Edgar

Interesting. I assume you're talking about the March FIFA dates. Do you know anything about a possible January friendly?

I only know they are looking at playing against a Caribbean opponent in 2011.

As far as I know, they're looking for only one friendly. Bulgaria and Montenegro were also contacted but they haven't replied yet.

You're 6th right now in the May 2011 FIFA ranking - the one that will be used to seed the teams.

I'd say you need to find a compromise between the need to play friendly games (for practice, team chemistry etc) and improving your ranking.

It's a bad idea to play lots of games.

Look at this table:

Games in the last 48 months - Team - November rank

76 Mexico                28

72 Oman                  96

69 USA                   24

68 Bahrain               87

67 Japan                 30

67 Honduras              57

66 South Africa          50

66 Iran                  66

66 Saudi Arabia          69

66 El Salvador          116

65 Qatar                112

64 Trinidad and Tobago   78

63 United Arab Emirates 103

62 Korea DPR            106

61 Chile                 16

28 Burkina Faso        41

29 Montenegro          26

32 Gabon               37

33 Northern Ireland    42

35 Guinea              47

36 Bulgaria            45

37 Norway              12

39 Russia              13

39 Republic of Ireland 32

39 Hungary             43

39 Lithuania           46

40 Slovenia            15

40 Czech Republic      31

40 Algeria             34

40 Ukraine             36

40 Austria             49

41 Croatia      9

44 England      6

48 Portugal     8

49 Uruguay      7

53 Argentina    5

54 Netherlands  2

55 Germany      4

56 Egypt       10

57 Brazil       3

60 Spain        1

Croatia, England, Portugal and Uruguay all have less than 50 games.

On the other hand, the CSA knows nothing about it

Since it's speculation...

Guatemala say they are considering playing against Canada in October. They claim they will play Honduras on Oct 12 in Washington DC.

http://www.prensalibre.com/deportes/futbol_nacional/Seleccion-enfrentaria-Honduras-octubre-Washington_0_337766354.html

However, Indonesia claim they will host Honduras on the same date (Oct 12). As you probably know Honduras will play against New Zealand (away) on Oct 9 and a second friendly in Asia makes sense.

http://www.bolaindo.com/?page=berita⊂=detail&id=12318

On the other hand, how expensive is for the CSA to fly the team back from Kiev and play a new game on Oct 12?

Argentina's fee for a friendly match is 1.000.000 Euros. However, since Cardenas is handling it he will pay the fee then he will be looking to get a huge stadium with lots of fans in order to get a profit (even after paying Argentina).

I'd think twice before accepting to play against Argentina. It serves no purpose now.

CSA are looking at European/African teams for November. If that fails, they'll get a CONCACAF opponent.

I'd say it's a pretty trustworthy source.

I was right in March about the September opponents (from the same source). See here.

However, I don't know where the match will be played (Europe/Canada).

Also, is this upcoming friendly against Ukraine critical in any fashion? Aside from the usual disappointment if we lose, should we be stressing about this one for any other reasons that that?

We all know how critical our performance in this year's Gold Cup is going to be, and seeing as how no other friendlies have been announced for some of the upcoming winter friendlies dates, perhaps this match vs Ukraine needs to be nothing less than a W.

1. Yes, it is. If CONCACAF will again use the FIFA ranking to seed the teams in the WCQ draw - the game against Ukraine is crucial - and so are the remaining friendlies before the draw. That also depends on the ranking CONCACAF choose - pre-Gold Cup or post-Gold Cup.

2. The CSA are considering the possibility of a Nov 17 friendly.

I know that - but I was looking for the exact date.

I had a look at the FIFA dates for the next qualifying cycle, and there’s not a lot of room there.

31 July FIFA World Cup Qualifying Draw

Where did you get that?

It seems there will be a draw after each round, according to Ben Spencer.

From The Star:

Now there’s talk of the CONCACAF region changing its 2014 World Cup qualification format, to an eight-team final from a six-team hexagon, ostensibly to help smaller nations by exposing them to better competition. Hart wants to know more.

“What I’m looking at is how they’re going to determine the groups,” he said, leaning forward out of his chair some. “The last time around, they used a nine-month-old ranking, and it changed the entire draw for us.”

I'd like to see:

Costa Rica in November.

Jamaica in February

Two of Panama/El Salvador/Trinidad and Tobago in March.

If any confederation is to have 40% of the guaranteed spots then they really have to be a dominant federation not just with their top teams but with the other teams they are sending as well. In recent tournaments the worst team in the tournament has been just as likely to be European as from another confederation.

Actually, in my opinion UEFA should keep their allocation for 2014.

Allocating World Cup slots: Is there a better way?

Here it is: http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/fifa-world-cup/all-whites/3858771/All-Whites-keen-to-mix-it-with-Asias-best

Oh, and my mistake... the OFC support the proposed change and have suggested it to FIFA. I'm pretty confident this will happen.

The same idea - having the OFC winner join AFC's final round was actually accepted by FIFA in 2006, but (I think) AFC changed it to a play-off.

See this: http://www.fifa.com/aboutfifa/federation/releases/newsid=108198.html

The preliminary competition for the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ will be played in the confederations as follows:

- Oceania: in three phases, as for 2006. The first phase will be combined with the South Pacific Games 2007 and the OFC Nations Cup 2008, and the winning team will enter a group in Asia's final round.

Fenafuth's president says there will be two groups of four in the final round. See more in CONCACAF qualifying system news.

The Peruvian media are asking why will their NT play Canada with no manager.

El Comercio

I'd go with two of Gabon/Peru/Honduras/Costa Rica.

CSA must be reading this forum They chose their opponents from my list

Iran are also negotiating with Japan for September 4th:

http://www.tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=218540

Stephen Hart told me he'd rather stay away from single FIFA match dates (like August 11th), because players arrive only one day before the match and it never really works from the NT.

We'll be playing the football powerhouses of Andorra and Luxembourg...I am, of course, jesting...I hope.

I'd go with two of Gabon/Peru/Honduras/Costa Rica.

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/sports/Boyz-off-to-flyer

JAMAICA’S Reggae Boyz will kick off their 2014 World Cup campaign with a friendly international against Canada at the National Stadium on Sunday, January 31.

Burrell, also a member of the Jack Warner-led CONCACAF Executive Committee, explained that the deal with the Canadians has a reciprocal element where the Boyz are due to travel to Canada for a return match in 2010 or 2011, whichever is more convenient for both associations.