Around Concacaf

Gio dos Santos is out for the final two qualifiers, thanks to ligament damage to his ankle suffered in a recent Tottenham contest. Mexico's ticket to the World Cup looks to be almost assured following wins at home against the US and in Costa Rica, with games against the bottom two teams --Trinidad and Tobago and El Salvador-- remaining. However, losing the team's most dynamic player over the past three months could make things a bit more precarious. 

In the US, Tim Howard, Jozy Altidore, and Landon Donavan have all been nominated for the national player of the year. I think you could make a pretty good case for each. Also, the US U-20 team took it to Cameroon 4-1 in the U-20 World Cup. A win against South Korea sends us through to the next round, despite being placed in a very tough group and dropping the first game to Germany.