IMHO the U.S. will end their 3 game winless streak and defeat Jamaica on Sunday.

Alot of the pressure seems to be falling on Reyna -- but will he be at 100%?

Will be a great weekend for soccer -- I think Denmark and Italy will qualify with wins -- Belgium maybe -- but has a tough match at Croatia. England and Deutschland will probably remain tied on top of the standings -- does England hold the tiebreakers?

The USA will win. Bruce has a very clear understanding of what has to be done, and Jamaica, while they have a new coach, has the same players. Our 23 will be primed and ready to break the three-game winless streak. Claudio might not be able to play, and if he does he won't be at 100%. That's very unfortunate (understatement) for the USA side. But like Bruce said, three points is three points. We need the 3 now. I did love his comment "We just need to score more goals than they do." The man is a genius!
Also, England is ahead of the Germans, but only on goal differential (in large part to the 5-1 massacre last month). As long as Germany doesn't defeat Finland by more than six goals over that which England beats Greece.
Whoops forgot my predictions for the European Groups:
England, Russia, Portugal, Denmark, and Italy all qualify with wins this weekend. (See note above re: the English goal differential) The winner of the Belgium/Croatia match will advance (I'm saying CRO). Sweden, Poland, and Spain have already qualified. I don't see any problems with these teams winning their games, with the toughest game (other than the BEL/CRO match) being the Russians against the Swiss.
I think the second round of qualifying (2nd places in the groups) will be very exciting. [side note: Go Turkey!]

[ October 04, 2001: Message edited by: Chip ]

The US soccer team beat Jamaica and qualified for the World Cup.

Whew!! The US, stumbin' and bumblin', go through. And let the record reflect that it was an Everton player, Joe-Max Moore who scored both goals. Go you Blues!

Mexico is in real trouble; they have to be Honduras in the final match for both teams to go through. If Mexico loses, I wouldn't want to be the coach or the players.

Germany is in danger of not going either (they're in the playoffs I think). That would be catastrophic for them.

ENGER-LAND! ENGER-LAND! Whew. Luckily, Gay Icon David Beckham secured them a guaranteed place with a great free kick in extra time.

England was extremely lucky. Especially with the beautiful and talented Liverpool striker, Michael Owens injured.

First of all--
yes, we qualified, but we were pretty darn lucky to have done it. Way too many defensive lapses and not enough communication. Yes, Jamaica had a nice settle and shot to tie the game--but why was he unmarked in the box? Too many times the USA paid more attention to the officiating and not enough to the Jamaican side...men, leave the officiating to the men who are paid to do that. You are supposed to play TO THE WHISTLE. (Sorry, I just really hate that and it irritates me to no end when players want to whine to the umpire instead of playing.)
(Remember, we DID qualify....) I know, I know...but only because in a shocker of shockers, T&T beat Honduras. So now either Honduras or Mexico will qualify. Whoever doesn't better watch their houses. I mean that sincerely. So yes, I should be celebrating the win, and I guess I'll have to congratulate "Sweetness" Arena this weekend. But we have things to work on. I'll have to give him some defensive tips.
Meanwhile, the Germans blew major chances against Finland (Finland!?!) including a couple of crossbars, which could have sent them into the Cup automatically, especially because the English only tied Greece---and that only after an extra time free kick by Mr. Posh Spice was converted. Uh, LUCKY. Beckham wasn't even supposed to take it. But anyway, enough of that...now the Germans have to win the home-at-home against the Ukranians...which they should.
My picks for the second round? (I'm 100% so far...) GER, BEL, SLO. Turkey's opponent is TBA, as is Ireland's.
Oh yeah...I'm going with Mexico. Only because it is in Azteca.

What? Michael injured? I must go to him and care for him.

Owen is all mine. The only thing missing from FIFA 99 on Playstation is the ability to have the players rip their shirts (or each others) off. The England side that year is superb.