republic
16. Bermuda
17. British Virgin Islands
18. St. Lucia
19. Turks and Caicos Islands
20. U.S. Virgin Islands
21. Anguilla
22. Bahamas
23. Aruba
24. Montserrat
25. Suriname