CONCACAF standing updated: Panama takes top spot in "the Hex" while the USA and Mexico tie

It may have been a scoreless tie last night at the Azteca, but if you talk to the players and officials of the American and Mexican national teams, you will get very different reactions. The United States played very well and to them, this was a win against a Mexican team desperate for points and currently sits in 5th place, just out side of qualifying for the intercontinental playoff against New Zealand. Both teams had very slow starts in the fourth round of the CONCACAF (North America, Central America, and Caribbean zones for those few that don't know)) qualifying campaign- also known as "the Hex" or Hexagonal round. Both the United States and Mexico were also favorites to qualify before this round started.

Top 3 teams qualify automatically for the finals. The 4th place team must face New Zealand, the winner of the Oceania qualifying, in a two legged home and away intercontinental playoff for a chance to join the other three. None of these teams want to have to travel all the way to New Zealand so there will definitely be a fight to stay out of 4th place. The 5th and 6th place teams are eliminated. Currently, that is Mexico and Jamaica, the only Caribbean in the round. Here are the standings. As always, 3 pts for a win, 1 for a draw, 0 for a loss). First tiebreaker is goal difference.

1. Panama        5 pts
2. Costa Rica   4pts    +1 (4-3)
3. USA            4 pts    0  (2-2)
4. Honduras    4 pts    -1 (4-5)
5. Mexico       3 pts
6. Jamaica       2 pts

As you can see from the standings, all a team on the bottom needs to get to the top is one win so right now, all 6 teams are still in it. For example, Honduras was at the top of the standings before their game last night but a loss to Panama caused them to fall to the feared 4th place. Upsets are common and ties can screw up some of the bigger teams.

Next match day (Match day 4): June 7th (a long break from national team duty but players will be returning to their leagues-- many of the players that get called up for national team play, play for clubs in Europe. These leagues are very competitive so it isn't really a "break").

Honduras at Costa Rica: This will be an interesting match. Honduras beat the United States in the opener of this round which caused the Americans to worry but a tie against Mexico and a loss to Panama put them in 4th place. Costa Rica is a tough opponent at home but Honduras is not a weak team if they show up.

USA at Jamaica: The Stars and Stripes should not take this Caribbean team lightly even if they are at the bottom of the table. After all, they tied Panama and Mexico which is what gave them 2 points. If the United States played like they did against Mexico, they should win. Although the Americans played well against Mexico, that had a lot of luck on their side--a snowstorm in Denver which helped them beat a Costa Rican team not used to the weather and the ref was definitely on their side against Mexico, denying two penalties that I should honestly say should have been given (one is debatable). Were they really playing at the Azteca? Because I thought the home side always got the pass.

Mexico at Panama: I don't have much to say about this match. Mexico tied all 3 of their matches. Mexico should play this game as if its their last so they can get that much needed 3 points and so they don't go deeper into a whole.

Remaining schedule:

Matchday 5: June 11th
Costa Rica @ Mexico
Jamaica @ Honduras
Panama @ USA

Matchday 6: June 18th (the Mexico-Jamaica match will be played on June 4th to allow Mexico to play in the FIFA Confederations Cup, which I will talk about later in my general soccer blog).
Mexico @ Jamaica
Panama @ Costa Rica
Honduras @ USA

Matchday 7: September 6th
USA at Costa Rica
Honduras at Mexico
Jamaica at Panama

Matchday 8: September 10 (a day after my birthday...sorry just had to put that in there...haha)
Panama at Honduras
Costa Rica at Jamaica
Mexico at USA (important match for both teams...the rivalry continues.....)

Matchday 9: October 11th
Costa Rica at Honduras
Panama at Mexico
Jamaica at USA

Matchday 10 (final match day for the CONCACAF qualifying campaign): October 15th
Mexico at Costa Rica
Honduras at Jamaica
USA at Panama


Intercontinental playoff: 4th Place Team CONCACAF vs New Zealand
1st leg: Nov 15th
2nd leg: Nov 19th


(so in 8 months we will know who qualifies. It is still a LOOOOONG way to go and anything can happen. Can't wait!)