Mexico look to clinch World Cup ticket with win against El Salvador

BY PAUL A REID Observer writer

Monday, January 19, 2015    

CATHERINE HALL, St James — Two-time defending champions Mexico could book their place in the FIFA Men’s Under-20 World Cup in New Zealand later this year with a win over second-placed El Salvador in the CONCACAF Men’s Under-20 Championship Group B game at the Montego Bay Sports Complex at 5:30 pm today.

Mexico have won their previous three games to lead Group B on nine points and another win today would give them an unassailable lead and an automatic spot in New Zealand reserved for the group winners.

Canada, who have lost their last two games, including a shocker against El Salvador on Thursday, will seek to revive their hopes when they take on Cuba in the first game set for 3:00 pm, while Honduras and Haiti face off in the 8:00 pm game.

Mexico will be without captain Victor Guzman, who picked up a second yellow card in their bruising 3-0 win over Honduras, and defender Oscar Bernal, who was sent off for lashing out at a Honduras forward.

Hirving Lozano, who has four goals, and Alejandro Diaz, who has three, will be available, however, and they could torment an El Salvador defence that has given up five goals.

El Salvador have improved with every game played, however, and their 3-2 win over Canada, their first ever at this level, would have lifted their confidence a few more notches.

Jose Villavicencio has been their most consistent scorer with three so far and, along Juan Barahona and Andres Flores, could give El Salvador some attacking options.

As proficient as they have been in attack, Mexico are equally good in defence and except for a third-minute goal against Cuba in their first game over a week ago, they have conceded since.

With Mexico running away with the lead, the battle for the two other spots in the play-offs is wide open with four teams all in with at least mathematical chances.

A loss for El Salvador would be good news for Honduras and Canada, who could pass them with wins.

Even with back-to-back losses Canada should be too strong for Cuba, especially if coach Rob Gale decides to start both Jordan Hamilton and Cyle Larin in attack.

Hamilton scored two goals in their opening 3-1 win over Haiti, was held scoreless by Mexico, then got less than 15 minutes off the bench against El Salvador.

Honduras will start favourites against an inconsistent Haiti, who were expected to beat Cuba but ended 2-2.

Honduras’s Albert Elis is due to get back on the scoresheet after being kept out by Mexico last time, while Haiti’s Jonel Desire has shown he has real quality but little support.

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Mexico look to clinch World Cup ticket with win against El Salvador

El Salvador vote counting under way

2 February 2014 Last updated at 21:12 ET Vote counting started soon after the closing of the polls in El Salvador El Salvador’s left-wing presidential candidate Salvador Sanchez Ceren, from the FMLN party, is leading the polls with more than 50% of votes counted.

The current vice-president has more than 49% of the votes, but is still short of the 50% plus one needed to avoid a run-off election.

Trailing more than ten points behind is the right-wing opposition candidate Norman Quijano, from the Arena party.

Former President Antonio Saca, is trailing with 11%.

The campaign has been dominated by the sluggish economy and gang crime.

El Salvador’s murder rate is among the highest in the world.

Correspondents say there are signs that a recent truce agreed between the two main street gangs is falling apart.

Mr Sanchez Ceren. 69, was a rebel commander when the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) was a guerrilla group during the 1980-1992 civil war.

He has promised to tackle crime through education and social programmes.

Candidates have clashed on how to deal with gangs, as Will Grant reports

Opinion polls suggest he had a lead over Mr Quijano, who stood down from his position of mayor of San Salvador to stand for president.

Many voters are critical of the 2012 truce with gangs, and Mr Quijano has accused the administration of outgoing President Mauricio Funes of negotiating with criminals. He is advocating tougher policies against drug gangs.

The truce has led to a decrease in El Salvador’s murder rate, but gradually the number of killings is going back up.

The three-way race may lead to a run-off vote

Analysts say the vote may hinge on the popularity of the third candidate, former President Antonio Saca who is running for the new Unidad party.

The second round of voting, if needed, is to be held on 9 March.

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El Salvador vote counting under way

VIDEO: El Salvador votes for new president

The people of El Salvador are voting in a presidential election.

The main rivals are current Vice-President Salvador Sanchez Ceren of the left-wing FMLN party and Norman Quijano of the conservative Arena alliance.

Neither is expected to win outright because a third candidate standing for a new independent party is likely to make a strong showing.

Will Grant reports.

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VIDEO: El Salvador votes for new president

El Salvador celebrates patron saint

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El Salvador celebrates patron saint

El Salvador profile

30 September 2012 Last updated at 07:02 ET El Salvador, which is Spanish for “the saviour” – or Jesus Christ – has been wracked by civil war and a succession of natural disasters.

The tiny country is the most densely-populated state on the mainland of the Americas and is highly industrialised. But social inequality and a susceptibility to earthquakes have shaped much of modern El Salvador.

In the 1980s El Salvador was ravaged by a bitter civil war. This was stoked by gross inequality between a small and wealthy elite, which dominated the government and the economy, and the overwhelming majority of the population, many of whom lived – and continue to live – in abject squalor.

El Salvador is densely populated and highly industrialised

The war left around 70,000 people dead and caused damage worth $2bn, but it also brought about important political reforms.

Continue reading the main story Politics: El Salvador has returned to democracy after being torn by a bitter civil in the 1980s; crime gangs and the drugs trade pose a serious challenge to securityEconomy: Fettered by natural disasters, corruption and inequality, El Salvador’s economy is heavily dependent on remittances from abroad, especially the USInternational: El Salvador is a member of the Organisation of Independent States; it has recently restored ties with Cuba, ruptured after the Cuban Revolution in 1959

Country profiles compiled by BBC Monitoring

In 1992 a United Nations-brokered peace agreement ended the civil war, but no sooner had El Salvador begun to recover when it was hit by a series of natural disasters, notably Hurricane Mitch in 1998 and earthquakes in 2001.

These left at least 1,200 people dead and more than a million others homeless.

The economy depends heavily on the money sent home by Salvadoreans living in the US. Poverty, civil war, natural disasters and their consequent dislocations have left their mark on El Salvador’s society, which is among the most crime-ridden in the Americas.

Violent street gangs, known as “maras”, were described by former President Saca as a “regional problem that requires regional solutions”. One of the most notorious groups was started in the 1980s by Salvadoran immigrants in the US.

El Salvador has one of the world’s highest murder rates, with 71 per 100,000 residents in recent years.

The traditional Los Historiantes dances were introduced by the conquistadors

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El Salvador profile