Winners:
The METROSTARS kept their playoff hopes alive with a convincing 2-1 win at defending champ D.C. United on goals by Sergio Galvan Rey and Youri Djorkaeff. The Metros, who play Chivas USA on Sunday, are tied on points with Kansas City, which squandered a two-goal lead while tying New England, 2-2. Kansas City meets FC Dallas on Saturday, but Kansas City has a superior goal difference, the tiebreaker should both win next weekend.
SAN JOSE became the first MLS team in history to go undefeated at home during the regular season and its 2-2 tie with Real Salt Lake on Saturday also clinched for the Earthquakes the Supporters' Shield, bestowed on the team with the best MLS regular-season record. Four times in the previous nine MLS seasons has the regular-season leader gone on to win the league title.
Four of the five World Cup qualifiers from Africa — TOGO, GHANA, IVORY COAST and ANGOLA — will be going to the finals for the first time. Of the favorites, only TUNISIA won a spot as Cameroon, Senegal, Nigeria and South Africa all failed
Losers:
The USA, which punched its ticket to the World Cup in September, failed in its attempt to show off its depth when it fell, 3-0, in Costa Rica on Saturday. It was the USA's worst defeat during Coach Bruce Arena's eight-year tenure and its worst loss in World Cup qualifying in almost 25 years
GUATEMALA lost, 5-2, to Mexico, for which Francisco Fonseca scored four goals, and slipped out of fourth place in the Hexagonal. Trinidad & Tobago, thanks to its 1-0 win over Panama, is now in fourth, but faces Mexico in its final game while Guatemala hosts Costa Rica. The fourth-place finisher earns a playoff with Asia's No. 5 team.
CAMEROON needed a win against Egypt to earn an African record sixth World Cup appearance. With the score tied, 1-1, five minutes into stoppage time, Barcelona striker Samuel Eto'o let Pierre Wome take a penalty kick for Cameroon. The defender nailed his shot against the crossbar. "Why didn't I take the penalty? I went to take it but Wome came up to me and said he was really confident of scoring," said Eto'o, whose team finished second to the Ivory Coast in Group 3.
FRANCE could muster only a 1-1 tie in Switzerland, leaving Les Bleus tied on 17 points with the Swiss while undefeated Israel sits atop the group with 18. But the Israelis have no games left, which means their qualifying hopes hinge on results on Wednesday when France hosts Cyprus and Switzerland travels to Ireland, which has 16 points.
BORA MILUTINOVIC has been fired as coach of Qatari club Al Sadd. The five-time World Cup coach arrived at Al Sadd in 2004, when it was defending champ, after he was fired as coach of Honduras. Al Sadd finished seventh out of 10 teams last season, recently suffered an embarrassing exit from from the Asian Champions League and has had a bad start in this season's league play.