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FIFA WORLD CUP 2002 - REVIEW OF MATCHES IN AUGUST 2000


Reviewed by PETER GODFREY


After the euphoria that surrounded the defeat of Argentina in July, Brazil were brought sharply down to earth when they suffered a 3 - 0 defeat in Chile that left them in 4th place in the CONMEBOL Confederation Table.

Although they remain four points ahead of the rest, Argentina also suffered a setback when they were held to a draw at home to Paraguay. Colombia's single goal win at home to Uruguay put them in second place, whilst a two goals to nil win at home to Bolivia moved Ecuador to within one point of a top five place.

In the final match in this confederation, Peru won by a single goal against Venezuela who remain firmly rooted to the bottom of the table.

There were plenty of goals in the CONCACAF Confederation Semi-Final group matches with the United States finally hitting form when beating Barbados by seven goals to nil. This win moved the USA up into second in Group E spot behind Costa Rica who recorded their second win at home to Guatemala.

In Group C Trinidad & Tobago maintained their 100% record scoring six goals at home to Panama, while Mexico maintained second spot with a 2 - 0 home win over Canada. Trinidad & Tobago now only need two points from three matches to qualify for the final Group matches whilst Canada and Panama have a hard task ahead of them if they want to qualify.

In Group D Jamaica's single goal win over El Salvador keeps them top of the table with maximum points. Honduras moved into second spot with a convincing 6 - 0 win over St. Vincent & Grenadines who can take a great deal of pride in reaching this stage of the competition but look like going no further.

The European Confederation qualifying matches got under way with Estonia beating Andorra 2 - 0 in Group 2.

September's qualifying matches all take place over the first weekend of the month with five South American matches, six CONCACAF matches and twenty three European matches.