Jack Warner in another money fight - Wants T&T to play all home games abroad

Can FIFA VP and Concacaf President Jack Warner have any aspect of his life not surround buy chaos? If not, could the chaos at least not have anything to do with money just once?

Mr. Warner has asked FIFA to allow T&T to play all future home fixtures abroad because he is unhappy with the fees the T&T Ministry of Sport change the team to play at Hasely Crawford Stadium.

This fight over stadium costs almost lead to the cancellation of England's 'remember this visit come 2018 voting time' match earlier this month. In that case, a court ruled the ministry could not charge 10% of gate receipts as a fee. Instead, the court ordered a lump sum payment of $24,000.

Warner liked that idea then but when the ministry asked for the same rent for last weekend's match against Bermuda, he wasn't so thrilled saying it is 'ludicrous' to charge the same fee for Bermuda as for England. Perhaps the 10% plan might have worked out a little better.

So let's see, Warner is fighting with T&T's best players because he doesn't want to pay them the money he promised them ahead of the 2006 World Cup and know he is fighting with the T&T government over rent for the stadium. And let's not even bring up the issue of 2006 World Cup tickets. Awesome.

In the end, this might all be for nothing as T&T are down 2-1 going into their second World Cup qualifying leg in Bermuda.

Other Concacaf World Cup Qualifer results

As much fun as it is to only focus on the great show the US put on yesterday, there were ten other Concacaf Qualifiers over the weekend. So how did they turn out? Most of them went as expected, but there were a couple shocks.

Trinidad and Tobago 1-2 Bermuda - T&T get shocked at home by Bermuda. Could the team's dream of back-to-back World Cups crash out next weekend? If so, will Jack Warner get any heat for the way he destroyed the team?

Haiti 0-0 Netherlands Antilles - Haiti are the reigning Caribbean champions and Antilles held them on the road. Not as big an upset as T&T, but still something to watch.

Suriname 1-0 Guyana - The battle of the South American members of Concacaf ended in a minor surprise as Suriname beat the seeded Guyanese. The return leg is going to be fun.

Grenada 2-2 Costa Rica - This was a much tougher start then Costa Rica wanted. On the plus side, they did come back from two goals down to get the tie, but will this be enough for coach Hernán Medford to keep his job?

Panama 1-0 El Salvador - Panama has to be worried going into their second leg. The rains slowed this game down, which worked for El Salvador.

Belize 0-2 Mexico - Mexico continued their tradition of under performing against teams they do not respect. This match was never in question as Belize pretty much just sat 10 players behind the ball, but it is still a poor game by El Tri.

Guatemala 6-0 Saint Lucia - Looks like the US will have to deal with the little fish again as Carlos Ruiz netted four in this one.

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 0-3 Canada - Ali Gerba was the hero for Canada as he netted two. Canada should have an easy time at home this Friday.

Jamaica 7-0 Bahamas - The Reggae Boys just smashed their way into group play. Six different players, including Andy Williams, scored so this was an all over effort.

Puerto Rico 2-2 Honduras - This result means Honduras advances to the first group phase with a 6-2 aggregate win. Puerto Rico went down a goal in the 22', but tied is a few minutes later. They then went up one right before the half, but it was not meant to be as Wigan Athletic midfielder Wilson Palacios knotted it up in the 52'.

Cuba and Antigua and Barbuda play their first leg tomorrow.

Trinidad and Tobago finally paid for 2006 World Cup

CONCACAF president and FIFA vice president Jack Warner tried to keep the players of Trinidad and Tobago's 2006 World Cup squad from their rightful payday, but in the end a London arbitrator, like most judges do, ruled against Warner.

At issue was the complete disregarded for law that the T&T FA and Warner showed for the players. In a contract signed before the 2006 World Cup and negotiated in part by Warner, the players were to get a 50-50 split on all money from licensing and endorsement deals made with the federation. In the end, the FA received $28 million in gross profit from the World Cup, but each of the 23 players only collect $5,000. Somebody's calculator is broken.

Although the judge ruled in the players' favor, the exact amount each one will get will not be known till June, presumably after England plays their 'hay, why not vote for us to host the 2018 World Cup' match in T&T on June 1.

Warner has said that if the T&T FA disagrees with the ruling, they will pursue justice in some other way. Any guess as to what that way will be.

US Women know their road to the Olympics - Schedule

The US women know now who they are training to beat as Concacaf has released their 2008 Women’s Olympic Qualification. Six nations will take part in the competition for the 2 Concacaf spots in Bejing.

The teams have been divided into 2 groups of 3. The top 2 teams from each group will advance to the semifinals. Here is the full 2008 Women’s Olympic Qualification schedule:

Group A
USA
Mexico
Jamacia

April 2 - Mexico vs. Jamacia (7:30p)
April 4 - USA vs. Jamacia (7:30p)
April 6 - Mexico vs. USA (1:30p)

Group B
Trinidad & Tobago
Canada
Costa Rica

April 2 - Trinidad & Tobago vs. Canada (5:00p)
April 4 - Costa Rica vs. Trinidad & Tobago (5:00p)
April 6 - Canada vs. Costa Rica (11:00a)

Seminfinals
April 9 - A1 vs. B2 (5:00p)
April 9 - B1 vs. A2 (7:30p)

Finals
April 12 - Third Place (5:00p)
April 12 - Championship (7:30p)

All matches will take place at Estadio Olímpico Benito Juarez in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.

Although the US should have no problems making it through this tournament, the home pitch advantage for Mexico, combined with the short time between game number 1 & 2 (compared to Mexico), might cause a stubble in the first round.

My guess is the US will take group A with Mexico coming in second. Canada will sneaking by group B with Costa Rica claiming second. The big match will be the semifinal between Mexico and Canada as the US should easily handle Costa Rica (or T&T).

The finals are pretty meaningless in this one as both spots go to the teams in the championship match, but I still expect the US to end it on top.

Concacaf President Jack Warner lies about meeting Nelson Mandela

Everybody's favorite scandal plagued President of Concacaf and Vice-President of FIFA Jack Warner has found himself in the middle of another lie. Mr. Warner, who is running to become Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago went to South Africa last week to meet with Nelson Mandela in hopes of scoring political points back home. However, there was a little problem with this as 'Warner did not meet Mandela after he refused to sign an agreement that the meeting would not be used for political purposes.'

Yet Fifa put out a press released that stated: 'Fifa vice-president Jack Warner paid a whistle-stop visit to SA today to meet with Nelson Mandela as well as executives of the country’s Premier Soccer League [PSL].'

Oddly enough, Fifa has now removed the press release from their website, but here is the cached version from google.

So it looks like Jack Warner does not limit his creative ways to his soccer dealings alone.

On a different matter, if Warner did become Prime Minister, would he have to resign as Concacaf boss? It would make sense, but I can't find anything to suggest that he would.

Jack Warner's definition of a principled stand

Concacaf President Jack Warner saluted the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation (TTFF) for “its principled stand in resisting being blackmailed by certain players going into the CONCACAF Gold Cup.”

A quick recap of what 'blackmail' he is talking about. T&T World Cup players were only paid $5,000 a piece even though their contract, which the great and mighty Jack Warner negotiated, promised them a 50-50 spit of all money from licensing and endorsement deals made with the federation. The exact numbers are not known, but the TTFF did get $5.5 million from FIFA for making it to the World Cup and another $11 million from an agreement with Adidas.

So to FIFA Vice President and BFF of Sepp Blatter, players demanding their federation live up to the agreement they signed is equal to blackmail.

“I want to publicly commend you both, and, by extension, your entire Executive Committee and Federation, for the principled stand you guys have taken in resisting being blackmailed into doing what could never have been right for your country and/or your Federation by bending to the will of a mercenary few,” Warner said in a letter to TTFF President Oliver Camps and General Secretary Richard Groden.

The most interesting word in that whole sentence is 'mercenary' because it doesn't fit at all. A mercenary is someone from another nation that comes in to fight for pay. Unless Warner knows something we don't, all 23 members of the T&T World Cup squad were/are citizens of T&T and they didn't get paid.

One last thing, how much value can we give to Warner to know what a principle stance is? This is the same man who steered all of T&T's 2006 World Cup tickets to a travel company owned by his son, allegedly secured stadium construction contracts at more then twice their value, obtained the Caribbean TV rights to the World Cup for a fraction of the cost and then resold them at a huge profit, sold World Cup tickets on the black market, and sold 65,000 tickets to a 1990 World Cup qualifying match in a stadium that held about a third of that number. I don't know about you but my definition of a principled person does not include any of these sorts of things.

So why should any of us care about this? Jack Warner has massive control over soccer in our region and has the full backing of Blatter. If Warner doesn't like what federations are doing, he can force people out and replace them with his own supporters. This power stifles the ability of the region to improve the overall soccer being player.

For proof of this, look no further then T&T. Had the full team been present for the Gold Cup, they could have got out of the group, thus earning more money for the federation and more international praise. Both these things would lead to better development programs as well as more local boys signing overseas and that is the formula for growing a team long term.

For Concacaf to earn more international respect, we need more teams to challenge on the international stage. Warner's actions in T&T as well as other counties have made this task harder, thus even teams like the USA or Mexico suffer.

To learn more about Warner and FIFA, take a listen to this great interview with Andrew Jennings (thanks to fullback for the link).

Gold Cup Day 7 - US-El Salvador preview, Group B ends tonight

US MNT (6pts) vs. El Salvador (3pts)
7pm ET - TV: Fox Soccer Channel (Eng), TeleFutura (Spanish)
Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Massachusetts (tickets)

One year to the day after the disaster in Gelsenkirchen against the Czech Republic, the US men take the pitch tonight only needing a tie to guarantee first place in the group. The US has played below their top level in their first two matches but still stand tall as the only team with a full six points from two games and no goals allowed. They were tested against Costa Rica and challenged by Trinidad & Tobago, but their hardest game might just be tonight.

Yes, the US is unbeaten in three matches against El Salvador and are 14-1-4 with 10 shutouts at Gillette Stadium, but El Salvador is in a must produce situation. If La Azul want to guarantee a spot in the quarterfinals, they need a win, however a tie might just get them there as well. The team looked good against T&T, but against Guatemala, they suffered.

Look for El Salvador to try and turn this into a physical game, hoping to get the US into card trouble. If the Gooch is back on the pitch for the US, look for players to dive all around him hoping for the ref to give a reputation card.

The US has a bit of a clearer path, push the ball forward. Like Guatemala, El Salvador will try to bunker down in back, but they are nowhere near as tight and do not communicate well. The US should still be able to plop passes behind the line and into openings for the likes of Donovan, Johnson, Ching or whomever. If they start finishing their chances, it is going to be a great night for the US.

The odd thing that might be somewhere in Bob Bradley's mind for this one is the chance, all though it is small, that they might end up playing Mexico in their next match. Depending on the way results go, Mexico could end up being the third place team in Group C, thus setting up a show down on Saturday. Again, it would take a lot of strange results to make it happen, but one never knows.

Predicted lineup:
------Johnson----Donovan------
Beasley----------------Dempsey
-------Clark------Feihaber------
Bornstein---------------Spector
------Onyewu-----DeMerit-------
--------------Howard-------------

Predictions: Me US 3-0 El Salvador, Wife US 2-0 El Salvador


Trinidad & Tobago (0pts) vs. Guatemala (3pts)
9pm ET - TV: TeleFutura (Spanish)
Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Massachusetts (tickets)
The other game should see Carlos Ruiz and the Blue & White get three points against a Jack Warner special version of T&T. However, Guatemala has not looked overly great when they have actually had to play the game instead of just diving anytime a player got near them, so T&T could steal a point here. If Guatemala's organization fails them, T&T has a few options to pop in a shots. Add to it the danger they have shown on free kicks and an outside, outside chance of still getting a third place slot to advance and we might just see something crazy happen in Foxborough.
Predictions: Me T&T 1-2 Guatemala, Wife T&T 1-2 Guatemala

Here are the Gold Cup tables:
Group A

Team	Pts	GP	W	L	D	GF	GA	GD
Canada	6	3	2	1	0	5	3	+2
Costa Rica	4	3	1	1	1	3	3	0
Guadeloupe	4	3	1	1	1	3	3	0
Haiti	2	3	0	1	2	2	4	-2

Group B

Team	Pts	GP	W	L	D	GF	GA	GD
USA	6	2	2	0	0	3	0	+3
El Salvador	3	2	1	1	0	2	2	0
Guatemala	3	2	1	1	0	1	1	0
T&T	0	2	0	2	0	1	4	-3

Group C

Team	Pts	GP	W	L	D	GF	GA	GD
Panama	4	2	1	0	1	5	4	+1
Honduras	3	2	1	1	0	4	4	0
Mexico	3	2	1	1	0	3	3	0
Cuba	1	2	0	1	1	3	4	-1

Golden boot leaders:
3 - Carlos Costly - Honduras
3 - Walter Centeno - Costa Rica
2 - Julián de Guzmán - Canada
2 - Dwayne De Rosario - Canada
2 - Reynier Alcántara - Cuba
2 - José Luis Garcés - Panama
2 - Blas Pérez - Panama

US 2-0 T&T player grades

USA 2-0 Trinidad & Tobago
They got a victory and did not surrender a goal, but the US still suffered from a lack of finishing against the depleted Trinidad & Tobago. The inexperienced side that took the pitch at the start had trouble settling till Landon Donovan was inserted at the start of the second. Overall, the team looked better on the night then they did Thursday, but much of that has to do with the easier challenge T&T presented. With the win, the US has earned a spot in the Quarterfinals.
Goals:
US: Brian Ching (1) 29', Eddie Johnson (1) 54'

Here are the grades for the US players:
Starting XI
Kasey Keller (GK) - Whenever he was called on, he made a save. Great job controlling his backline. A
Frank Simek (D) - Had a decent day in covering T&T's attack and was vital in taking a lot of balls forward. Needs to work on his passing. B
Jay DeMerit (D) - He knows how to force an attacker to miss a touch without causing the foul. Was not as much of a factor going forward, but held the backline tight. B+
Michael Parkhurst (D) - Got beat a couple times and disappeared at times. C+
Jonathan Spector (D) - He played his side very loose and it almost cost the US. C
Steve Ralston (M) - Good job placing balls into position and being the setup man. B
Benny Feilhaber (M) - Pushed the team forward and kept the ball in the attacking half. Even late in the first half, he had some legs on him. Guided much of the US attack. A
Ricardo Clark (M) - A so-so outing for Clark. Got his pocket picked a few times and needs to work on his placement of passes. B-
Justin Mapp (M) - He owned his side of the pitch. Great job racing behind T&T's defense and his centers were strong. A
Brian Ching (F) - Still having troubles finishing. His one strike was basically Mapp just bouncing the ball off him, however, he will go for just about any ball with little regard to the pain it might cause. B-
Eddie Johnson (F) - He actually looked at goal during this one and made some good runs (like the one with Donovan to get his goal). Still, he seems more apt to pass in the box then take the shot. B-

Subs
Landon Donovan (M) - Came in for Feihaber and upped what Benny was doing. Donovan was everywhere on the pitch. He took most of the pressure off the defense and supplied some good stuff to the offense. His skill on the second goal, including his smart tap over to Johnson for the finish, was near perfect. This is the leadership role one expects from Donovan. A+
Taylor Twellman (F) - Came in for Johnson. Taylor was trying to push harder but didn't get a lot of balls to prove his worth. B

I've been harsh on our defense over the last two games, but I must point out that the US is the only team in the Gold Cup that has yet to surrender a goal. This is because even when one guy makes a mistake, someone else is there to cover.

Here are the Gold Cup tables:
Group A

Team	Pts	GP	W	L	D	GF	GA	GD
Guadeloupe	4	2	1	0	1	3	2	+1
Canada	3	2	1	1	0	3	3	0
Haiti	2	2	0	0	2	2	2	0
Costa Rica	1	2	0	1	1	2	3	-1

Group B

Team	Pts	GP	W	L	D	GF	GA	GD
USA	6	2	2	0	0	3	0	+3
El Salvador	3	2	1	1	0	2	2	0
Guatemala	3	2	1	1	0	1	1	0
T&T	0	2	0	2	0	1	4	-3

Group C

Team	Pts	GP	W	L	D	GF	GA	GD
Panama	4	2	1	0	1	5	4	+1
Honduras	3	2	1	1	0	4	4	0
Mexico	3	2	1	1	0	3	3	0
Cuba	1	2	0	1	1	3	4	-1

The top two teams from each group and the two best third place teams advance. At this moment these teams would advance.
Group A: Guadeloupe, Canada
Group B: USA, El Salvador
Group C: Panama, Honduras
Third place: C3 Mexico, B3 Guatemala
If this held, the US and Mexico would face either other next Saturday in the first quarterfinal in Boston.

Gold Cup Day 2 - US wins but comes out flat, player grades

USA 1-0 Guatemala

The US got the needed three points from their first match but they looked less then inspiring while doing it. The first half saw the team come together and pressure hard at times, but they missed a number of easy chances. It really should have been 2 or 3 nil going into the locker room but the Nats just could not respond.

Guatemala's plan for the second 45-minutes was obvious about 2 minutes in, play rough and try to force some US mistakes. It worked shockingly well. The US did not know how to play this style of physical soccer. Part of the problem was ref José Pineda who let Guatemala get away with fouls that the US was getting carded for, however a good team needs to learn how to stay calm during such matches.

The perfect example of the frustration of the team was Oguchi Onyewu. His first yellow was a weak call but the second was just stupid play. Guatemala was hoping someone would take their bait and sure enough the Gooch bit down hard. If there was a good bit of news on the night it is that the US calmed down once they went down to 10. Guatemala still pressured at times, but the US was able to kill off the game.

It was an ugly victory, but a victory nonetheless.
Goal: Clint Dempsey (1) 26'

Here are the players’ grades:

Tim Howard (GK) - He didn't have a lot to do, but when he was needed, he was there. A
Frankie Hejduk (D) - Covered for other defenders and was the calmest person in the backline. B-
Oguchi Onyewu (D) - Missed his marks, was not working in unison with the line and let his frustration get the best of him, thus putting his side in a difficult situation. A horrible night all around that makes the US's defensive situation only that much worse. F
Carlos Bocanegra (D) - Was out of position a number of times and could not figure out how to control the counters. C
Jonathan Bornstein (D) - He was getting beat all over the place but did make a few timely clearances. C+
Michael Bradley (M) - Got himself involved in a lot of plays and won more then his share of the 50-50 balls. Still needs to work a bit on the passing - B+
Benny Feihaber (M) - Benny was the center of the team last night. He was all over the pitch setting up or stopping plays. His work rate and technical skill was the best on the field. A
Landon Donovan (M) - His crosses are getting better but still need some work. Good job breaking up plays, but did not create many. Also, he showed very little leadership to calm the game down. B-
DaMarcus Beasley (M) - This was his best game for the national team in awhile. He was doing great getting wide and sending in good balls. However, he, like many on the team, needs to learn to take the shot. A-
Taylor Twellman (F) - How did Twellman not get a goal? He was working himself into position, but he could not finish. Everything else was really good, but forwards need to score. B-
Clint Dempsey (F) - Dempsey as a forward, interesting. He made the most of the situation, but it is not his position. His goal and he made some things happen, but over time, his play slowed. B

Subs
Eddie Johnson (F) - Where is the EJ we have seen in the MLS this season? He was scared out there and not using his talent to push the defense back. C-
Steve Ralston (M/D) - Won some balls but made very little impact on the game. C+
Jay DeMerit (D) - He calmed his side down after the Gooch ejection by breaking up attacks and holding the ball. B+

El Salvador 2-1 Trinidad & Tobago
The other match of the night saw a T&T side lacking in talent almost get a share of the points from El Salvador. T&T looked much better then I thought they would while El Salvador looked a little worse. This was not a very exciting match as most of it was played in the middle third of the pitch but we did learn that T&T has some speed on them, even if it comes with little technical skill while El Salvador will shoot just about ever chance they can.
Goals:
El Salvador: Ramon Sanchez (1) 38', Dennis Alas (1) 81'
T&T: Silvio Spann (1) 8'


Here are the Gold Cup tables:
Group A

Team	Pts	GP	W	L	D	GF	GA	GD
Canada	3	1	1	0	0	2	1	+1
Haiti	1	1	0	0	1	1	1	0
Guadeloupe	1	1	0	0	1	1	1	0
Costa Rica	0	1	0	1	0	1	2	-1

Group B

Team	Pts	GP	W	L	D	GF	GA	GD
El Salvador	3	1	1	0	0	2	1	+1
USA	3	1	1	0	0	1	0	+1
T&T	0	1	0	1	0	1	2	-1
Guatemala	0	1	0	1	0	0	1	-1

Group C

Team	Pts	GP	W	L	D	GF	GA	GD
Cuba	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Honduras	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Mexico	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Panama	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

US v Guatemala - Group B starts tonight

US MNT vs. Guatemala
9:00pm ET
TV: Fox Soccer Channel, Telefutura
Internet: MatchTracker text play by play

Almost a year after their last meaningful match, the US take to the pitch tonight looking to shake off the old and restate their claim as the best team in Concacaf. But to make such a statement, they will need to push past a Guatemalan side that has caused problems for them in the past. The game plan for Guatemala, as it will be for most of the other teams the US faces over the next few weeks, is simple, frustrate and counter.

Guatemala will fill their end of the pitch with as many bodies as they can and hope Carlos Ruiz or maybe Dwight Pezzarossi can catch the US pushing a bit too much. We saw this first hand in Dallas back in March how well this worked out for the blue and white. Of course the US will have a bit of a tougher side this time around, but unless they change their tactics from that Wednesday evening, the result might not change.

In their previous meeting, the US failed to push forward quickly enough, allowing Guatemala to, time and time again, get nine men behind the ball. Since they were also hesitant to throw numbers forward, fearing a counter-attack, it was nearly impossible for them to get anything going. Hopefully tonight we see a different plan.

Guatemala will probably play with five in the middle, so a lot of this game is going to fall on Michael Bradley and Benny Feihaber. If they can pick some pockets and release Dempsey or Beasley up the sides, it will be a great night for team USA.

On the other side of the ball, the US's backline need to keep Ruiz marked, especially on free kicks. Say what you will about 'El Pescadito', but he is great at slipping away from his mark (just ask Jimmy Conrad). Onyewu will probably be posted up against him, but the gooch needs to make sure that the lord of the dive doesn't get him into card trouble early.

This really is a must win game for the US, so hopefully the hunger that a lot of players showed against China last weekend will reappear tonight. If they win big against Guatemala, it will cause other teams to reevaluate their bunker down game plans, thus providing the Nats will more open space in later matches. If they are closed down, the red, white and blue and look forward to more of the same.

Predictions: Me US 3-0 Guatemala, Wife US 2-0 Guatemala

Predicted starting lineup:
------Johnson----Donovan------
Beasley----------------Dempsey
------Bradley-----Feihaber------
Bornstein---------------Spector
------Onyewu---Bocanegra------
--------------Howard-------------

El Salvador vs. Trinidad & Tobago
11:00pm ET
TV: Telefutura
The other Group B match sees El Salvador taking on Trinidad & Tobago. With the best the Soca Warriors have to offer sitting this one out thanks to Jack Warner, El Salvador should have a chance to get a full three points. Look for much of their attack to focus around Ronald Cerritos. There is bound to be some sloppy play in this one which might just lead to a number of goals. The loser of this match is pretty much out of the Gold Cup.

2007 Concacaf Gold Cup - Group B Preview

The Gold Cup's Group B is the home of the USA and luck already seems to be shinning down on the red, white and blue as Jack Warner has effectively neutered Trinidad & Tobago. Still, the US has had troubles with 'minnows' before, so this might not be an easy 'set them up and we'll knock them down' in the end.

El Salvador
Fifa rank - 144
Important players - Ronald Cerritos, Eliseo Quintanilla
Odds of advancing from group - 6 to 1
This side is lacking in known talent as no one on the roster currently plays outside of El Salvador and only a few ever have. In many ways that is bad however it might also give them an element of surprise that could make them dangerous. We can expect them to lose many balls in the midfield thus they will flood their final third. Their best hope of making it through is a hot goalkeeper.

Guatemala
Fifa rank - 87
Important players - Carlos Ruiz, Dwight Pezzarossi, Pablo Sebastian Melgar
Odds of advancing from group - 3 to 1
This group offers Guatemala a great chance to settle a score with Trinidad & Tobago as they just missed their chance of getting to Germany due to the Soca Warriors. They have some good skill in attack but over the rest of the pitch, they are sparse. It should be enough for them to walk out of this group, and into a date with the group A winners.

Trinidad and Tobago
Fifa rank - 67
Important players - Sitting at home
Odds of advancing from group - 6 to 1
Due to their federations desire to screw over their players as much as they can, Trinidad & Tobago is fielding their weakest lineup in a long time. Under normal circumstances T&T would give Guatemala a run for that second place spot and might even find a way to force the US into a bad spot, however with no real power to be found anywhere in their lineup, this will not be their year.

USA
Fifa rank - 29
Important players - Clint Dempsey, Landon Donovan, Carlos Bocanegra
Odds of advancing from group - 5 to 4
Gold Cup Winners - 1991, 2002, 2005
If the US does not own this group, something has gone seriously wrong as they are far better then any of the other three. That said, one the US's biggest problems has been winning games against teams they should destroy. If they have a difficult time against Guatemala, like they did earlier this year, it could be a sign of sad things to come.

Predictions: Me - 1.USA 2.Guatemala 3.El Salvador 4.Trinidad and Tobago
Wife - 1.USA 2.Trinidad and Tobago 3.Guatemala 4.El Salvador

Schedule (all games will air on Telefutura and US matches will air on FSC):
In LA
June 7 - USA v Guatemala (9pm ET/6pm PT), El Salvador v Trinidad & Tobago (11pm ET/8pm PT)
June 9 - Guatemala v El Salvador (3pm ET/12pm PT), Trinidad & Tobago v USA (5pm ET/2pm PT)
In Boston
June 12 - USA v El Salvador (7pm ET/4pm PT), Trinidad & Tobago v Guatemala (9pm ET/6pm PT)

Another financial controversy with Jack Warner at the center

Sixteen players from Trinidad & Tobago's World Cup roster are threatening to sue the Trinidad & Tobago Football Federation over millions in World Cup revenues they say have been denied them. Shock of all shocks, CONCACAF President and Sepp Blatter's favorite FIFA vice president Jack Warner is at the center of this mess.

A quick summation of the issue is the players signed a contract where they were promised a 50-50 split of World Cup participation monies, a 50-50 split of profits from World Cup warm-up matches and a 50% cut of money from licensing and endorsement deals made with the federation.

In typical FIFA fashion, all the numbers are not known, but we do know that they got $5.5 million for the World Cup and signed an $11 million agreement with Adidas. However, the T&TFF says they only got $300,000 from the Adidas deal.

So how much money are the players going to receive for taking T&T to their first World Cup ever? About $5,000 each.

Now who negotiated this contract with the players? Jack Warner.

In case you've missed it in the past Jack Warner who steered all of T&T's World Cup tickets to a travel company owned by his son. It is the same Jack Warner who was suspected, but cleared by Blatter's boys, of selling World Cup tickets on the black market. It is the same Jack Warner who allegedly secured stadium construction contracts at more then twice their value and obtained the Caribbean TV rights to the World Cup for a fraction of the cost and then resold them at a huge profit. It is the same Jack Warner who sold 65,000 tickets to a 1990 World Cup qualifying match in a stadium that held about a third of that number.

Makes one wonder where all that other money from FIFA and Adidas, not to mention all the other deals, went.

The federation says they deducted expenses and set aside money for 2010 World Cup qualifying. Let's see, $5,000 each at 23 players equals $115,000. Total income that we know about, $16.5 million. So the federation had $16.385 million in expenses? That must have been some room service bill.

It is a shame that these players who gave so much for their team and country got so little in return. It is a bigger shame that FIFA not only does nothing about it, but also keeps promoting the people responsible.