Wednesday Cup qualifier bigger for Mexico than U.S.
The United States can all but officially punch its ticket to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa with a historic win Wednesday afternoon in Mexico.
The U.S. national team, however, has never won a game in Mexico dating from 1937. In 23 games, the U.S. has lost 22 and drawn one. Thus the Mexicans are sizable favorites on WagerWeb.com.
Why? the altitude of 7,400 feet always leaves visiting teams gasping for air, particularly in the second half. Then there’s the 105,000-seat Estadio Azteca, a cauldron of searing noise that makes it one of the world’s most intimidating venues.
“We have to take advantage of all those factors,” said Guillermo Ochoa, Mexico’s keeper. “We have to keep in mind we have 90 minutes to win, whether it’s 1-0 or 5-0.”
Midway through qualifying, Costa Rica leads the North, Central America and Caribbean region with 12 points, followed by the United States (10), Honduras (7), Mexico (6), El Salvador (5) and Trinidad and Tobago (2). The top three advance automatically to South Africa. No. 4 faces a playoff with No. 5 from South America for another berth. So in reality this game is probably more important for Mexico.
Here is Team USA’s roster for the game:
GOALKEEPERS: Brad Guzan (Aston Villa, England), Tim Howard (Everton, England)
DEFENDERS: Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes, France), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover, Germany), Jay DeMerit (Watford, England 2), Chad Marshall (Columbus Crew), Oguchi Onyewu (AC Milan, Italy), Jonathan Spector (West Ham, England)
MIDFIELDERS: Michael Bradley (Borussia Mönchengladbach, Germany), Ricardo Clark (Houston Dynamo), Clint Dempsey (Fulham, England), Benny Feilhaber (AGF Aarhus, Denmark), Stuart Holden (Houston Dynamo), José Francisco Torres (Pachuca, Mexico)
FORWARDS: Jozy Altidore (Hull City, England), Conor Casey (Colorado Rapids), Brian Ching (Houston Dynamo), Charlie Davies (Sochaux, France), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy).
Here is Mexico’s roster:
GOALKEEPERS: Guillermo Ochoa (América), Jésus Corona (Cruz Azul)
DEFENDERS: Efrain Juarez (Pumas UNAM), José Antonio Castro (Tigres UANL), Rafael Márrquez (Barcelona/Spain), Jonny Magallon (Guadalajara), Ricardo Osorio (VfB Stuttgart/Germany), Aaron Galindo (Guadalajara), Carlos Salcido (PSV Eindhoven/the Netherlands), Oscar Rojas (América)
MIDFIELDERS: Gérardo Torrado (Cruz Azul), Israel Castro (Pumas UNAM), Andrés Guardado (Deportivo la Coruña/Spain), Cuauhtémoc Blanco (Chicago Fire/M.L.S.)
FORWARDS: Alberto Medina (Guadalajara), Giovani dos Santos (Tottenham/England), Nery Castillo (Shakhtar Donetsk/Ukraine), Carlos Véla (Arsenal/England), Miguel Sabah (Morelia), Guillermo Franco (unattached)
Soccer Betting at WagerWeb.com
(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
Loading ...
