Bermuda shocks Soca Warriors

The top teams in the North, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF)

Zone started down the road to the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa this

weekend, and while most contests went according to the script or thereabouts,

there were few shocks, most notably that of Trinidad and Tobago's 2-1 loss to

rank outsiders Bermuda on home soil.

Of the eight Round 2 first-leg matches played on Sunday, Trinidad and Tobago's

defeat was by far the most surprising.

Without injured Sunderland hit-man Kenwyne Jones, new boss Francisco

Maturana's Soca Warriors looked out of sorts from the start, and they found

themselves a goal down after only eight minutes thanks to the predatory

instincts of journeyman striker John Barry Nusum.

After wasting a host of chances, the home side clawed their way back after 22

minutes through all-time top scorer Stern John, but Nusum silenced the Marvin

Lee Stadium crowd in Macoya for good when his second goal, five minutes from

the interval, sealing a historic win for the Bermudans.

"It's an unbelievable feeling. I'm extremely proud of everyone involved,"

commented Bermuda boss Keith Tucker, who has described the current

generation of Bermudan players as "one of the best in the country's history."

The USA had a far easier time of it in their game in Los Angeles, beating

Barbados 8-0 in the rout of the round. Clint Dempsey opened the scoring inside

the first minute, and finished with two goals. Brian Ching scored three for the

strolling Americans, and Landon Donovan (playing his 101st international),

Michael Bradley and Eddie Johnson all grabbed goals of their own. It was the

USA's largest-ever margin of victory, surpassing an 8-1 friendly win in 1993 over

the Cayman Islands.

"It's good to get the whole thing underway," said USA coach Bob Bradley. "We

started strong and kept it going. I would call that a definite success."

The Americans' arch-rivals Mexico also won, but had a far tougher time against

an inspired Belize in Houston, Texas.

Arsenal-bound Carlos Vela opened the scoring in the 65th minute before veteran

substitute Jared Borgetti sealed a nervy 2-0 win with a penalty in stoppage time.

"I said before the match, you can't underestimate Belize. They defended well

and gave us a very tough game," said Santos Laguna midfielder Fernando Arce.

"We'll need to do better in the second leg."

Canada entered the qualifying race with a simple 3-0 win over St. Vincent and

the Grenadines on the road. Ali Gerba, who came on as a substitute in the

seventh minute for the injured Rob Friend, scored twice after Issey Nakajima-

Farran opened the scoring.

Elsewhere on Sunday, the Netherlands Antilles kept their hopes of reaching the

group stages alive with a creditable 0-0 draw against reigning Caribbean

champions Haiti in Port au Prince.

Panama entered the qualifying race with a simple, but hardly emphatic, 1-0 home

win over El Salvador, who were so impressive in the first round of qualifying.

"I am relaxed and satisfied since we still have another 90 minutes to play, and

we are a very good team at home," said Salvadorean coach Carlos de los Cobos,

while Panama boss Alexandre Guimaraes was pleased with the result, saying

"We did what we came to do," said the Brazilian-born Costa Rican.

Jamaica rounded out Sunday's action with a huge win, 7-0 over the Bahamas.

Luton Shelton scored twice while Ricardo Gardner, Demar Phillips, Marlon King,

Andrew Williams and Omar Daley grabbed a goal apiece.

Honduras booked their passage through to the group stage with a 2-2 draw

against Puerto Rico in San Juan. Although the result was a surprise, the 4-0

edge they had from the first leg last week made the aggregate a bloated 6-2.

Puerto Rico, though soundly beaten, showed signs of tremendous improvement.

Costa Rica needed a comeback, and even then could only manage a 2-2 draw

with Grenada. Patrick Modeste opened the scoring 20 minutes in, and Blackburn

Rovers ace Jason Roberts made it a two-goal lead seven minutes later, before

Armando Alonso cut the deficit in the 42nd minute and Junior Diaz equalised,

much to the relief of the visitors, in the 75th.

"We weren't as bad as the score suggests," said Costa Rica coach Hernan

Medford after the game. "We do need to improve for the second leg."

Suriname pulled off a minor shock of their own by beating neighbours Guyana 1-

0 in Paramaribo. The Guyanese were one of the 12 seeded teams in the region,

but looked a shadow of themselves in their first qualifier.

Domestic-based Clifton Sandvliet, playing in his 67th game for Suriname, popped

up unmarked in the 53rd minute to grab the only goal of the contest, and keep

up the team's form after eliminating Montserrat 7-1 over two legs in the last

round.

The last match on Saturday June 14 saw Guatemala hand Saint Lucia a lesson in

finishing, winning 6-0. LA Galaxy striker Carlos 'El Pescadito' Ruiz grabbed himself

no less than four goals, after Freddy Garcia opened the scoring in the sixth

minute.

Abner Trigueros notched the other goal for the Chapines, who look in good

shape heading into their second leg, scheduled to be played in Los Angeles next

Saturday, with the all-important return legs taking place between June 18 and

22.