November 2011 Preview: North America-Group 5

Standings



World Ranking/Change from Previous Rank

Belize-143rd (Down 9), 21st N. America (Down 3)
Grenada-116th (Up 4), 17th N. America (Down 1)
Guatemala-99th (Up 10), 12th N. America (Up 1)
St.Vincent/Grenadines-146th (Up 12), 22nd N. America (Up 4)

Schedule

September 2, 2011

• Belize 3-0 Grenada
• St.Vincent/Grenadines 0-4 Guatemala

September 6, 2011

• Guatemala 2-1 Belize

September 18, 2011

• Grenada 1-2 St.Vincent/Grenadines

October 7, 2011

• Grenada 4-1 Belize
• Guatemala 3-0 St.Vincent/Grenadines

October 11, 2011

• Belize 1-3 Guatemala

October 15, 2011

• St.Vincent/Grenadines 1-1 Grenada
  

November 11, 2011

• Grenada at Guatemala
• St.Vincent/Grenadines at Belize
  

November 15, 2011

• Guatemala at Grenada
• Belize at St.Vincent/Grenadines

November Games:

Game 9
St. Vincent/Grenadines at Belize
November 11, 2011
Time: 4:30 pm EST
Location: FFB Field, Belmopan, Belize

Game 10
Grenada at Guatemala
November 11, 2011
Time: 9:00 pm EST
Location: Estadio Nacional Mateo Flores, Guatemala City, Guatemala

Game 11
Guatemala at Grenada
November 15, 2011
Time: 2:00 pm EST
Location: Grenada National Stadium, St. George's, Grenada

Game 12
Belize at St. Vincent/Grenadines
November 15, 2011
Time: 2:00 pm EST
Location: Arnos Vale Stadium, Kingstown, St. Vincent/Grenadines

Not a thrilling group of games this month. Was supposed to be a 2-game showdown between Guatemala and Grenada in November to decide the group. But Guatemala clinched the group back in October, and Grenada's poor effort all campaign has removed any marquee attached to those games. All teams will be looking to just finish off their schedule, with 3 of the 4 teams regrouping after for next qualifying run. Guatemala will advance to a group with the USA and Jamaica and the Group F winner. Look for them to keep their foot on the gas pedal as they attempt to maintain their form going in to that group. Beating the US seems unlikely but they'll stand a real shot at grabbing second place in that group, good enough to advance to Round 4.

Final Standing Predictions:

a-Guatemala-16 pts
x-St.Vincent/Grenadines-7 pts
x-Belize-6 pts
x-Grenada-5 pts

Tough to predict. Hard to tell what sort of effort each team will put forth and aside from Guatemala, they've all looked awful anyway. I'll give a split to Belize and St. Vincent and a win and a draw to Guatemala. In this scenario, top-seeded Grenada would finish the group in last place. Ouch.