MNT have unfinished business

The CONCACAF Hex - the final round of qualifying in our region - is crowded at the top. The US is in a tight race to qualify and that sucks. Bradley left some points on the table in the early games. Going into the last two fixtures, starting next weekend and finishing at RFK a week from Wednesday, we still need at least a point to go to South Africa. We have two tough matches at Honduras and home against Costa Rica, which last whipped us 3-0.

I hope you're planning to go to the last qualifier at RFK - you don't want to miss it. Sadly, it could end up being the most important game of the 4-year qualifying cycle.

The US is leading the group with 16 points, Mexico with 15, Honduras with 13, Costa Rica with 12. The top 3 will qualify for the World Cup, and the fourth place team will go to a 1-game playoff versus the fifth-place team in South America. That's current Argentina so you don't want to be there.

Here are some modest predictions:

- Mexico wins the group with 21 points (beats El Salvador and T&T)

- The US finishes second with 18 points (ties Honduras and Costa Rica). You won't be able to watch the US-Honduras match next weekend thanks to a breakdown in the bidding process fr TV rights.

- Honduras finishes third with 17 points (ties US, beats El Salvador)

- Costa Rica finishes fourth with 16 points (beats T&T, ties the US). CR has to do the one-game playoff and it's tough to see them getting the job done.

The US and Mexico have let these other teams get in on this race by failing to pick up points in easy matches. As stated on the US soccer website, the key for the US on the first fixture is just getting the same or more points than Costa Rica. If we do that, we qualify.