Another World Cup Qualifying round has come and gone, one that did not lack action and excitement for both New England Revolution fanatics and the world’s soccer fans. Matt Turner’s United States sit in second place in the CONCACAF standings, with Tajon Buchanan’s Canada right behind at three, the final guaranteed qualification place. Adam Buksa’s Poland has punched their ticket to the playoff, where they will face other confederations for a potential World Cup bid.
Barring any drastic changes that is, where England slips up against bad competition, or Poland does the same in UEFA Group I. They will play two more games, while CONCACAF teams still have 8 more games on the radar.
Matt Turner got the start in two out of three of the games, with Zack Steffen snatching one last night against Costa Rica. Turner played well again, holding a clean sheet in a 2-0 win in Jamaica. However, the States slipped up and found themselves in a horrendous 1-0 loss down in Panama, where Turner played well, but the rest of the team could not get the job done. The United States will host Mexico in exactly a month at TQL Stadium in Cincinnati, in a massive fixture.
Canada are soaring, with zero losses in qualifying. There were plenty of bad draws at that, but they do remain undefeated. Tajon Buchanan helped force an own goal to give Canada the lead over Panama. Later in the match, he scored a goal he actually got credit for. After a ball whipped into the box, Tajon hit a perfectly timed header that frozen the Panama goalkeeper. It sat perfectly in the bottom right corner, and Canada would win 4-1, pushing them into third place, with 10 points.
Adam Buksa continued his scoring form in this window, scoring another goal for Poland. He scored another against San Marino, bringing it to a total of 4, and a grand total of 5 goals for Poland in his 5 appearances. Buksa’s easy finish propelled Poland to a 5-0 win against San Marino, and they will look to qualify in the playoff.
The Revs will finally return to play over the weekend when they host the Chicago Fire. The Fire will come into Gillette Stadium for the first time this season after two games at Soldier Field, in which the score-lines read 2-2 and 3-2 in favor of New England. The Revs will host Chicago at 7:00 PM EST, with five games to go, and a chase of the Supporter’s Shield on the horizon.