October 2011 Review: North America-Group 5

Standings



Game Results

Game 5-Guatemala def. St. Vincent/Grenadines 3-0 in Kingstown, St. Vincent/Grenadines on October 7, 2011

• Guatemala Goals-Mario Rodriguez (44', 58'), Dwight Pezzarossi (71')

Another day and another easy 3 points for group leaders Guatemala. On the road, they had little trouble with a St. Vincent team who has now dropped both games to Guatemala by a combined score of 7-0.

Game 6-Grenada def. Belize 4-1 in Belmopan, Belize on October 7, 2011

• Grenada Goals-Shane Rennie (37'), Marcus Julien (41'), Lancaster Joseph (50'), Clive Murray (80')
• Belize Goals-Ryan Simpson (90')

I warned in the group preview that Grenada was a team that despite losing their first 2 games could explode at any moment in this group. And that's exactly what happened in this game at the expense of an upstart Belizean team. Grenada looked like an entirely different team, dynamic on offence and solid on the back end as they dismantled Belize and showed why they were the top seed in this group coming in to qualifying.

Game 7-Guatemala def. Belize 3-1 in Guatemala City, Guatemala on October 11, 2011

• Guatemala Goals-Carlos Gallardo (8'), Minor Lopez (65'), Carlos Ruiz (78')
• Belize Goals-Deon McCauley (31')

A must-win game for Belize in order to stay alive, they held tough for two-thirds of the game before succumbing to a pair of Guatemalan goals, eliminating Belize from competition. Some questionable refereeing decisions in this game as a number of hard tackles against Belize players went unnoticed and unenforced by the referee. Guatemala's 1st and 3rd goals also came on penalty kicks.

Game 8-Grenada tied St. Vincent/Grenadines 1-1 in St. George's, Grenada on October 15, 2011

• St. Vincent Goals-Myron Samuel (62')
• Grenada Goals-Clive Murray (90+2')

And just as quickly as Grenada awoke from hibernation, they fell back in to a slumber. Polar opposite performance from the Belize game, they looked disorganized and sluggish on the field and had to claw an injury time goal just to avoid a loss. Drawing the game negatively impacted both teams as it ensured Guatemala would win the group, eliminating both of these teams.

Thoughts

Belize-Looked really strong in Round 1 and early in this group but fell apart this month with a pair of losses. Guatemalan loss is understandable against a good team with some calls going against them but loss to Grenada is an anomaly, especially considering Grenada's failures in every game this group. Belize could be suffering from a lack of depth as many of their stalwarts have played every minute of qualfiying this year. With a pair of meaningless games left, they'll have a chance to tinker with their roster.

Grenada-I give up trying to understand this team. No consistency whatsoever and their fans have to be frustrated because this team has shown in previous competitions that they're capable of competing at a high level. I don't know what they can do to stop the bleeding right now but they better come up with something quick; they have a pair of games against Guatemala on deck.

Guatemala-In a group full of underachieving teams, Guatemala has held strong all round, posting a perfect record and having the dubious honour of being the only group team with a positive goal differential. Already qualified for Round 3, they'll use their games against Grenada as a warmup for greater competition. Looming on the horizon in Round 3 will be the U.S., a big test for the central American nation.

St. Vincent/Grenadines-Wasn't expected to be a threat in this group and with 4 points in 4 games, they're right where you might expect them to be. Would have liked to defeat Grenada and maintain a slim shot of advancing but playing a spoiler role is a small consolation prize and they can claim to be the ones who torpedoed Grenada's hopes. Not a glamourous role but one they've filled quite well.

Going Forward

Guatemala has clinched the group and will advance to Group 1 in Round 3. with Jamaica, USA and the group 6 winner.

Post-October Standing Predictions Revisited:

Prediction:

Guatemala-12 pts
Belize-6 pts
x-St.Vincent/Grenadines-4 pts
x-Grenada-1 pts

Actual:

a-Guatemala-12 pts
x-Grenada-4 pts
x-St.Vincent/Grenadines-4 pts
x-Belize-3 pts

Surprise win by Grenada against Belize the only miss, and also the primary reason why Guatemala has clinched the group.