Mexico Defeats Belize, Unimpressively
Belize is a country that does not even have a world class stadium, for that and financial reasons that Belize could make at a different site, the game was played in Houston. They didn’t even have very professional players but survived an hour against Mexico, until the 62nd minute when Carlos Vela scored for Mexico. En the 92nd minute, Jared Borgetti scored a penalty kick goal. Belize played their game, made some good stops in the backfield, and their goalkeeper played great but there was never a doubt that Mexico wouldn’t win. The second leg will be Saturday, June 21st in Monterrey. There’s no doubt that Mexico should win big.
In other results from the CONCACAF region, there were a lot of high scoring games. The United States destroyed Barbados 8-0, Guatemala beat St. Lucia 6-0, Jamaica beat the Bahamas 7-0, Canada beat St. Vincent/ Grenadines 3-0, and Honduras became the first team to advance to third phase defeating Puerto Rico 6-2 over two games. In the surprise of the day, Bermudas defeated Trinidad and Tobago 2-1, away from home. Costa Rica and Granada tied 2-2, Suriname beat Guyana 1-0, Panama beat El Salvador 1-0, and Haiti and the Netherlands Antilles tied 0-0. Cuba and Antigua and Bermuda will play their first match this week. The second leg of all these matches will be at the end of this week.
Paraguay Defeats Brazil 2-0
Paraguay was the big winner in the fifth round of qualifying defeating Brazil 2-0. Paraguay went for the victory from the beginning with three forwards, Nelson Haedo, Roque Santa Cruz, and Salvador Cabañas. Roque Santa Cruz scored in the 26th minute and Cabañas in the 49th. The score would have been bigger, if not for a good game by Brazil’s goalkeeper. They also did this with only ten men in the second half, as Diego Veron was sent off.
In other results this weekend, Chile beat Bolivia, away from home 2-0 with two goals from Gary Medel. Argentina scored a goal in the 89th minute to rescue a tie against Ecuador 1-1 in Buenos Aires. Uruguay and Venezuela tied 1-1 and Peru and Columbia tied as well 1-1. The game of the week is this Wednesday, June 18th when Brazil and Argentina face off. After five matches, Paraguay leads with 13 points, Argentina is second with 10, Columbia is third with 9, Brazil fourth with eight, and Venezuela and Chile are tied for fifth with seven.
What An Exciting Euro Cup
This year, the Euro Cup has rewarded teams that have attacked and for that reason, Portugal, Croatia, the Netherlands, and Spain have qualified for the Quarterfinals. What they don’t know is who they’ll face. Portugal could face Germany in what would be the best quarterfinal matchup this Thursday, June 19th. Croatia defeated Germany to win their group and will face Turkey who scored three goals in fifteen minutes to make the quarterfinals. That game will be Friday, June 20th. The two winners will face off in the first semifinal, Wednesday, June 25th. All the games can be seen at 1:45 p.m. on ESPN and ESPN Deportes.
The Netherlands (Holland) has been the best team so far, defeating Italy 3-0 and France 4-1. They will either face Sweden or Russia in the quarterfinals on Saturday, June 21st on ABC and ESPN Deportes. Spain will face France, Italy or maybe even Romania, depending on who finishes in the best position in their group. The game will be Sunday, June 22nd on ESPN and ESPN Deportes. The two winners will face off in the second semifinal on Thursday, June 26th on ESPN and ESPN Deportes. The Euro 2008 final will be Sunday, June 29th on ABC and ESPN Deportes. Times for all matches is 1:45 p.m. Who will win? I say the Netherlands.
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