Mexico's Estadio Azteca is usually a fortress for El Tricolor, a venue visiting teams often leave empty-handed. But Costa Rica heads to Mexico City Saturday night having won eight consecutive games, including a 2-0 win against Honduras in the opening game of the final hexagonal stage, and eight years ago scored a historic 2-1 victory there.
Defenders Gonzalo Segares from the Chicago Fire and Carlos Johnson from the New York Red Bulls have joined the ticos, who sit atop the group with the U.S. after one round.
After the grudge match in Mexico City, Costa Rica returns home to take on El Salvador on April 1.
The United States will look to further solidify its spot atop CONCACAF, but it won't be easy on Saturday when the Red, White and Blue heads to San Salvador to take on El Salvador, which rallied for a 2-2 draw with Trinidad & Tobago in San Jose last month.
Los Angeles Galaxy forward Landon Donovan, Houston Dynamo forward Brian Ching, Columbus Crew fullback Frankie Hejduk, Chivas USA midfielder Sacha Kljestan and Colorado midfielder Pablo Mastroeni are on the roster for the U.S., which returns home to take on Trinidad & Tobago in Nashville on April 1.
After scoring two goals in a 3-2 win at Kansas City last Saturday, Amado Guevara is hoping to replicate that success Saturday for Honduras in its critical qualifier against Trinidad & Tobago Saturday in Port of Spain. Joining Guevara in the team is a member of the opposition from the MLS season opener: Wizards midfielder Roger Espinoza. Los catrachos return home to San Pedro Sula to face Mexico on April 1.
New York Red Bulls midfielder Jorge Rojas and Columbus Crew forward Alejandro Moreno have joined Venezuela, which has 10 points in 10 matches and is currently out of South America's qualification spots. But El Vinotinto defeated Ecuador, 3-1, in its last qualifier and has since played Angola to a scoreless draw and defeated Guatemala 3-0.
On Saturday, Venezuela heads to Buenos Aires to meet Argentina in Diego Maradona's official debut as head coach and then returns home for a must-win Tuesday against Colombia.
Toronto FC midfielder Carl Robinson has been named to the Welsh national team, which hosts Finland at the Millennium Stadium in a World Cup qualifier on Saturday. Wales, which currently sits tied for second in Europe's Group 4, will host division-leading Germany on April 1.
Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder David Beckham, who is currently on loan with A.C. Milan, is with England, which will meet Slovakia in a friendly Saturday at Wembley Stadium before a clash with Ukraine on April 1. England has secured 12 points in four games and leads Group 6.
Chicago Fire defender Bakary Soumare has joined Mali, which opens the final phase of the African Zone preliminaries with a match at Sudan on Saturday. Mali is in Group D with Ghana, Benin and Sudan.
After winning the Oceanian Zone qualifying section, New Zealand is off to Thailand for a pair of friendlies on Saturday and Tuesday. Representing the All-Whites will be New York Red Bulls defender Andrew Boyens, San Jose midfielder Simon Elliott, Columbus Crew defender Duncan Oughton and Seattle Sounders FC forward Jarrod Smith.
Dylan Butler is a contributor to MLSnet.com.
