Amado Guevara, Jim Brennan and Greg Sutton sit a few feet from each other in the Toronto FC locker room at BMO Field. But on Saturday Guevara will be on the other side of the field from his TFC teammates in a critical World Cup qualifying match in Montreal.
Guevara will be playing for Honduras, which suffered a crushing 2-1 defeat to Mexico at Azteca Stadium in the opening match of the third stage of CONCACAF qualifying. Honduras, which gave up two late Pavel Pardo goals, sits on the bottom of Group 2, the region's so-called group of death.
Canada, which also features Houston Dynamo teammates Pat Onstad and Dwayne De Rosario as well as FC Dallas defender Adrian Serioux and Los Angeles Galaxy defender Ante Jazic, played Jamaica to a 1-1 draw at BMO Field on Aug. 20.
"This game against Honduras is our biggest game," De Rosario told the Houston Chronicle. "It's our second home game in the group and we need a result."
In a match moved to Mexico City because of Hurricane Gustav, the Reggae Boyz, featuring Toronto FC defender Tyrone Marshall, Real Salt Lake midfielder Andy Williams and Chivas USA defender Shavar Thomas, will meet CONCACAF powerhouse Mexico Saturday night before heading to San Pedro Sula to take on Honduras Sept. 10.
"The Mexicans were always considered the best team in CONCACAF, but other teams are getting up there with them now and giving us confidence to play and compete with them," Marshall said. "It helps that we have a lot of boys playing professionally and that should help us in our group. If we can keep picking up points on the road, and do well at home, we should be OK."
Under the direction of new coach Sven Goran Eriksson, the Mexicans survived a scare at home against Honduras. One reason why the Tricolores took three points was because of Chicago Fire midfielder Cuauhtémoc Blanco, who provided a much needed spark off the bench.
After hosting Jamaica, the Mexicans head to Tuxtla Gutierrez to meet the Canadians Sept. 10.
Sitting atop Group 1 with the USA is Trinidad & Tobago, which plays host to Guatemala in Port of Spain Saturday. The Soca Warriors defeated Cuba 3-1 in Havana in the opening game of qualifying.
"To be going with the team for a World Cup qualifier is something that I have dreamed about, and hopefully it will be the first of many," said Toronto FC defender Julius James. "I've made a few strides forward in the league this season. I wish I had been able to play more games, but I got injured in preseason and the coach didn't think I was ready. Recently I've been playing pretty well, and this is a nice reward."
T&T and James will meet Guatemala, featuring new teammate, Carlos Ruiz, along with Marco Pappa (Chicago Fire), after the chapines, fell 1-0 at home to the United States Aug. 20. Then it is onto Toyota Park in Bridgeview, Ill., to take on the USA Sept. 10.
"It's really great for me and a very special thing to get a call-up for my country," James said. "There are a lot of international players that belong to Trinidad and Tobago so it's a big honor. It's an amazing feeling right now. Before the World Cup they called me down to Florida to train. I was still in college then and I didn't feel I was ready."
Before facing Trinidad in Chicago, the USA head to Havana for a match of historic proportions, playing in Cuba for the first time since 1947.
It could be the site where Toronto FC defender Marvell Wynne, who represented the United States in the Olympics last month, earns his first World Cup qualifying cap.
Also playing for the U.S. are Galaxy teammates Landon Donovan and Eddie Lewis, as well as Chivas USA midfielder Sacha Kljestan, Columbus Crew veteran Frankie Hejduk and Houston Dynamo midfielder Ricardo Clark.
After securing three points in Guatemala for a World Cup qualifier for the first time ever, the U.S. is in the drivers' seat to advance out of Group 1.
Leading Group 3 is Costa Rica, which defeated El Salvador 1-0 in the opening game of the third stage of qualifying. Playing for Costa Rica, the lone team with three points in the group, will be Chicago Fire defender Gonzalo Segares and New England Revolution defender Gabriel Badilla.
Costa Rica is home to Suriname Saturday before heading to Port-au-Prince to take on Columbus Crew forward Ricardo Pierre-Louis and Haiti Sept. 10. Those two nations played to a 2-2 draw Aug. 20.
In South America, where the top four teams qualify automatically and the fifth-place team takes on the fourth-place CONCACAF team, Venezuela is one point out of fifth place. But securing points in its next two matches will not be easy.
On Saturday Venezuela, which features Red Bulls midfielder Jorge Rojas and Columbus Crew veteran Alejandro Moreno, heads to Lima to take on Peru and then its on to Asuncion to meet Paraguay three days later.
With three points in its first matches, Bolivia has a tougher road to qualifying. With matches in Ecuador on Saturday and then at Brazil on Sept. 10, Bolivia is hoping Major League Soccer's all-time leading scorer Jaime Moreno can add his magic.
Toronto FC's Carl Robinson will play for Wales, which opens its UEFA qualifying campaign Saturday against Azerbaijan in Cardiff before heading to Moscow to take on Russia in Group 4.
In Group 6, all eyes will be on Barcelona's Olympic Stadium where David Beckham and England face Andorra Saturday. The Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder and his teammates will then be off to Zagreb where they face Croatia Sept. 10.
With three wins in three matches, New Zealand is in the pole position to advance out of the Oceania region and into the next stage of qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
But there is no overlooking New Caledonia, the surprise of the Oceania qualifying group and the All Whites' next opponent Saturday in Noumea. The two teams meet in Auckland four days later.
"I'm very excited. Last year I played in a couple of those games and they're very exciting and very fun," Red Bulls defender Andrew Boyens said. "This year I'm hoping they'll be exactly the same."
The All Whites have only played in the World Cup once, in 1982. Hopes were high two years ago, but New Zealand finished a surprising third in the Oceania qualifying tournament and rival Australia went through.
Australia, though, is now in the Asian region and New Zealand, which also features Toronto FC forward Jarrod Smith and Duncan Oughton from the Columbus Crew, is the team to beat.
"We're in a very good position to finish at the top of our group and play the fifth place Asian team (to advance to the World Cup)," Boyens said. "Hopefully that comes around and we head to the Confederations Cup and we have a couple of big years of football for New Zealand."
Finally, Colorado Rapids goalkeeper Bouna Coundoul has been called by Senegal for its qualifiers at Algeria on Friday night. Senegal lead Group 6 in African zone qualifying with eight points from four matches, two ahead of Algeria. A win will send the Lions of Teranga into Round 3, where 20 teams will be divided into four groups of five.
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