CONCACAF Gold Cup Group C action started on Friday night in New York with rising Central American powers Panama edging out 10 man neighbours Honduras 3-2. Star-studded, 4 time champions Mexico survived an early scare against Cuba to triumph out 2-1 thanks to goals from Jared Borgetti and Nery Castillo at the Meadowlands.
In Friday night′s 1st match, Panama, shock finalists from the last instalment of the Gold Cup, picked up right where they left off in the summer of 2005. A goal from Carlos Rivera in the 29th minute was equalised by Honduran captain and all time caps leader Amado Guevara, doing his best to motivate a side reduced to 10 men after Wilson Palacios saw red on 20 minutes for a lunging tackle.
Just 2 minutes later, though, the Panamanians hit back when Blas Perez′s powerful header flew into the top corner. Unable to recapture the form of the golden days of 1991 when they reached the Gold Cup Final, the Hondurans capitulated in the end to the new kids on the block in the UNCAF region after Jose Luis Garces curled home to the back post to seal the triumph with 9 minutes to go. Carlos Costly brought the score back to a respectable 3-2 with a minute to go, however it was too little too late for Honduras.
With a star-studded team assembled by current coach and former playing icon Hugo Sanchez, few expects Mexico to have much trouble in their opener against humble Caribbean outfit Cuba.
However, El Tri had themselves a rude awakening on 22 minutes when Reynier Alcantara got on the end of a classic counter-attack for the island underdogs and curled his shot home to a hush of disbelief from the large sections of Mexican fans. The island dream lasted fully 13 minutes, then Chivas darling Adolfo ′Bofo′ Bautista crossed for all time Mexican top scorer Jared Borgetti, who headed home home from close range.
A firm half time team talk from Sanchez had the Mexicans in fine form after the interval. Substitute and Tigres forward Jose Francisco ′Kikin′ Fonseca broke down the right flank in the 56th minute and fired a searing shot that Cuban keeper Odelin Molina spilled tantalisingly on the doorstep. Nery Castillo raced in and made no mistake to put El Tri in front, where they stayed to the final whistle.
Next up for Mexico is the date with Honduras on Sunday. Panama also play on Sunday, facing a tricky test against Cuba.
The 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup continues on Saturday with Groups A and B in action. In Miami, Group A leaders Canada take on Guadeloupe and Haiti meet Costa Rica. In Group B in Los Angeles, holders USA play Trinidad & Tobago whilst Guatemala meet El Salvador.
07 06 2007
Bulgaria laboured to a 2-1 home triumph over Belarus in the pouring rain on Wednesday to maintain their UEFA EURO 2008 qualifying momentum in Group G.
Victory gave Bulgaria 15 points from 7 games, one clear of Balkan rivals Romania, who play Slovenia later on Wednesday. The Netherlands are 3rd with 14 points from 6 matches.
Belarus took a surprise lead with a penalty after 5 minutes, capitalising on a comical Dimitar Ivankov blunder. After making a dreadful clearance the home keeper brought down Alexander Hleb in the penalty area and Roman Vasilyuk made no mistake from the spot.
The hosts, who won 2-0 in Belarus on Saturday, replied almost immediately with lively Martin Petrov levelling in the tenth minute with a sweetly-struck free kick from 25 metres.
Bulgaria turned the match around 5 minutes before the interval when Chavdar Yankov, back from a one-match suspension, slipped the ball past Yuri Zhevnov from close range.
"I′m pleased with the triumph and with the character that the players showed to overturn the deficit", mentioned Bulgaria caretaker coach Stanimir Stoliov, who mentioned he would continue with Levski Sofia inspite of the recent clamour for him to take over the national team on a permanent basis.
The home side dominated the 2nd half however failed to increase their lead as Zhevnov had to make desperate saves to deny Martin Petrov and Dimitar Telkiyski.
Belarus′s best chance after the break came in the 69th minute when Ivankov saved Sergei Kornilenko′s header from Alexander Yurevich′s left wing cross.
"The most important thing is that we won", mentioned forward Dimitar Berbatov, who got both goals in Saturday′s win. "We′re back in the game now and our expects of reaching the finals are alive".
07 06 2007
There is no such thing as a routine triumph in qualifying for the UEFA EURO 2008 finals, as Group A frontrunners Poland discovered at a cost in the Armenian capital. 2 other section leaders, Greece and Germany, were tested by an underdog, however the pair managed to eke out triumph to augment their position at the summit.
Romania, on top of their pool by virtue of goal difference going into Wednesday′s games, encountered little difficulty in achieving 3 points, Sweden raced to the head of Group F by overwhelming Iceland, whilst the gap between the front 4 sides was cut to only 3 points in Group E.
Armenia slammed the brakes on Poland′s charge towards a guaranteed place at the UEFA EURO 2008 finals by upsetting Leo Beenhakker′s side in Yerevan. The Poles went into the game chasing a 7th straight win, which could have taken them 8 points clear at the top of Group A, however Hamlet Mkhitaryan′s 2nd half free-kick was enough to settle the contest in the favour of Armenia, who picked up their 1st triumph of the campaign in Kazakhstan on Saturday. Due to their rivals′ inactivity, Poland retained their 5 point cushion over Portugal and Serbia, however the pair now have 2 games in hand on the frontrunners.
Another shock result was threatened by Slovakia in Hamburg, however a Thomas Hitzlsperger header shortly before half time earned Germany a 2-1 success. With the front 4 in Group D having played equal games, Joachim Low′s side will rest comfortably over the summer, holding a 5 point advantage over the Czech Republic, with the Republic of Ireland a further point back in 3rd.
The extrasensory understanding between Franck Ribery and Samir Nasri again worked in France′s favour, the former setting up the latter for the only goal against Georgia. Les Bleus stay as in the ascendancy in Group B, even though Italy and Scotland triumphed 2-0 on their travels, against Lithuania and the Faroe Islands respectively, to keep up the heat.
With the prolific Eduardo da Silva tightly patrolled, Croatia failed to find a breakthrough at home to Russia, whose 0-0 stalemate in Zagreb blew the race to finish top of Group E wide open. Slaven Bilic′s team stay as in front, however Israel won 2-0 away in the Andorran puddles to draw level on points with the 1998 FIFA World CupT bronze medallists.
Russia, who kept their 6th clean sheet in 7 contests, sit 2 points back in 3rd, one ahead of England. Joe Cole opened the scoring for Steve McClaren′s side in Estonia, before David Beckham provided trademark deliveries for Peter Crouch and Michael Owen to seal a 3-0 win.
Sweden made light work of Iceland, 2 goals from Marcus Allback propelling them to a 5-0 success which lifts them 2 points clear of N. Ireland. Spain assumed the runners up spot, level on points with Lars Lagerback′s troops, thanks to a 2-0 reverse of Liechtenstein, David Villa scoring both of their goals within the opening quarter-hour.
Norway addressed their run of 3 games without triumph by overpowering Malta 4-0 on Saturday, and they continued their revival by triumphing over Hungary by a repeat scoreline to move into contention in Group C. Level with Bosnia-Herzegovina, who undid Malta 1-0, and Turkey, the Norwegians continue to trail section pace-setters Greece by 5 points, though the reigning European champions needed a goal 5 minutes into time added on by substitute Nikolaos Liberopoulos to deny tailenders Moldova a share of the spoils.
With the Netherlands inactive in Group G, Romania turned their lead by virtue of goal difference into a 3 point superiority by sending Slovenia home on the wrong end of a 2-0 result, whilst Bulgaria moved one point above the Dutch into 2nd courtesy of a 2-1 comeback triumph over Belarus. However, inspite of slipping to 3rd in the section, the on-form Oranje did give their supporters a cause for satisfaction. Indeed, Wednesday′s 3-1 triumph in Thailand ensured that Marco van Basten′s side ended their 11 game 2006/07 campaign unbeaten.
In preparation for the 2007 Copa America, Argentina and Brazil both disappointed during the 1st halves of their respective friendlies, however whilst the latter failed to find their touch en route to a goalless draw against Turkey, the former, 2-1 down at the break, recovered to edge Algeria 4-3. Lionel Messi orchestrated the fightback, restoring parity from the penalty spot shortly after the interval, before grabbing the Albiceleste′s decisive 4th goal following a delightful exchange with Pablo Aimar.
Paraguay upset Mexico 1-0 inside the usually daunting Estadio Azteca, and Ecuador avenged their slender loss to Peru at the weekend by overcoming their continental rivals 2-0. Meanwhile, Japan and Colombia failed to break deadlock in their Kirin Cup decider, leaving the trophy in Asian hands due to their superior goal difference.
