Signals
8.2.2011  
 
    
 
 CCL Preliminary Round to conclude Thursday
 World Cup draw results announced
 Klinsmann hired as U.S. manager
 

CCL Preliminary Round to conclude Thursday

The second legs of the CONCACAF Champions League Preliminary Round will begin Tuesday night when Real Esteli hosts Toronto FC in Nicaragua. Toronto FC won the first leg last week at home 2-1.

On Wednesday, Seattle will be home against San Francisco of Panama after losing 1-0 in the first leg. FC Dallas will face Alianza FC after a 1-0 win away last week. Also, Morelia will play once more at its Estadio Morelos against Tempete of Haiti after winning the first leg 5-0, and the Puerto Rico Islanders will host Metapan after losing the opening game 2- 0.

On Thursday, Herediano will travel to Guyana to play Alpha United after an 8-0 victory in the opening leg.

For more detail, statistics and schedules, visit CONCACAF.com.






World Cup draw results announced

Canada was placed in a group with St. Kitts & Nevis, Puerto Rico and St. Lucia, while Trinidad & Tobago was joined with Guyana, Barbados and Bermuda in Saturday's World Cup preliminary draw.

The event set the matches for the first league stage of CONCACAF qualifying for the 2014 championship, dividing 24 teams into six groups of four.

Five preliminary phase winners: Bahamas, Belize, the Dominican Republic, St. Lucia and the U.S. Virgin Islands - plus Bermuda which received a bye -- were joined by 18 others for the draw.

El Salvador led Group A with Suriname, Cayman Islands and the Dominican Republic; Trinidad topped Group B; Group C consisted of Panama, Dominica, Nicaragua and the Bahamas; Group D was the Canada group; Group E was comprised of Gold Cup qualifiers Grenada and Guatemala as well as St. Vincent & the Grenadines and Belize; while Group F was made up of Haiti, Antigua & Barbuda, Curacao and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Play will commence on September 6 with the first of six rounds, finishing on November 15.

The six group winners will advance to the 12-team semifinal round with the United States, Mexico, Honduras, Costa Rica, Jamaica and Cuba. The draw also set the groupings for that stage with the United States and Jamaica facing the winners from Groups E and F; Mexico and Costa Rica will play with winners from Groups A and B; and Honduras and Cuba facing the winners from Groups C and D.

Two teams from each of those groups will advance to the final round of qualifying - commonly known as the "hexagonal". Also add the information about the Confederation Playoffs - CONCACAF's 4th place team will play the champions of Oceania.

For more information please click here.






Mexico wins, Panama falls at U-20s

Mexico rebounded after a 1-0 loss to Argentina by defeating North Korea 3-0 on Monday in the Under-20 World Cup.

The Mexicans will face England in their final game of the Group Phase on Thursday in Cartagena.

After tying Austria 0-0 in its opening matches, Panama lost 1-0 on Monday to Egypt. The Panamanians will face Brazil on Thursday.

Guatemala lost its opening game on Sunday 5-0 to Nigeria. The Central Americans will face Saudi Arabia on Wednesday.

Costa Rica fell to Spain 4-1 on Sunday in its first match of the tournament and will face Australia on Wednesday.






Klinsmann hired as U.S. manager

Former German international and national team coach Juergen Klinsmann was installed as manager of the U.S. national team on Friday, replacing Bob Bradley who was fired a day earlier.

The 46-year-old Klinsmann was a member of Germany's 1990 World Cup winning team and also coached his native country to a third-place finish at the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

Klinsmann's first test will be when the United States faces arch-rival Mexico in a friendly, a rematch of the Gold Cup final, on August 10 in Philadelphia. The Americans also have friendly matches scheduled against Costa Rica in Carson, California, on September 2, and against Belgium in Brussels four days later.






Last first-round Caribbean group starts Wednesday

St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Jamaica, Suriname and the Cayman Islands face off beginning Wednesday to determine the last of four teams to enter the final round of Caribbean qualifying for the 2012 Olympics.

The Group A winner will join Trinidad & Tobago, Cuba and St. Kitts & Nevis. Group A play in Paramaribo, Suriname, will commence Wednesday and conclude on Sunday.