RIO DE JANEIRO, 7 September 2005 — Mexico should book their place at next year’s World Cup today, needing just one point from their match at home to out-of-sorts Panama.
The Mexicans missed their first chance to qualify last Saturday when they lost 2-0 away to arch-rivals the United States, who lead the final stage of the CONCACAF qualifiers.
The US have 18 points from seven games and have already booked their place in Germany, with Mexico second on 16 points with two games remaining. Ricardo La Volpe’s team should make no mistake against Panama who are bottom of the six-team group with two points. The Azteca Stadium, which holds around 105,000 people, is expected to see one of the smallest international crowds in its history, with only 2,600 tickets sold by Monday evening.
In today’s other matches, Costa Rica could take a large step toward clinching the third direct CONCACAF spot if they can beat Trinidad & Tobago at home on the Saprissa stadium’s artificial pitch. Saturday’s 3-1 win in Panama has left the Costa Ricans third in the group with 10 points, three ahead of Guatemala and Trinidad. The two sides have met 11 times in World Cup qualifiers, with the Central Americans winning nine and drawing two.
FIFA Void Asian Qualifier After
Referee Blunder
Meantime, FIFA have declared the result of Saturday’s Asian World Cup qualifying playoff between Uzbekistan and Bahrain void and ordered a replay following a refereeing blunder. Soccer’s governing body ruled on Tuesday that Japanese referee Toshimitsu Yoshida made a “technical error” in disallowing a converted Uzbekistan penalty and subsequently awarding Bahrain a free kick instead of ordering the penalty to be retaken because of encroachment.
Uzbekistan’s 1-0 home victory has been wiped out and Wednesday’s second leg in Bahrain has been postponed. The tie will instead be played on Oct. 8 and 12.
“Taking into consideration that the referee...had indeed committed a technical error, as a consequence, the match needed to be replayed,” FIFA said in a statement explaining their unusual intervention. Yoshida disallowed Server Djeparov’s 39th-minute penalty in Tashkent and awarded Bahrain an indirect free kick for what FIFA said was encroachment into the penalty area by an Uzbek player.
