coach Javier Aguirre

Aguirre replaces Sven in Mexico

The Mexican FA said Friday it had appointed former coach Javier Aguirre as their new handler a day after sacking ex-England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson.

"This appointment has the approval and the unconditional support of the general assembly of first division clubs and the committee of national teams," said the Federation in a statement.

Aguirre, 50, coached the Mexicans at the 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan™ before moving to Spanish side Osasuna and then to Atletico Madrid, who dispensed with his services in February. Eriksson, 61, was fired after barely ten months in the job following Wednesday's disappointing 3-1 loss to Honduras in a South Africa 2010 qualifier, which came after a previous defeat to regional rivals the United States.

In between, the Mexicans enjoyed a home success over Costa Rica but the two away reverses left them struggling to make a berth in South Africa at next year's finals a place below the third guaranteed slot. The fourth-placed team must come through against the fifth best from South America in a playoff.

If the right job came up he might go for another national team again.

Sven-Goran Eriksson's agent on the Swede's plans

Media reports said Thursday that Eriksson is in line to receive a handsome payoff. "His sacking will cost the Mexican Federation 3.5 million USD," reported El Universal daily. Eriksson, who was sacked after just 13 matches at the helm having only taken the post last June, was earning a reported seven million USD a year.

When he stepped down as England boss after the last FIFA World Cup he received a six-million pound (8.5 million USD) golden parachute. A year later he took the reins at Manchester City but he was relieved of his post after a single midtable season and then to general surprise crossed the Atlantic to replace the sacked Hugo Sanchez.

England links for Sven
Eriksson's personal manager Athole Still meanwhile told Sky Sports News he thought taking the Mexican job was a mistake. "We discussed it and I think the big decision for Sven was getting back into the World Cup and going to South Africa. Also because his son works in soccer schools over there and Sven is connected so there were family issues there," he said. "But I felt that he should have stayed in Europe," said Still, who denied any contact between the Swede and English Premier League strugglers Portsmouth.

Still suggested Eriksson's next port of call would be with a big-name club but added that "if the right job came up he might go for another national team again."

Eriksson won a swathe of honours with IFK Gothenburg in his homeland before further successes with Portugal's Benfica and then in Italy with AS Roma, Sampdoria and Lazio, with whom he won Serie A. He then took the England job, guiding the 1966 world champions to two FIFA World Cup quarter-finals and the same stage of UEFA EURO 2004.

he regretted not having longer to prove his credentials

Eriksson sacked in Mexico

Former England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson was sacked as Mexico's national team coach following a disappointing 3-1 loss to Honduras in a 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™ qualifier.

Wednesday's defeat was Mexico's second loss in three matches in the final phase of qualifying in North, Central America and the Caribbean, coming hot on the heels of a reverse to the United States sandwiched by a home success over Costa Rica at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City. Eriksson had acknowledged before the Costa Rica encounter that he knew he was under pressure to deliver with media predicting his days were numbered after just 13 matches at the helm.

The decision was made because we could not risk Mexico's participation in the World Cup.

Mexican FA President Justino Compean on Eriksson's sacking

"The decision was made because we could not risk Mexico's participation in the World Cup," said federation president Justino Compean, who, noting poor away form, added it was not sufficient to rely wholly on winning home matches.

The midweek loss in San Pedro Sula was only the latest in a series of poor showings on the road. "This morning we had a meeting with Mr. Eriksson and we told him his spell with the Mexican team had come to an end," added Compean.

Eriksson, who angered supporters by bringing four foreign-born players into the squad, said he regretted not having longer to prove his credentials. "I enjoyed the work, the country, everything. Sooner or later patience runs out," said Eriksson, who won a swathe of honours with IFK Gothenburg in his homeland before further successes with Portugal's Benfica and then in Italy with AS Roma, Sampdoria and Lazio, with whom he won Serie A prior to taking the England job.

"It's a shame because I always thought I would be in the Mexico dugout for a World Cup as Mexico are going to qualify," said the Swede, who readily admitted that poor away showings were to blame. "We did not play well away from home and this is my responsibility."

Next in line?
Compean said a replacement would be lined up within days with the media quickly putting their money on former incumbent Javier Aguirre, who recently left Atletico Madrid, with Jose Manuel de la Torre of Mexican champions Toluca another name in the frame.

When in charge of England, Eriksson appeared to have inherited a 'golden generation' of players including the likes of David Beckham and Steven Gerrard. But a run to the 2002 FIFA World Cup quarter-finals and the same stage of both UEFA EURO 2004 and the 2006 FIFA World Cup were as far as he could take the side and he stepped down in 2006.

A turbulent season with Manchester City followed before he took, to general surprise, the Mexican job. But after patchy results ahead of the win over Costa Rica he admitted: "We must win or life will be very difficult for me - I will probably be out of work."

Three teams from the six-nation final phase of qualifying advance directly to the 2010 finals in South Africa, with the fourth-placed team playing off for a berth against the fifth-placed team from South America.

Mexico were not overly impressive even in the first phase of qualifying which included, among other sub-standard showings, a loss to Jamaica. Eriksson took the reins last June following the sacking of legendary striker Hugo Sanchez three months earlier.

Mexico's win proved a false dawn

Short honeymoon for Mexico

(FIFA.com) Thursday 2 April 2009


Carlos Pavon of Honduras celebrates scoring a goal against Mexico during their World Cup qualifying soccer match in San Pedro Sula April 1, 2009.

Mexico's win at home against Costa Rica at the weekend proved a false dawn as Sven-Goran Eriksson's men were thrashed 3-1 by Honduras in San Pedro Sula on the third matchday of CONCACAF's final round of qualifying. The Swede must now know his future is in serious jeopardy as USA strolled to a 3-0 win in Nashville to increase their lead at the top of North, Central American and Caribbean zone qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™. Costa Rica, now in second, needed a late goal from Walter Centeno to make sure of a home win over El Salvador in San Jose.

Results
USA 3-0 Trinidad and Tobago
Honduras 3-1 Mexico
Costa Rica 1-0 El Salvador

Game of the day
Honduras 3-1 Mexico
Goals: Carlos Costly 15 & 78, Carlos Pavon 43; Nery Castillo 80
El Tri looked a pale shadow of the side that beat Costa Rica at the Azteca four days earlier, unable to come up with a suitable response to Honduras' superior strength, power and panache. Carlos Costly opened the scoring on the quarter-hour taking advantage of a glaring error in the Mexican backline, suffering without suspended captain Rafa Marquez. Carlos Pavon, hands-down the man of the match, added a stunner just before the break and Costly made it three with a classy strike 12 minutes from time. The Mexicans, who were reduced to ten men late in the game after Carlos Salcido's cynical foul, managed to pull back a goal from the penalty spot, but it was mere consolation and proved much too little and much too late. The Mexicans are now clinging to fourth place in the CONCACAF standings, with only three points from their three games and none earned on the road.

The other games
Jozy Altidore was every inch the American hero on Wednesday night in Nashville, bringing a little rhythm to the so-called 'Music City.' Led by their young sniper, the US made easy meat of a Trinidad and Tobago side who looked well and truly out of their depth without suspended captain Dwight Yorke. Altidore, on loan from La liga side Villarreal at second-division Xerez, opened the scoring after linking up with Landon Donovan in the 13th minute. He rounded his defender to repeat the dose in the 71st before hooking up with Donovan for a third time, and completing the 3-0 rout, with a soft goal in the dying moments. The islanders had no answer for USA, or Altidore, on this day.

Costa Rica wasted a host of chances in San Jose at their intimidating Estadio Saprissa, including a first half penalty miss by Andy Furtado, perhaps still reeling from the weekend loss in Mexico City. In the end, though, they came out on top 1-0 thanks to a well-taken goal from their reliable leader and No10 Walter Centeno, who headed home a cross from Carlos Hernández.

Player of the day
Jozy Altidore (USA)
The USA's 19-year-old ace, Jozy Altidore, carved out a bit of history. After becoming the youngest ever scorer for the US in FIFA World Cup qualifying mid-week as a substitute against El Salvador, the teenager upped the intensity from the start against Trinidad and Tobago. Scoring three goals, he made history again in the 3-0 win and, in truth, was unfortunate not to have scored four or five.

The numbers game
6-0 - The combined scoreline of the last two qualifying meetings between USA and T&T played on American soil. The Soca Warriors didn't put up much of a fight in Nashville, a full seven months after their semi-final round loss to the States in Chicago by the same heavy 3-0 scoreline.

The quote
"I think we're moving in the right direction. To qualify for the World Cup we have to be strong at home and play with pride. If we continue to do so, we'll be on the right track," Honduras striker Carlos Costly after the 3-1 win over Mexico.

The standings
1. USA 7 pts
2. Costa Rica 6 pts
3. Honduras 4
4. Mexico 3 pts
5. El Salvador 2 pts
6. Trinidad and Tobago 2 pts

Next up
Wednesday 3 June 2009
Costa Rica-USA
Saturday 6 June 2009
El Salvador-Mexico
Trinidad and Tobago-Costa Rica
USA-Honduras
Wednesday 10 June 2009
Mexico-Trinidad and Tobago
Honduras-El Salvador

Costa Rica: El Salvador

El Salvador's goalkeeper Miguel Montes stops the ball during their FIFA World Cup South Africa-2010 qualifier football match against Costa Rica at the Ricardo Saprissa Stadium on April 1, 2009. AFP PHOTO/Yuri CORTEZ

Ticos edge El Salvador

(AFP) Thursday 2 April 2009

Walter Centeno's header in the 69th minute lifted Costa Rica to a 1-0 victory over El Salvador in a North, Central American and Caribbean zone qualifier for the 2010FIFA World Cup South Africa™.

The victory left Costa Rica alone in second place in the six-nation final phase of qualifying, one point behind the United States and two ahead of Honduras. Centeno delivered the victory, connecting on a pass from the right from Carlos Hernandez. Andy Furtado had a chance to put the hosts ahead in the 24th, but failed to convert a penalty, his weak shot easily stopped by Salvadoran keeper Miguel Montes.

Costa Rica rebounded from a 2-0 defeat by Mexico on Saturday at the Estadio Azteca. With the victory they took their points total to six, including a victory over Honduras in February. El Salvador remained on two points, after draws with Trinidad and Tobago and the United States.

The top three teams from the six-nation final phase of qualifying in the region advance directly to the finals in South Africa. The fourth-placed team plays off against the fifth-placed team from South America for a berth.

• User comments »

02/04/2009 at 21:05

JBrenes (Costa Rica)

A friendly memory refresher: Costa Rica already won 2-0 over Honduras just a few weeks ago. No team will go to the WC because "they deserve it". Results speak on their own. And yes congrats for that victory over mexico.

02/04/2009 at 20:34

tico0206 (USA)

Costa Rica was good, but not as good as Honduras. Just by that display, they deserve to go to the World Cup. The third goal was spectacular. Los catrachos showed what they are made of.

02/04/2009 at 19:38

gstone (Costa Rica)

Hi fellows: what a tough match this game was. It wasn´t pretty, but hey this is a WC qualification game. Winning is what matters. ES defended its goal very well showing personality and team work on defense; yet, that´s not enough to reach WC 2010. Honestly speaking, I don´t think ES will make it. Costa Rica is not playing smoothly either and need to improve a lot if it intents to be within the top three. As a Costa Rica fan I wish they´ll do, but I see them playing Uruguay for a spot at the WC 2010.

02/04/2009 at 19:21

c7fcbcabj (USA)

I don't Know how as of late Costa Rica is defeating El Salvador with ease. We are 4-0 against these people. what edge do they have here against El Salvador. They looked prepared against the U.S if El Salvador ever plans to beat Costa Rica they need to prepare exclusively for them. There is no excuse for losing 4 times to the same mediocre team. even Panama was able to beat them. I am without explanation right now, but I will be confused if El Salvador loses the next encounter with Costa Rica. things aren't looking to good if next opponent is Mexico,yeah Mexico is man handled by teams like Argentina or Portugal but El Salvador cant even beat Costa Rica?

02/04/2009 at 19:00

Tibbles (USA)

I'm salvadorean and i congratulate Ticos on their win. Was a hard fought match. Our goalie was on a good day stopped penalty and plenty shots but Ticos played their game right. We missed a shot by hittin post. Missed our key players in our offense. But good game overall. El Salvador will be a tough opponent away. As long as Central America and USA go to world come i think we all Central Americans will be happy leaving Mexico out likein 82'!!

02/04/2009 at 14:50

SLVgana (USA)

Man if only we had beat tnt but cramps and jack warner helped lose us 4 points. and now in costa rica we screwed up, we couldv'e tied.

02/04/2009 at 09:24

JcIngenuik (USA)

Costa Rica is a very young team and they will prevail in the top three of this final round. I'm not saying it will be easy, but we will qualify to the 2010 World Cup with points to spare.

02/04/2009 at 08:13

SELECTA4EVER (USA)

Congrad to the CATRACHOS too, they deserve to win. You have proven that you don't need David Suazo to win games. We still have to meet each other. Is going to be another great classic game. Until them. Sharp your "Tacos" because la SELECTA is comer over. Cheers. LASECTA4EVER.

02/04/2009 at 07:01

TicoForever (USA)

Catrachosd1 and Selecta4ever, thanks for your encouraging words. Honestly, I truly believed we were going to come out guns blazing. La Selecta had something else in mind. Didn't have the luxury of seeing this game, but from the commentaries, we missed a lot of chances (which we won't be able to afford to do against TeamUSA); however, la Selecta must've put up when heckuva fight. For that, I commend you. Keep it up and you might just end up in the World Cup and tie our record 3 times (for non-MEX/USA teams). Between the 3 of our teams, we'll represent CentroAmerica very well if we continue improving. Next up for la Selecta is a disillusioned "el Tri" and for us and Honduras (us first), TeamUSA at el Saprissa and "el Olymico" before sending them off to the Confederations Cup. Let's continue putting points on the board whether through ties (away) or wins (at home).

02/04/2009 at 06:48

SELECTA4EVER (USA)

I'm very disappointing, we couldn't score in the last third quarter of the game, and we ended being scored out. Congratulation TICOS you are in the second place in the tournament. Hopefully you make it to the WC. Cheers LASELECTA4EVER

Results April 1

Resultados Abril 1

01/04/09 15:30	La Paz		Bolivia	6:1 (3:1)	Argentina
01/04/09 16:20	Quito		Ecuador	1:1 (0:0)	Paraguay
01/04/09 17:15	Manama		Bahrain	1:0 (0:0)	Qatar
01/04/09 18:00	Tallinn		Estonia	1:0 (0:0)	Armenia
01/04/09 18:00	Sofia		Bulgaria	2:0 (1:0)	Cyprus
01/04/09 18:30	Riga		Latvia	2:0 (1:0)	Luxembourg
01/04/09 18:57	Nashville		USA	3:0 (1:0)	Trinidad and Tobago
01/04/09 19:00	Budapest		Hungary	3:0 (1:0)	Malta
01/04/09 19:10	Santiago De Chile		Chile	0:0	Uruguay
01/04/09 19:30	Vaduz		Liechtenstein	0:1 (0:1)	Russia
01/04/09 19:30	San Pedro Sula		Honduras	3:1 (2:0)	Mexico
01/04/09 19:45	Belfast		Northern Ireland	1:0 (0:0)	Slovenia
01/04/09 19:45	Cardiff		Wales	0:2 (0:1)	Germany
01/04/09 20:00	Sydney		Australia	2:0 (0:0)	Uzbekistan
01/04/09 20:00	Seoul		Korea Republic	1:0 (0:0)	Korea DPR
01/04/09 20:00	Glasgow		Scotland	2:1 (1:0)	Iceland
01/04/09 20:00	San Jose		Costa Rica	1:0 (0:0)	El Salvador
01/04/09 20:02	London		England	2:1 (1:0)	Ukraine
01/04/09 20:15	Copenhagen		Denmark	3:0 (2:0)	Albania
01/04/09 20:30	Geneva		Switzerland	2:0 (1:0)	Moldova
01/04/09 20:30	Kielce		Poland	10:0 (4:0)	San Marino
01/04/09 20:30	Prague		Czech Republic	1:2 (1:1)	Slovakia
01/04/09 20:30	Andorra La Vella		Andorra	0:2 (0:2)	Croatia
01/04/09 20:30	Almaty		Kazakhstan	1:5 (1:0)	Belarus
01/04/09 20:30	Klagenfurt		Austria	2:1 (2:1)	Romania
01/04/09 20:30	Riyadh		Saudi Arabia	3:2 (1:2)	United Arab Emirates
01/04/09 20:45	Zenica		Bosnia-Herzegovina	2:1 (2:0)	Belgium
01/04/09 20:45	Amsterdam		Netherlands	4:0 (3:0)	FYR Macedonia
01/04/09 20:50	Bari		Italy	1:1 (1:0)	Republic of Ireland
01/04/09 21:00	Istanbul		Turkey	1:2 (1:0)	Spain
01/04/09 21:00	Saint-Denis		France	1:0 (0:0)	Lithuania
01/04/09 21:00	Tbilisi		Georgia	0:0	Montenegro
01/04/09 21:30	Heraklion		Greece	2:1 (1:0)	Israel
01/04/09 22:10	Porto Alegre		Brazil	3:0 (2:0)	Peru