The year ends in Asia

After the Caribbean Cup in Martinique in Which Guadeloupe knocked Cuba out 2-1 to reach the final where they met and lost on penalties to Jamaica who had beaten Grenada 2-1 in extra time of the other semi-final, the attention turned mostly to Asia where a bunch of friendly matches saw the year out. Laos held Thailand to a 2-2 draw in Indonesia and Saudi Arabia lost their home match 1-0 to Iraq who will be shortly attempting to defend their crown in Qatar. The Philippines drew 1-1 against Singapore in Hanoi where they later shocked their hosts Vietnam 2-0 to move up in the Rankings while among matches played in Africa, Ethiopia recorded a 2-1 success over Zambia in Tanzania.

No rest in November

Most European teams went into hibernation after the November matches in which Portugal pummelled world champions Spain 4-0 in Lisbon. Belgium were 2-0 winners in Russia, and England were beaten 2-1 by France at Wembley while Slovenia lost by the same result at home to Georgia. Haiti triumphed 1-0 in Qatar and Belarus returned from Oman with a 4-0 victory. In an African friendly Zimbabwe won 3-1 away to Mozambique while Togo were held to a goalless draw at home to Chad in a Cup of Nations qualifier.

Earlier the Caribbean qualifier group stage continued to its conclusion causing several big moves in the rankings. Hosts of group D the Dominican Republic tore the British Virgin Islands apart 17-0 but went out after losing 1-0 to Dominica who had put 10 past the hapless Virgin Islanders. Guyana shocked group C hosts Suriname with a 2-0 win to finish above them, though both teams progressed to the next round. There were further shocks in the next round with Guadeloupe defeating Puerto Rico 3-2 and beating group E hosts Grenada 3-0 to finish top. Guyana held Haiti to a goalless draw to progress with group F hosts Trinidad & Tobago. In the same region Cuba cruised 3-0 past Panama in an away friendly. The final stage of the Caribbean Cup will take place November 26^th – December 5^th in Martinique.