Find your "match"

If you are involved with someone who is not a soccer fan then chances are you already have an excuse for the amount of time you'll be spending in front of the TV starting this weekend.
Uefa's "World Cup Preview Tournament," aka Euro2008, will kick-off today when the Swiss face the Czech. After that match we'll have a chance to check out last edition's runners-up, Portugal, when they play Turkey to complete group A's inaugural day. Action continues tomorrow with group B matches and you can figure out which group plays after that.
On this side of the Atlantic, Mexico and the U.S. will try to make it up to their fans after disappointing mid-week performances. The U.S. will face FIFA No.1 ranked Argentina, while Mexico will take on another South American team, Peru. The stars and stripes hope to not forget their legs in the locker room during half time, as they did against Spain. The Aztecas are counting on nothing but the good luck that the pitch at Qualcomm Stadium has given them in 16 of 18 games they've played there.
Other Concacaf matches include the Haitians' visit to Honduras for a friendly that will serve as a final tune-up before their World Cup qualifiers next week. The Catracho's had a good start last Wednesday when they lengthened their unbeaten streak to 8 matches by beating Puerto Rico 4-0. Les Bicolores have yet to play their first match against Netherland Antilles.
And if you're a real junkie you won't really care about Concacaf's ongoing futsal tournament in the brand new Domo Polideportivo in Guatemala, but you will still watch the video recaps .
Whatever your excuse for the obscene level of neglect to your relationship, remember plan B: update your profile on eHarmony and find a truly compatible soul with whom you'll have kids like this.

Sancocho or Pupusas?

With Concacaf's stage 2 of the World Cup Qualifying round looming, upsets are unlikely. Half of the teams will have their dreams of visiting South Africa shattered, while some others will be using next month's games as warm-ups for the third and more competitive stage. The U.S. and Mexico expect easy wins over Barbados and Belize, respectively. The Belizeños aren't even pretending to care about home court advantage. They will "host" Mexico in Houston, perhaps hoping the Aztec fans will leave some cash in the small country's federation coffers.
The only series with some excitement seems to be the one between Panama and El Salvador. History between the two teams favors the Guanacos who have won twice as many games. Lately, though, things have improved for the Panamanians. It has been almost four years since the Salvadorans won a match against the Canaleros, a side which outscored them 5:0 in the past four matches.
We will have to wait a couple of weeks to see what happens at Estadio Rommel Fernandez in Panama City. In the mean time soccer fans will enjoy the more competitive and slightly more alluring Euro2008.