By AARON CRANFORD
CONCACAF is one step closer to determining its representatives for the 2018 FIFA World Cup after the Second Round of qualifying came to an end Tuesday.
Canada cruised through the round vs. Dominica, with Orlando City SC forward Cyle Larin scoring once in both matches, while FC Dallas forward Tesho Akindele finished once and Tosaint Ricketts netted twice in the second meeting to combine in a 6-0 aggregate victory.
The biggest surprise of the round saw Cuba bow out of the tournament to Curacao, 1-1, after Papito Merencia netted a crucial away goal for the visitors, which saw them knock out Cuba due to the the away-goals rule.
Antigua and Barbuda and Saint Lucia played in a second-round thriller, which saw the former score three goals, one each by Josh Parker, Tavaughn Harriette and Aaron Tumwa, after the 84th minute on the road to top its counterpart 5-4 on aggregate.
Meanwhile, El Salvador had little to no problems dealing with Saint Kitts and Nevis late Tuesday en route to a 6-3 aggregate win, as Orlando City forward Darwin Ceren got things going for El Salvador in the second leg with the first goal of the night.
Check out all of the Second Round results and the teams competing in the Third Round of CONCACAF qualifying below:
CONCACAF SECOND ROUND RESULTS
Barbados 3, Aruba 0.
Saint Kitts and Nevis 3, El Salvador 6.
Nicaragua 4, Suriname 1.
Bermuda 0, Guatemala 1.
Belize 5, Dominican Republic 1.
Dominica 0, Canada 5.
Curacao 1, Cuba 1. (Curacao advances on away-goals rule)
Antigua and Barbuda 5, Saint Lucia 4.
Puerto Rico 1, Grenada 2.
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 6, Guyana 6. (St. Vincent/Grenadines advances on away-goals rule)
CONCACAF THIRD ROUND (DRAW FOR PAIRINGS WILL BE ON JULY 25, ALL MATCHES PLAYED ON AUG. 31, SEPT. 8)
St. Vincent/Grenadines
Jamaica
Belize
Antigua & Barbuda
Curacao
Haiti
Guatemala
Grenada
Canada
Barbados
Nicaragua
El Salvador
I see Curacao as the sleeper here to make it to the group stage. they have Patrick Kluivert coaching and some average players from the Dutch leagues. Can put up a fight with any of these other minnows.
So has Tesho Akindele decided to not suit up for the USMNT again?
Qualifying matches are official and cap tying. There’s no turning back for him. He can only play for Canada now
Tesho is not young in soccer terms, 23, and a new cycle is starting. He made the right choice.
Yep he made the right choice to ensure a career full of glorious victories over Dominica. Rather lacking in ambition if you ask me.
You could say the same thing about players choosing to play for the US over Germany as well. I don’t think it’s lack of ambition at all. You take the opportunities you are given.
Teal Bunbury. Enough said.
If Canada would have won the commitment of more of these dual-nationals in the past, then they probably would have been better than they have been.
Tesho is one small bit. If all the fence-sitters got their heads out of their a$$, Canada could field a decent team.
So far they’re still haveing players from ‘Unattached FC’ ffs
Vitoria, Arfield, Finlay, Hoilett, Aird can stilll pick Canada, but no, they have false hopes all around.
Even their cap-tied striker Cavallini has said he is regretful and ashamed of having played for them.
Infuriating.
Canada’s soccer situation is perplexing. they have the players, academies, fans, stadiums, interest.. just not all together! so many quality players not accepting call ups! so many fans not interested in the national team… at some point they gotta get it together. guys like Tesho are good steps in this direction
Anthony,
Morris, Wood, Rubin, Green, AJ, Zardes, etc..
A few reasons why Tesho made his decision.