First up, not sure how to read into this result. From where I sit, honduras will come away from this game feeling very satisfied with the one point....and very disappointed that they didnt take all 3. From T&T's persepctive, many will see this as one points gained, as opposed to 2 points dropped. The T&T vs Honduras tie is crucial in this Hex, because I feel in the end it will be these two teams battling it out for that 4th play-off spot. I'm going to give Mexico,USA,Costa Rica the benefit of the doubt here and assume they will take the 3 automatic spots.
I read Touches game report below, and it struck me that T&T is perhaps one of the most friendly places to play football in the whole of CONCACAF. The honduran fans that he met before the game summed it up nicely that they "enjoyed" playing in Port Of Spain...but hated playing in Kingston. And based on the result of the game on Saturday, I dont think much has changed. Forgive me for saying this folks, but T&T style of football is way too laid back when playing at home...and I plame the 12th man for this. Makes no sense 25K fans show up to sit and do nothing for the entire 90 minuts of the game.
Honduras didnt play a particulary good game, but they still managed to assert themselves in the crucial mid-field. T&T played good posessional football in periods, but never really converted the posession into many meaningfull goal scoring opportunities. Aslo found it weird that one of the most feared strikers in CONCACAF (Jomes) would be benched for the entire first half.
In the end, the 1-1 tie might have been a fair result...but like I said, in this Crucial T&T vs Honduras tie...The Hundurans will take that, knowing that they still have the home fixture to play.
USA vs El Salvador...wow. Like I said before, I dont see the USA not taking one of the three automatic spots...if they dont do it on the field, FIFA will find a way to enure they do make it in off the field...so any team that take points off them Makes it even harder for T&T/Honduras. The ideal situatin is always to have one team that beats everyone...and one team that gets licks from everyone..and you dont want those teams sharing points when they play together.
On to Wednesday's games:
USA - T&T. An opportunity for T&T to "steal" 3 points or even one...and an opportunity for the USA to garner another 3 points. Going off the last time both teams played in USA, 'm going to go ahead and call this 2-1 in favor of the USA
Honduras - Mexico. Honduas plays on home turf for the first time in this Hex...Atthe end of this tie, we will know exactly if Honduras are serious about going to SA 2010...or if Mexico have turned thinghs around. This is a tricky one to call...but i'm going to go ahead and call this one 1-1.
Costa Rica vs El Salavdor. Costa Rica are coming off a 2-0 defeat, and returing home to teh Ricardo Saprissa, this could be a mauling for the Salvadorians, who will be playing on the road for the first time this Hex.