World Cup Qualifiers: USA Falls to T&T, Jamaica Rising

For Mexico and the United States, World Cup qualifying has become more like a series of tune up matches against weaker opponents, than a battle to make it to South Africa. They act as the only serious threat to one another and are usually unprepared for the type of competition they see once the arrive on the grand stage. Wednesday night, we saw a sign that these two teams will not be able to coast through the next stage of qualifying as easily as they have in the past. True, neither team had to win their matches, but with players fighting for spots and a plethora of talent, compared to other North and Central American teams, they should be dominate each time out.

CONCACAF
Trinidad & Tobago 2-1 United States
The U.S., with a place in the next round of qualification already secure, gave a lackluster performance Wednesday night in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad. With goals by Russell Latapy and former Man U striker Dwight Yorke, a combined 76 years of age between them, T&T moved into second position in Group 1.

The United States was missing many of their top players, but still fielded a lineup with the likes of DaMarcus Beasley, Frankie Hejduk, Freddy Adu, and Brad Guzan. Plus, the rest of the starting eleven, Jozy Altidore and Maurice Edu among them, were fighting for a spot on the World Cup roster. It is clear when I watch the Americans without Michael Bradley, that he is the most important player on their squad. He runs the show in midfield and can get forward to pop in some goals for them as well. Now, if only there was some way for me to signal Bob Bradley when to pull Landon Donovan off the pitch when he is having one of his games. That's right Bruce Arena, I'm looking at you!

The Rest
-Mexico went far north to play Canada in Edmonton. That's right, not exactly the perfect environment for a visiting team. The final result was a 2-2 draw, with Canada, already eliminated, playing for pride.
-Jamaica has looked great in their last two games, 1-0 home wins against Mexico and Honduras. I like Jamal Campbell-Ryce and Ricardo Fuller up front, and it looks like former Liverpool man, John Barnes, has them headed in the right direction. With a home win over Canada and a home loss by Honduras against Mexico, the Jamaicans will qualify for the next round with a ton of confidence.

Top 3
1. United States
2. Mexico
3. Costa Rica