Match Schedule: March 2013

The OFC Third Round comes to its conclusion this month with either New Zealand or New Caledonia claiming a spot in the intercontinental playoffs.  In Asia, Japan are looking to become the first team to qualify for Brasil 2014 with a victory against Jordan.  Matchdays Two and Three take place in the CONCACAF Fourth Round, while in CONMEBOL Matchdays Eleven and Twelve take the tournament to two-thirds completion.  The CAF Second Round makes it to its halfway point with Matchday Three.  UEFA continues its journey toward Brasil with a double date of matches that will take most European teams past the midway point of their qualification cycles.

All times are given in Central Time (GMT-5).

22 March 2013
New Caledonia at New Zealand 1:35 Dunedin
Portugal at Israel 7:45 Ramat Gan
Malta at Bulgaria 11:00 Sofia
Serbia at Croatia 12:00 Zagreb
Iceland at Slovenia 12:00 Ljubljana
Turkey at Andorra 12:15 Andorra la Vella
Germany at Kazakhstan 13:00 Astana
Albania at Norway 13:00 Oslo
Latvia at Liechtenstein 13:30 Vaduz
Lithuania at Slovakia 14:10 Zilina
Azerbaijan at Luxembourg 14:15 Luxembourg
Montenegro at Moldova 14:30 Chisinau
Romania at Hungary 14:30 Budapest
Denmark at Czech Republic 14:30 Olomouc
Faroe Islands at Austria 14:30 Vienna
Estonia at Netherlands 14:30 Amsterdam
Ukraine at Poland 14:45 Warsaw
Belgium at Macedonia 14:45 Skopje
Greece at Bosnia and Herzegovina 14:45 Zenica
Ireland at Sweden 14:45 Solna
Finland at Spain 14:45 Gijon
Russia at Northern Ireland 14:45 Belfast
England at San Marino 15:00 Serravalle
Georgia at France 15:00 Saint-Denis
Wales at Scotland 15:00 Glasgow
Bolivia at Colombia 15:00 Barranquilla
Mexico at Honduras 16:00 San Pedro Sula
Paraguay at Uruguay 17:00 Montevideo
Venezuela at Argentina 19:00 Buenos Aires
Chile at Peru 19:15 Lima
Panama at Jamaica 20:30 Kingston
Costa Rica at United States of America 21:11 Commerce City
Solomon Islands at Tahiti 1:00 (23 March) Pirae

23 March 2013
Togo at Cameroon 9:30 Yaounde
Gabon at Congo 9:30 Pointe-Noire
Malawi at Namibia 10:00 Windhoek
Kenya at Nigeria 10:00 Calabar
Gambia at Cote d'Ivoire 12:00 Abidjan
Angola at Senegal 12:00 Conakry, Guinea
Niger at Burkina Faso 13:00 Ouagadougou
Sierra Leone at Tunisia 13:00 Rades
Central African Republic at South Africa 13:15 Cape Town
Switzerland at Cyprus 13:30 Nicosia

24 March 2013
Morocco at Tanzania 7:00 Dar Es Salaam
Botswana at Ethiopia 8:00 Addis Ababa
Guinea at Mozambique 8:00 Maputo
Zambia at Lesotho 8:00 Maseru
Mali at Rwanda 8:30 Kigali
Libya at Democratic Republic of Congo 9:30 Kinshasa
Cape Verde at Equatorial Guinea 11:00 Malabo
Sudan at Ghana 11:00 Kumasi
Uganda at Liberia 11:00 Paynesville

26 March 2013
New Zealand at Solomon Islands 23:00 (25 March) Honiara
Tahiti at New Caledonia 2:00 Noumea
Oman at Australia 3:30 Sydney
Qatar at South Korea 6:00 Seoul
Lebanon at Uzbekistan 8:00 Tashkent
Japan at Jordan 9:00 Amman
Czech Republic at Armenia 11:00 Yerevan
Portugal at Azerbaijan 12:00 Baku
Andorra at Estonia 12:00 Tallinn
Zimbabwe at Egypt 12:00 Alexandria
Hungary at Turkey 13:30 Istanbul
Moldova at Ukraine 14:00 Odessa
Bulgaria at Denmark 14:15 Copenhagen
Scotland at Serbia 14:30 Novi Sad
Romania at Netherlands 14:30 Amsterdam
Benin at Algeria 14:30 Blida
San Marino at Poland 14:45 Warsaw
Kazakhstan at Germany 14:45 Nuremberg
Macedonia at Belgium 14:45 Brussels
Italy at Malta 14:45 Ta'Qali
Croatia at Wales 14:45 Swansea
Israel at Northern Ireland 14:45 Belfast
Austria at Ireland 14:45 Dublin
England at Montenegro 15:00 Podgorica
Spain at France 15:00 Saint-Denis
Argentina at Bolivia 15:00 La Paz
Paraguay at Ecuador 16:00 Quito
Colombia at Venezuela 18:30 Puerto Ordaz
Uruguay at Chile 19:30 Santiago
Jamaica at Costa Rica 21:00 San Jose
Honduras at Panama 21:00 Panama City
United States of America at Mexico 21:30 Mexico City

Jamaica 0 - Mexico 0

2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup champions Mexico, the prohibitive favorites to qualify in first place from the CONCACAF Fourth Round, welcomed Jamaica to Mexico City for each team's debut in the final round of qualifying for Brasil 2014.  Unfortunately for the home side, the stadium was not close to being filled to the brim, so the imposing environment usually expected at the Estadio Azteca never came to fruition.  Although the lion's share of shots came from Mexico, the best chance of the first period went to the Reggae Boyz.  Garath McCleary made a run down the right side of the pitch before unleashing a cross into the box.  Jobi McAnuff got enough of a touch to direct the ball over Mexico goalkeeper Jesus Corona, but the ball bounced off the crossbar.  It landed at McAnuff's feet, but his next shot was smothered by Corona.  Hector Herrera put in a well-hit shot at the Jamaica goal, but goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts was up to the task.  The half ended scoreless.

Early in the period, Mexico had a point blank shot from Javier Hernandez chested away from an oncoming Ricketts after Hernandez's original attempt at a back heel finish clipped his other boot.  Jamaica should have stolen the win after a poor Andres Guardado turnover under token pressure led to Ryan Johnson being one-on-one with Coronoa, but Johnson attempted finish was breathtaking in its ineptitude, letting Mexico off the hook.  A brutal head-to-head collision left Mexico striker Oribe Peralta on the field for a few minutes at the tail end of regular time after his challenge with Nyron Nosworthy.  Jamaica were unable to pull off the complete upset, but they do earn a most unexpected point with a valiant 0-0 draw.

In the most embarrassing display of any fan group not involving racism that we have seen during the 2014 FIFA World Cup, the Mexican "faithful" began cheering every touch the Reggae Boyz made for a period of two minutes with around ten minutes left in the match while booing every Mexican touch vehemently.  For a national program that has achieved so much recent success, winning the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup, the 2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup, and the 2012 Olympic gold, one unexpectedly poor performance should not have unleashed such a hailstorm of hatred.  The Mexican Football Federation should punish the Mexico City fans for their insolence and instead play qualifiers in cities that would be appreciative of the rare opportunity to host El Tri's matches.  The current highly successful generation of players deserves to have a supportive fan base behind them.

Honduras 3 pts +1
Costa Rica 1 pts 0
Panama 1 pts 0
Jamaica 1 pts 0
Mexico 1 pts 0
USA 0 pts -1

Match Reports:
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/sport/Disciplined-Boyz-hold-Mexico-0-0-at-half-time
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1517388-mexico-vs-costa-rica-world-cup-qualifier-live-score-highlights-recap

Highlights:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Judooqrp4u0

Costa Rica 2 - Panama 2

The Canaleros of Panama played host to neighbors and 2013 Copa Centroamericana champions Costa Rica in Panama City.  Panama looked very much like they would make their home field advantage translate into three points with a very dominant opening thirty minutes.  Panama's opener was set up off a throw-in that took advantage of a Ticos backline that was too bunched together.  Armando Cooper put a pass across the box, and Luis Henriquez took one touch back toward Cooper, leaving his defenders wrong-footed as he slotted home for 1-0 to Panama.  The lead was doubled just over ten minutes later when Marcos Sanchez made a remarkable individual play with his fancy double spin move dribble to free himself for a cross that he unleashed into the grateful knee of his teammate Roman Torres, who knocked the ball into the net with said knee.  With five minutes left in the first period, a Ticos corner was played short to the left boot of Christopher Meneses, who then struck a beautiful cross that found the head of striker Alvaro Saborio, who finished into the side netting from thirteen yards.  Panama led by that 2-1 scoreline at the break.

Costa Rica looked the much better side in the second forty-five minutes.  It took a brave charging body save from Panama goalkeeper Jaime Penedo to prevent the equalizer early in the half.  Not to be outdone, Ticos goalkeeper Patrick Pemberton made an even braver charging body save on the other side of the pitch, getting the wind knocked out of him in the process.  With six minutes remaining in regulation, an attempted pass played behind Costa Rica forward Bryan Ruiz (pictured, white) allowed him to achieve a moment of brilliance.  Ruiz turned and fell to his back doing a bicycle kick from the penalty spot that hit the inside of the far post and stayed in the goal for a spectacular equalizer.  Panama were unable to regain their lead, so Costa Rica leave town with a valuable road point after a 1-1 draw.

Goals
Panama
Luis Henriquez 16
Roman Torres 27

Costa Rica
Alvaro Saborio 40
Bryan Ruiz 84

Match Reports:
http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/2013/2/6/3962346/panama-vs-costa-rica-2013-final-score-result-concacaf-world-cup-qualifying
http://sports.terra.com/soccer/costa-rica-rescues-a-point-against-panama-in-2-2-draw,b49e705fad2bc310VgnVCM20000099cceb0aRCRD.html

Highlights:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bs9tEb9rP1k

Honduras 2 - United States of America 1

San Pedro Sula was the locale as Honduras welcomed the United States of America to town for the first of the thirty matches in the CONCACAF Fourth Round.  The flow of the early minutes was completely in the favor of los Catrachos as they took advantage of the slow start by the United States, who were adjusting to an unbalanced formation in which they had never before played.  Nevertheless, the Americans weathered the storm as goalkeeper Tim Howard made an excellent punching save from Catracho winger Mario Martinez, who tried to curl a ball over Howard when Howard strayed a bit off his line.  Honduras nearly had the opener on one other occasion, but American fullback Fabian Johnson stepped around his mark at the last moment to steal the pass that was about to result in a tap-in goal.  The Americans found a jewel of a goal when center midfielder Jermaine Jones knocked a brilliant elevated through ball that was volleyed home from an angle by Clint Dempsey (pictured, blue).  The 1-0 lead was short-lived, however, as the Americans did not handle an overhit corner very well three minutes later.  Victor Bernardez (pictured, white #5) chased down the ball, and under no discernible pressure, gathered his wits before crossing to Maynor Figueroa, who chested a ball in the air that allowed Juan Carlos Garcia to unleashed from an amazing bicycle kick to equalize in stunning fashion.  1-1 was the score at intermission.

The Americans seemed to be much more comfortable in the second period, but a spree of substitutions around the hour mark seemed to take away from some of their attacking impetus.  Honduras regained their wits after a sliding block by goalscorer Garcia prevented a goalward shot by Dempsey from troubling their goalkeeper with midway through the period.  From then on, Honduras's defense stood firm, setting the foundation for a quick-strike winner.  On the whole, the young American backline seemed to be slow to react to situations that called for stepping up and closing down space all afternoon, and this habit bit them a second time with under a dozen minutes left in the match.  A through ball from Figueroa to fourteen yards caused indecision between an oncoming Howard and retreating centerback Geoff Cameron, so Oscar Boniek Garcia was able to get a touch across the face of goal from where Jerry Bengston was free to slot home for a 2-1 lead.  Honduras saw the match out comfortably, though an injury forced Bengston off the pitch.  The 2-1 victory for los Catrachos marks their first ever home victory against the United States in a competitive match.  All in all, this was a remarkably clean match, with neither team earning a yellow card as both were wary of conceding set pieces to the other side.

Goals
Honduras
Juan Carlos Garcia 39
Jerry Bengston 79

United States of America
Clint Dempsey 36

Match Reports:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/soccer/news/20130206/us-loses-world-cup-qualifier-to-honduras/index.html?mobile=no
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story/_/id/1330042/u.s.-loses-to-honduras-2-1-in-world-cup-qualifier?cc=5901

Highlights:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Pap4fEDxxc

Full Match Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_T3vCZMJ-0